| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | Duckenfield |
| Namesake | Duckenfield, Jamaica |
| Launched | 1792, Thames |
| Fate | Last listed 1819 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 500, [1] or 514, [2] or 516, [2] or 520 [3] (bm) |
| Complement | |
| Armament | |
Duckenfield (or Duckingfield, or Dunkenfield) was launched in 1792 on the Thames. She was primarily a West Indiaman but between 1803 and 1805 she served the Royal Navy as an armed defense ship. She was last listed in 1819.
Duckenfield first appeared in Lloyd's Register in 1792 with C. Nockels, master, Nesbit, owner, and trade London–Jamaica. [4] Her owners tendered her to the British East India Company (EIC) in January February 1794 on her return from her voyage to Jamaica. [3] The EIC does not appear to have taken her up. Christopher Nockells acquired a letter of marque on 28 April 1794. [2]
William Ogle Carr acquired a letter of marque on 22 August 1801. [2] At that time Duckenfields's owner was Campbell. Her trade remained London–Jamaica.
On 12 August 1803 Lloyd's List reported the Duckingfield, Aitkins, master, had arrived in the Thames. She had parted from the Jamaica Fleet on 31 July in a heavy gale of wind that had left a number of the merchantmen dismasted and otherwise damaged. [5]
Following the resumption of war with France in early 1803, concern developed in Britain about Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom. The British government's response took many forms including the reactivation of Fencible regiments and the Sea Fencibles, a program of the construction of Martello Towers along the coasts of Britain and Ireland, and the commissioning of a number of armed defense ships.
The British East India Company in November voted to underwrite 10,000 tons (bm) of armed transports to protect Great Britain's coasts. The vessels were existing, but not EIC, merchantmen that would receive an upgrade in armament and that would receive a naval officer as captain. The vessels were: Albion, Anacreon, Atlas, Aurora, Chapman, Diadem, Duckenfield, Helder, Indefatigable, Lord Forbes, Lord Nelson, Norfolk, Paragon, Perseus, Robert, Sir Alexander Mitchell, Suffolk, and Triton. [1]
On 21 November 1803 Duckenfield, of 500 tons (bm) and 18 guns, was ready but had not yet been appointed to a station. A newspaper report dated 10 April 1804 stated that the armed transports Indefatigable, Albion, and Duckingfield, were to sail to Saint Helen's to maintain a guard there until Queen could relieve them. [1]
Around 1805 the Navy returned the armed defense ships to their owners. The Register of Shipping for 1806 showed Duckenfield with Dunbar, master, Campbell, owner, and trade London–Jamaica, changing to London–Surinam. She had also undergone a large repair. Garden Dunbar, master of Dunkenfield, acquired a letter of marque on 11 March 1805. [2] Captain Dunbar died on 18 August 1807 at Suriname.
William Cranitich acquired a letter of marque on 19 July 1808. [2]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1810 | Crautlech | Campbell | London–Jamaica | Lloyd's Register; large repair 1808 |
| 1815 | Stephenson | Lyon & Co. | London–Jamaica | Lloyd's Register; large repair 1808 |
Duckenfield was last listed in 1819 with Purdy, master, Oldfield, owner, and trade London–Jamaica. [6]
Atlas was built in Souths Shields by Temple and launched in 1801 for Temple. She made two voyages transporting convicts from Ireland or England to Port Jackson. On the first voyage she carried cargo for the British East India Company (EIC). On the second she sailed to Bengal after delivering her convicts to New South Wales and was wrecked off India in 1820 while on her way back to Britain.
Perseus was a sailing ship built in 1799 at Stockton-on-Tees, England. She made one voyage transporting convicts to New South Wales, returning to England via Canton. In 1803-1804 she served as an "armed defense ship". Thereafter she served as a transport. She is last listed in 1844.
Experiment was launched in 1798 at Stockton-on-Tees, England. Between late 1800 and 1802 she made a voyage to India for the British East India Company (EIC). In 1803 she transported convicts to Port Jackson. In 1805, on her way home the French captured her, but the British recaptured her. In 1808 she became a West Indiaman. Still, in 1818 or so she sailed out to India. Experiment was condemned at Batavia in 1818 and sold there in 1819 for breaking up.
Indefatigable was a square-rigged, three-decked, three-masted merchant ship launched in 1799 at Whitby for James Atty & Co. for the West Indies trade. In 1804 she served as an armed defense ship and recaptured a merchantman that a privateer had captured. She was a transport in the 1805–1806 British invasion of the Dutch Cape colony. She twice transported convicts to Australia; on the first trip she was chartered to the British East India Company (EIC). She burned to the waterline in 1815.
The British East India Company (EIC) had Whim built for use as a fast dispatch vessel. She was sold in 1802 and became a whaler that a French privateer captured and released, and then a merchant vessel. She is no longer listed after 1822.
Diadem was a barque launched in 1800 at Whitby. She served as an armed defence ship between 1803 and 1805. Her owners sold her to the British government in 1818. The year 1818 may be a transcription error for 1808 as that is the last year for which Diadem is listed in either Lloyd's Register or the Register of Shipping.
Alligator was launched in 1793 at London. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). She then became a general trader crossing the Atlantic. She was wrecked in 1820.
Nutwell was launched at Great Yarmouth in 1800. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC), bringing back rice from Bengal at the behest of the British government. On her return she became a West Indiaman, trading with Jamaica, until the 1806 Great Coastal hurricane overturned her.
Orpheus was launched at Chester in 1794. She made two voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She also served briefly as a transport in two military campaigns, and traded with the West and East Indies. She was last listed in 1838 but may well have been sold for breaking up in 1828.
Kingsmill was a French vessel launched in 1793 under a different name, captured in 1798, and sold to British owners who renamed her. She then became a slave ship, making three voyages from Africa to the West Indies in the triangular trade in enslaved people. A French privateer captured her in 1804, but she returned to her owners within the year. In 1807, after the end of British participation in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, Kingsmill became a West Indiaman. In 1814 she became the first ship to trade with India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC) after the EIC lost its monopoly on British trade with India. She was badly damaged in 1821 and subsequently disappears from the registers.
Indian Trader was launched in 1791. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). She was on her second voyage when a French privateer captured her. The British recaptured her and she returned to merchant service, sailing to the Americas. She was lost c. 1830.
Crescent was launched at Rotherhithe in 1790. She initially traded with the Levant, particularly Smyrna. After the outbreak of war with France she may have tried her hand as a privateer. In 1796–1798 she made a voyage to the East Indies, almost surely on behalf of the British East India Company (EIC). A French privateer captured her but the British Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. In 1802-1804 she made one voyage as a slave ship carrying slaves from West Africa to Jamaica. In 1805 she became a whaler. She was lost in 1807 off Patagonia while homeward bound from her first whaling voyage.
Duckenfield Hall was launched on the Thames in 1783. She spent most of her career trading with the West Indies. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1797 and 1798. In 1819 she became a Greenland whaler. She was wrecked in the Orkney Islands in 1820 while returning from a whaling voyage.
Suffolk was launched in 1795 at Newcastle. In 1800 she made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). She traded widely as different owners deployed her on one route or another.
Mercury apparently was launched in 1786 at Topsham, but her career prior to 1790 is obscure. She initially traded with Virginia and then with the "Straits". In 1794-1795 she made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). On her return she became a West Indiaman. She was lost in 1802.
Cornwall was launched in 1794 as a West Indiaman. In a little more than three years later she had left on the first of three whaling voyages to the Southern Whale Fishery. On her first whaling voyage she captured a Spanish ship and fought off a French privateer. After her third whaling voyage Cornwall returned to the West Indies trade. Around 1817 new owners sent her to India where a Parsi merchant purchased her. She traded in the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean, and also participated as a transport in a naval expedition to the Persian Gulf. She was last listed in 1824.
Anacreon was launched in 1800 at Sunderland. She initially sailed between London and Minorca and then between 1804 and 1805 she served as an armed defense ship for the Royal Navy. She next became a London-based transport, and eventually traded from Liverpool to the Baltic and Canada. She was wrecked in 1823.
Lord Forbes was launched at Chester in 1803 as a West Indiaman. She soon became an "armed defense ship", but by 1805 had returned to being a West Indiaman. She made two voyages as an "extra" ship for the British East India Company (EIC). She continued trading with India until 1817 when she sustained damage on her way to Bengal. There she was surveyed, condemned and sold.
Robert was launched at Newcastle upon Tyne in 1800 as a West Indiaman. In 1804 she may have served as an armed defense ship before reverting to the West Indies trade. She was last listed in 1825.
Paragon was launched at Whitby in 1800. Between 1803 and 1805 she served as an armed defense ship protecting Britain's coasts and convoys. She then served as a transport on the 1805 naval expedition to capture the Cape of Good Hope. Next, she returned to mercantile service and in 1814 a French privateer captured her, but the British Royal Navy recaptured her the next day. She sailed to India in 1818 under a license from the British East India Company (EIC), and was wrecked in March 1819 while inbound to Calcutta.