Grand Sachem was launched at Newburyport, Massachusetts in 1801. She was registered at Bideford in 1803, but until 1815 sailed from Milford Haven. Between approximately 1803 and 1822, she made eight voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She was last listed in 1822 and was broken up in 1826.
Grand Sachem was first registered at Newburyport in December 1801 with Josiah Bartlett as master. She was registered again in November 1802 with Coffin Whippey as master.[1]
After she sailed to England she was registered at Bideford in 1803. She did not appear in Lloyd's Register (LR) until 1810, suggesting that she remained owned in the United States.
1st whaling voyage (1803/1804–1805): At some point in 1803 or 1804 Grand Sachem sailed for the southern whale fishery.
On 3 August 1805, HMSCalcutta, Captain Woodriff, left St Helena as escort of a motley convoy to England. The convoy consisted of the East India company's "extra-ship" Indus, from Madras, the southern whaler African from Desolation Island, the whaler Fox from the Mozambique channel, the whaler Grand Sachem from the Peruvian coast and bound to Milford, the Prussian ship Wilhelmina, which Calcutta had detained on her way out to St Helena, and the large Swedish ship Carolina, which was sailing from China and asked to join.[2]
On 25 September 1805, the convoy was in the Channel south of the Isles of Scilly when it encountered Allemand's squadron. Calcutta engaged the French squadron and was captured, sacrificing herself for the convoy, which escaped.[3]Fox and Grand Sachem went into Kinsale.
2nd whaling voyage (1806–1808): Captain Coffin Whippey sailed from Milford Haven on 21 April 1806. In March–April 1807 Grand Sachem was off New Zealand. She arrived at Port Jackson from the fishery on 11 September 1807, with oil. She left for the fishery on 26 September, with oil. The record of her visit shows her as an American vessel.[4] In June 1808 Grand Sacham, Whippey, master, was in Bay of Islands, together with Commerce, Ceroni, master, and Inspector, Poole, master. Grand Sachem and Inspector were full of oil and preparing to return to England.[5]Grand Sachem arrived back in England on 11 August.
She first appeared in Lloyd's Register in the volume for 1810.[6][lower-alpha 1]
Year
Master
Owner
Trade
Source
1809
Denman
B.Roche
Cork
LR
3rd whaling voyage (1809–1811): Captain Dunnaman sailed from London on 30 May 1809. Grand Sachem was at Cork on 17 June, bound for the South Seas. Around early August 1811 she was reported at Timor with 1500 barrels. Other vessels there were Albion, Skelton, master, William Fennings, Richardson, master, and Greenwich, Bristow, master.[7]Grand Sachem returned to Milford Haven on 11 November 1811.
Year
Master
Owner
Trade
Source
1812
Denman J.Coffin
B.Roche
Cork
LR
4th whaling voyage (1812–1814): Captain Coffin sailed from Cork on 4 April 1812, in a convoy for the West Indies under escort of the Cruizer-classbrig-sloopHMSTrinculo. Grand Sachem parted from the convoy on 18 April at 36°55′N18°56′W / 36.917°N 18.933°W / 36.917; -18.933. She had lost the gudgeons of her rudder and Commander Alexander Renny,[8] of Trinculo, had ordered Coffin to make for the nearest port.[9]
In 1813 the British East India Company (EIC) had lost its monopoly on the trade between India and Britain. British ships were then free to sail to India or the Indian Ocean under a licence from the EIC.[11]Grand Sachem's owners applied for a licence to sail to certain ports in the East Indies under the provisions for whalers. They applied on 21 August and received the licence on 23 August.[12]
On 31 July 1814 Grand Sachem was at St Helena, waiting for a convoy. She was at Falmuth on 29 October, described as a "full ship". She had left St Helena under convoy by HMSBarracouta. Grand Sachem returned to Milford Haven on 14 November 1814; she carried the product of the 96 whales her crew had killed.
Benjamin Rotch had suffered financial hardship and in 1814 he moved his family and several ships to London.[lower-alpha 2]Grand Sachem was offered for sale at auction in late July 1815, lying in the Surrey Canal. In 1815 ownership transferred to William & Daniel Bennett, London.
5th whaling voyage (1815–1816): Captain James Downey sailed from London in 1815, bound for Desolation Island. He returned to London on 20 June 1816 with 360 casks of whale oil and 20 seal skins.
6th whaling voyage (1816–1818): Captain Joseph Darney sailed from London on 4 August 1816; on 4 September she was at Boa Vista, Cape Verde. She arrived at the Cape of Good Hope from Desolation Island on 15 February 1818, and sailed for London on 21 February. On 15 April, at 25°53′N37°30′W / 25.883°N 37.500°W / 25.883; -37.500, Grand Sachem, which was returning from whaling at Desolation Island, spoke Alexander, Surflen, master, which was returning to London.[14]Grand Sachem arrived at London on 5 May 1818 with 400 casks and 1600 seal skins.
7th whaling voyage (1818–1819): On 22 June 1818, Grand Sachem, [David] Littlejohn, master, sailed from Gravesend, Kent for the South Seas. Two days later she was at Deal. On 3 February 1819 Grand Sachem, Littlejohn, master, was at South Georgia with 50 tuns of oil. Also there were Ann, Dowell, master, Indispensable, Brown, master, Arab, Barclay, master, and MaryAnn, Todrig, master.[15]Grand Sachem returned to England on 28 May with 150 casks of oil and 180 seal skins. This cargo was worth perhaps £1,300.[16]
8th whaling voyage (1819–1822): Captain Woodward sailed from London on 17 September 1819. On 23 August 1820, the schooner Magnet, Vine, master, spoke a boat from Grand Sachem off the island of Boure. Captain Vine learned that Captain White of Grand Sachem had died some time before, and that her first officer had deserted at Ambonya, following the levelling of some criminal accusations against him.[17]
On 18 December 1821 Sisters, Earle, master, arrived at Milford Haven. She had left Grand Sachem "on the Coast" with 1200 barrels.[lower-alpha 3]Syren, Coffin, master, Emma, Sir Charles Price, and Emerald were also there.[18] On 16 November 1821 Grand Sachem, Wright, master, sailed for London from St Helena. On 15 January 1822. Grand Sachem, Woodward, master, was at Deal, having come from Timor.[lower-alpha 4] On 22 January she arrived at Gravesend.
Fate
After her return to London Grand Sachem was laid up. She did not again appear in Lloyd's List's ship arrival and departure data. Also, the volumes for 1823 of Lloyd's Register and the Register of Shipping no longer listed her. She was broken up in 1826.[19]
Notes
↑ The 1809 volume is missing the "G" supplemental pages.
↑ "On the coast" is off the coast of Japan. In April 1820 Syren had voyaged to the east of Japan. She spoke Grand Sachem on 6 October 1820. When Syren returned to the Moluccas in late 1820, even more vessels found out about this. Hence their presence off Japan in 1821.
↑ Home-based masters were quite common. The owners would often employ a master who would prepare the vessel or collect it on its return so that the voyage master could arrive from their home a little later or return to their home a little more quickly.
Albion was a full-rigged whaler built at Deptford, England, and launched in 1798. She made five whaling voyages to the seas around New South Wales and New Zealand. The government chartered her in 1803 to transport stores and cattle, to Risdon Cove on the River Derwent, Tasmania.
Indispensable was a sailing ship built in France and launched in 1791. She was captured in 1793 at the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars and thus came into British hands, keeping her name. She performed two voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1793 and 1797. During this period and later she made two voyages transporting convicts to New South Wales. Amongst her notable events were the discovery of Indispensable Strait (1794), the capture of a Spanish vessel (1798), and the rescue of some castaways (1814). She later went on serve as a whaler in the South Seas until autumn 1827. She ceased trading after this last voyage and was broken up by April 1830.
HMS Kangaroo was an 18-gun sloop of the Royal Navy launched in 1805. The Navy sold her in 1815 and she became the whaler Countess of Morley. After three whaling voyages she became a merchantman. She may have been condemned c.1827; she was last listed in 1833.
Ganges was a ship launched in 1798 at Philadelphia, probably for French owners. During the Peace of Amiens her registration and homeport became Dunkirk. Her French owners sent her to engage in whaling at Delagoa Bay, where the British letter of marque whaler Scorpion captured her in 1803. She then made one whaling voyage to Isle of Desolation before a French squadron captured her in 1806 during a second whaling voyage. Accounts differ as to whether her captors sank her, or released her and she continued to operate as a merchant vessel until 1814.
Baroness Longueville was a ship built in New York in 1804. She may have been a prize, but from 1806 on she sailed first as a merchantman, and then as a whaler for Samuel Enderby & Sons. She made at least four whaling voyages. She is last listed in Lloyd's Register in 1825.
Martha was launched at Quebec in 1810 and transferred her registry to Great Britain in 1811. In 1818 she transported convicts to Port Jackson, New South Wales. She remained in the South Pacific as a whaler until she was condemned in 1820 as unseaworthy and then sold for breaking up.
Emma was a merchant vessel launched at Calcutta in 1809 that in 1810 served as a government armed ship in the British invasion of Île de France. In 1811 she sailed to England where she was sold. She then became a transport and later a whaler. Between 1815 and 1853 she made 11 whaling voyages. She was then sold and became a merchantman on the England-Australia run. Between 1851 and 1853 she made one more whaling voyage to the South Seas fisheries. She then returned to the England-Australia trade. In 1857 her home port became Hull, and she became a Greenland whaler, though that role may have begun as early as 1855. She was converted in 1864 to a screw steamer but was lost in April while seal hunting.
Renown was launched in 1794 at New Bedford, Massachusetts. She made four voyages from Nantucket as a whaler. In 1813, while she was on her fifth American whaling voyage, she became the first American whaler that British whalers captured in the South Seas. She was sold in London and under the name Adam became first a London-based transport and then a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She made four whaling voyages and was wrecked in 1825 at the outset of her fifth British whaling voyage.
Norfolk was built in France in 1784 under a different name. The British captured her c. 1800 and she made some voyages as a West Indiaman. She also made a cruise as a privateer. Between 1803 and 1808 she served the Royal Navy as an armed defense and hired armed ship on the Leith Station. She spent her time escorting convoys in the North Sea and captured one French privateer. After her naval service, between 1808 and 1814 Norfolk was a London-based transport. From 1814 to 1820 she made four voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She was last listed in 1823.
Cicero was launched at Sunderland in 1796 and initially sailed as a West Indiaman. She was briefly captured in 1799 in a single-ship action with a French privateer. Later, she went whale hunting both in the northern whale fishery (1803-1808), and the southern whale fishery (1816-1823). She capsized at Limerick in September 1832 and was condemned there.
Venus was launched at Deptford in 1788 and made 15 voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. Of 812 whalers in the British southern whale fishery database for which there was data, she had the fifth highest number of whaling voyages. She was last listed in 1823.
Hermes was built in Quebec in 1811. She traded widely before she made two voyages as a whaler to the British Southern Whale Fishery. She was wrecked in 1822 during the second voyage.
Sir Charles Price was launched in America in 1812 under another name. The British captured her c.1814 and Daniel Bennett purchased her and added her to his fleet of whalers. She made six complete whaling voyages to the southern whale fishery, and was lost in 1833 on her seventh 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.
Thames was a Spanish vessel launched in 1804, almost certainly under a different name, and captured circa 1805. She became a whaler, making eight whaling voyages between 1805 and 1826. Although the registers carried Thames for some years after her return from her eighth voyage, there is no evidence that she ever sailed again.
Rambler was a ship built in France and taken in prize in 1797. However, she did not appear under the name Rambler until 1803 when William Bennett purchased her for use as a whaler. He may, therefore, have renamed her. She made three complete voyages as a whaler. A French privateer captured her in 1807 as Rambler was returning from her fourth whaling voyage.
Harriet was launched in Massachusetts in 1809. The British captured her and on 13 January 1813 a prize court condemned her. New owners retained her name. She became a West Indiaman, and made one voyage to New South Wales. Between 1818 and 1832 she made four complete voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She was lost in October 1833 in the Seychelles on her fifth whaling voyage.
Transit was launched at Bristol in 1817 and immediately registered at Bristol. Initially she sailed to the Baltic and the Mediterranean. In 1820 she made the first of two voyages as a whaler in the southern whale fishery. She was condemned at Manila circa 1825 during her second whaling voyage.
Zephyr was a vessel built in the United States that the Royal Navy captured in late 1813. Between 1814 and 1840, when she was lost, she made eight voyages as a whaler in the southern whale fishery.
HMS Inspector was launched at Wivenhoe in 1782 as the only vessel built to her design. She participated in one campaign and also captured a handful of small merchant vessels before the Navy sold her in 1802. Most notably, her crew participated in the mutiny at the Nore. After her sale, she became the whaler Inspector. She made six complete voyages to the British southern whale fishery. A Chilean privateer captured her in May 1819. Eventually she was condemned as unseaworthy at Santander in 1821.
References
Clayton, Jane (2007). "Nantucket Whalers in Milford Haven, Wales". Historic Nantucket. 56 (1): 4–7.
Hackman, Rowan (2001). Ships of the East India Company. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN0-905617-96-7.
House of Commons, Parliament, Great Britain (1816). Parliamentary Papers. Vol.10.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Jones, A.G.E. (1971). "Voyages to South Georgia, 1795–1820". British Antarctic Survey Bulletin (32): 15–22.
Stanbury, Myra; Henderson, Kandy-Jane; Derrien, Bernard; Bigourdan, Nicolas; Le Touze, Evelyne (2015). "Chapter 18: Epilogue". In Stanbury, Myra (ed.). The Mermaid Atoll Shipwreck: A Mysterious Early 19th-century Loss. Fremantle, WA: Australian National Centre of Excellence for Maritime Archaeology and the Australasian Institute for Maritime Archaeology. pp.235–290. ISBN9781876465094.
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