History | |
---|---|
France | |
Launched | 1781 [1] |
Captured | 1782 |
Great Britain | |
Name | Fonthill |
Owner | |
Acquired | c.1782 (by purchase?) |
Fate | Last listed in 1810 |
General characteristics | |
Tons burthen | 266, [3] or 300, [1] or 313 [4] (bm) |
Armament | 6 × 6-pounder guns [5] |
Fonthill was a ship built in France in 1781 and was probably taken in prize in 1782. Fonthill sailed as a West Indiaman between 1783 and 1791, then became a whaler southern whale fishery and made four whaling voyages between 1791 and 1799. On her third voyage she took back from Cape Town a Dutch captain whose vessel had been captured bringing in arms and ammunition from Batavia to stir up unrest against the British at the Cape. After refitting, in 1800, Fonthill became a whaler in the northern whale fishery. Fonthill was last listed, with stale data, in 1810, but whose last reported whaling voyage took place in 1806.
Fonthill entered Lloyd's Register in 1783 with P. Seward, master, Wildman & Co., owner, and trade London–Jamaica. [1]
Lloyd's Register for 1791 showed Fonthill with P. Seward, master, changing to Pinkham, Wildman, owner, changing to Shodbread, and trade London–Jamaica, changing to London–South Seas. [6]
1st southern whaling voyage (1791-1793): Captain Elisha Pinkham sailed from London on 4 December 1791, bound for the Pacific. [a] In 1792 Fonthill sailed in company in the Pacific with the American whaler Rebecca, Seth Folger, master. [7] Fonthill returned to London on 4 July 1793 with 86 tuns of sperm oil, six tuns of whale oil, and 11,476 seal skins. [3]
2nd southern whaling voyage (1793-1795): Captain Jethro Daggett sailed from London in 1793, bound for Peru. Fonthill returned on 19 December 1795 with 105 tuns of sperm oil, 104 tuns of whale oil, and 78 Cwt. of whale bone. [3]
3rd southern whaling voyage (1796-1797): Captain William Allen Day sailed from London on 30 November 1796. [3] Fonthill arrived at the Cape of Good Hope on 12 October 1797 from Delagoa Bay. [8] She sailed two days later with a prisoner, Jacob de Freyn (or Joh. de Frein). Governor Macartney, of the Cape Colony, was sending him back to be detained in England for as long as possible. [b] Fonthill arrived back at London on 19 December 1797. [3]
4th southern whaling voyage (1798-1799): Captain Day sailed from London in 1798, bound for the east coast of Africa. Fonthill returned on 12 November 1799. [3]
Fonthill left the Register of Shipping in 1801, but re-entered in 1802 with Peacock, master, W. Sims, owner, and trade London–Greenland. She had been almost rebuilt in 1800 with new top and sides, and some repair of damages. [4]
The Register of Shipping for 1806 showed Fonthill with Robinson, master, W. Sims, owner, and trade London–Greenland. She had undergone damage repairs in 1802, 1803, and 1804. [5]
In July 1804, Fonthill, Kitchen, master, returned to London from the northern fisheries having taken four "fish" (whales).
In July 1805, Fonthill, "of and for London", was reported to have returned from the whaling grounds at Davis Strait as a "full ship", having taken ten fish.
In early July 1806, Fonthill, of London, Peacock, master, was reported to have returned with four fish.
Fonthill was last listed in the Register of Shipping in 1806, and in Lloyd's Register in 1810, with stale data.
Cyrus was a whaler launched at Salem in 1800. She performed one whaling voyage for French owners before a British letter of marque captured her in 1803. From 1804 on, she performed 17 whaling voyages for British owners in the almost half a century between 1804 and 1853. The first five were for Samuel Enderby & Sons. Between 1 August 1834 and 2 June 1848 her captain was Richard Spratly, namesake of Spratly Island and the group of islands and reefs known as the Spratly Islands. She apparently made one last voyage in 1854, but then no longer traded. She was last listed in Lloyd's Register in 1856.
The British Royal Navy purchased HMS Shark on the stocks in 1775. She was launched in 1776, and in 1778 converted to a fireship and renamed HMS Salamander. The Navy sold her in 1783. She then became the mercantile Salamander. In the 1780s she was in the northern whale fishery. In 1791 she transported convicts to Australia. She then became a whaling ship in the southern whale fishery for a number of years, before becoming a general transport and then a slave ship. In 1804 the French captured her, but the Royal Navy recaptured her. Although she is last listed in 1811, she does not appear in Lloyd's List (LL) ship arrival and departure (SAD) data after 1804.
William was a merchant vessel built in France in 1770 or 1771. From 1791 she made numerous voyages as a whaler in the southern whale fishery. She also made one voyage in 1793 transporting supplies from England to Australia. She then resumed whaling, continuing until 1809.
Speedy was a whaler launched on the Thames in 1779. She also made voyages to New South Wales, transporting female convicts in 1799. She made two voyages transporting enslaved people in 1805 and 1806, and was captured in January 1807, on her way into London after having delivered her captives to Antigua in 1806.
Charming Kitty was a ship captured from the Spanish. She first appeared in Great Britain's Protection Lists for whalers in 1799. She conducted four whaling voyages between 1799 and 1808, before becoming a West Indiaman, trading with the Caribbean. She was wrecked in October 1813.
Butterworth was launched in 1778 in France as the highly successful 32-gun privateer Américaine, of Granville. The British Royal Navy captured her early in 1781. She first appeared in a commercial role in 1784 as America, and was renamed in 1785 as Butterworth. She served primarily as a whaler in the Greenland whale fisheries. New owners purchased her in 1789. She underwent a great repair in 1791 that increased her size by almost 20%. She is most famous for her role in the "Butterworth Squadron", which took her and two ship's tenders on an exploration, sealing, otter fur, and whaling voyage to Alaska and the Pacific Coast of North America. She and her consorts are widely credited with being the first European vessels to enter, in 1794, what is now Honolulu harbour. After her return to England in 1795, Butterworth went on three more whaling voyages to the South Pacific, then Africa, and then the South Pacific again. In 1802 she was outward bound on her fourth of these voyage, this to the South Pacific, when she was lost.
Tobago was a ship launched in 1790. She came into British hands in 1793 and was probably a prize taken immediately after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in early 1793. She traded with Tobago for several years before new owners purchased her for whaling. She made two whaling voyages to the East Coast of Africa before her owners sold her to new owners. She then made two voyages as a slave ship. She was abandoned or condemned in 1802 after having delivered her captives on her second such voyage.
Eliza was launched in 1789 in New Brunswick. Between 1791 and 1800 she made six voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She next made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She then disappears from online resources.
Lord Hawkesbury was launched in the United States in 1781, probably under another name. She entered Lloyd's Register in 1787. She made six voyages as a whaler. On her second whaling voyage she "the first parcel of ambergris 'by any English whaler'". She was lost on the seventh after a squadron of French naval vessels had captured her. One of her original, British crew succeeded in regaining sufficient control from her prize crew to enable him to run her aground, wrecking her.
Juno was launched at Hull in 1793 as a West Indiaman. French privateers once detained her and once captured her, but the Royal Navy recaptured her. She made one voyage as a whaler in the Southern Whale Fishery, and then participated as a transport in a naval expedition. She then disappears from readily accessible records. In 1809 she may have been captured off Africa, or condemned at the Cape of Good Hope and broken up.
Chesterfield was built in America in 1781, but it is not clear where and under what name. She arrived in England in 1791. Between 1792 and 1798 Chesterfield made three voyages to the southern whale fishery. On the first of these her crew was involved in a sanguinary encounter with the local inhabitants of an island in Torres Strait. Also in 1793, on the first voyage, her captain named the Chesterfield Islands after his vessel, or her namesake. After her whaling voyages new owners sailed her to trade with the Mediterranean. A Spanish privateer captured her in 1805.
Brook Watson was launched in 1796, probably in Holland but possibly in Denmark. She became a prize in 1801 and by 1802 was a whaler in the British Southern Whale Fishery. She made two whaling voyages between 1802 and 1806. She then became a West Indiaman and was last listed in 1809 or 1810.
Haasje was built at Amsterdam in 1788 as a packet for the Dutch East India Company (VOC). She made three or probably four voyages between Texel and Batavia. A British whaler captured her in August 1797 as she was on a secret mission from Batavia to arm Dutch farmers in the Cape Colony to stir up difficulties for the British. She sailed to Britain and a French privateer captured her shortly before she arrived. She was quickly recaptured. She became a merchantman sailing between London and Dartmouth, and then London and Africa. She was last listed in 1806.
Hope was built at Liverpool in 1770, though it is not clear under what name. She first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1786 as a Greenlandman, a whaler in the British northern whale fishery. From 1789 on she was a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She then made five whaling voyages to Africa or the South Pacific. On the fifth she captured Haasje; this resulted in a court case over the distribution of prize money. Hope was last listed in 1798.
Aurora was launched at Whitby in 1789. Between 1799 and 1806 she made four voyages as a whaler to the British southern whale fishery. She was last listed in 1809 with stale data since her whaling voyages.
Barbara was launched in Philadelphia in 1771 and came to England circa 1787. She initially sailed as a West Indiaman, but then between 1788 and 1800 made five complete voyages as a whaler. The Spanish captured her late in 1800 in the Pacific during her sixth whaling voyage.
Resolution was launched at Liverpool in 1776 as the West Indiaman Thomas Hall; she was renamed in 1779. She sailed briefly as a privateer. Then between 1791 and 1804 Revolution made some six voyages as a whaler. On one voyage, in 1793, a French frigate captured her, but Resolution was re-captured. In 1804 a new owner returned her to the West Indies trade. She does not appear to have sailed after early 1805.
Sparrow was built in Bombay in 1777, possibly under another name. Between 1789 and 1798 Sparrow made several voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. In 1803 she was captured and recaptured. The French Navy captured and burnt her in 1806.
Bellisarius was built in South Carolina in 1762 or 1779, possibly under another name. Between 1789 and 1799 she made six complete voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. Afterwards she sailed as a merchantman. She was last listed in 1809.
Several ships have been named Lucy.