Harmony was launched in 1798 in Lancaster as a West Indiaman. Between 1805 and 1807 she sailed to the Pacific on a privateering voyage (Spain and England then being at war). Early in the voyage she was engaged in a single ship action in which her target repelled the attack, killing Harmony's master and inflicting severe casualties on her crew. Although Harmony returned to trading with the West Indies, in 1817 she made one voyage to India under a licence from the British East India Company. On her return she traded between Hull and Petersburg, and Quebec. New owners in 1821 decided to use her as a whaler in the northern whale fishery. She was lost there on her first whaling voyage.
On 27 April 1804, Harmony, Reed, master, was in company with Nile, Griffiths, master, when Nile foundered at 50°N28°W / 50°N 28°W / 50; -28 after having thrown her guns overboard. Both were sailing from St Thomas at the time. Harmony and May rescued the crew and brought them into Liverpool.[3]
When Harmony returned to Liverpool on 28 February 1805, she carried a cargo of 110 tons of fustic, 824 bales of cotton, and staves. She had come from St Thomas via Charleston.
Year
Master
Owner
Trade
Source & notes
1805
J.Reid L.Affleck
Ritchie
Greenock–St Thomas
LR
1806
L.Affleck
Ritchie
Greenock–Madeira
LR
1806
Affleck
Ritchie
Greenock–Jamaica Greenock–South Seas
RS; thorough repair 1804
Voyage to the Pacific (1805–1807): Captain Ludwige Affleck acquired a letter of marque on 25 June 1805.[1][lower-alpha 1] On 22 September Harmony, Affleck, master, sailed from the Clyde for Madeira. On 20 October Harmony was at 11°00′S33°30′W / 11.000°S 33.500°W / -11.000; -33.500, off Tenerife, when she encountered a brig of 16 guns and 170 men, that Affleck believed to be Spanish though the brig was not flying colours. He determined to capture her. The winds were too light to permit Harmony to get close to the brig so Affleck took 23 men in one boat and 22 men in two other boats, and rowed towards the brig. As they came alongside the men on the brig opened fire with small arms and repelled the attack. The British had to withdraw, having lost Affleck and eight men killed, and 18 men wounded, many seriously.[5]
In December 1806 Harmony, Smith (late Affleck), master, was at Rio de Janeiro. There she took on enough men to increase her complement to more than 100 men.[6]
On 28 October 1806, Harmony, [Frazer] Smith, master, late Affleck, was reported well on the coast of Chili, and was expected to sail for England 16 days later. On 3 September 1807 Harmony, Smith, master, arrived back in the Clyde from the South Seas.
Captain John Innis acquired a letter of marque on 18 November 1807.[1]
Year
Master
Owner
Trade
Source & notes
1808
Affleck Innis Duncan
Ritchie
Greenock–Madeira
LR
1809
J.Innis Duncan
Ritchie
Greenock–West Indies
Register of Shipping; thorough repair 1804 & damages repaired 1808
Innis sailed Harmony to Demerara. On her way back to Britain in June 1808 she had to put into Grenada, having sustained damage.[7] On 8 September Harmony, Innes, master, coming from Suriname, arrived at Gravesend.
Year
Master
Owner
Trade
Source & notes
1810
Malcolm Bells
Ritchie
London–Yucatan
LR; damages repaired 1810
On her way back from the Yucatan, Harmony, Malcolm, master, had to put into Havana for repairs. On 20 December 1809 she arrived back at Gravesend.
Year
Master
Owner
Trade
Source & notes
1812
Bell J.Hornby
Ritchie
London–West Indies
LR; damages repaired 1810
1814
Hornby T.Flint
Ritchie
Bristol–Guadeloupe
LR
1816
T.Flint
Ritchie
Cowes–Honduras
LR
In 1813 the 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.[8]
On 4 July 1817, Harmony, Wishart, master, sailed for Bombay under a licence from the EIC.[9] She arrived in Bengal on 27 November. She arrived back at Hull on 1 August 1818.[lower-alpha 2]
Year
Master
Owner
Trade
Source & notes
1818
T.Clark Thompson
Bolton & Co. Lett & Co.
Hull–India
LR
1819
W.Thompson
Lett & Co.
Hull–Petersburg
LR
1820
W.Thompson J.Norman
Loft & Co.
Hull–Petersburg
LR; large repair 1819
1821
J.Norman J.Glenton
Loft & Co.
Hull–Quebec
LR; large repair 1819 & 1820
1822
Glenton
Gee & Co.
Hull–Davis Strait
RS; good repair 1817 and thorough repair 1821
Fate
Harmony became a whaler in the northern whale fishery whaler and was lost in 1821 in Davis Strait.[11] She was one of 10 whalers lost in Davis Strait that year.[12]
The Register of Shipping for 1822 had the annotation "LOST" by her name.[13]
Notes
↑ Although major sources on the whaling trade, such as Clayton,[4] suspect that this voyage was for whaling, it was almost certainly a privateering voyage. At the time Britain and Spain were at war, and several British vessels sailed to privateer off the coast of South America. The extent of Harmony's armament and the size of her crew were more consistent with privateering than whaling.
↑ Harmony does not appear in the most complete listing of vessels sailing for the EIC or under a licence from it.[10]
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.
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.
Admiral Gardner was launched in 1797 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made five voyages for the EIC, during the fourth of which she participated in an inconclusive single-ship action with a French privateer. Admiral Gardner was wrecked in January 1809. The wreck is a Protected Wreck managed by Historic England. She was named after Admiral Alan Gardner.
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.
Several ships have borne the name Caledonia for Caledonia:
Eliza was built in Spain in 1794 under another name and taken as a prize circa 1800. She then made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). On her return she made one voyage to Timor as a whaler. She next became a West Indiaman. In 1810 she apparently was sold to Portuguese interests and who continued to sail her under the name Courier de Londres. She is last listed in 1814.
Glenmore was launched in 1806 at Elgin. She was initially a West Indiaman. She made one voyage to Bengal in 1813–14. She became a Greenland whaler in 1818 and made four full whaling voyages. She was lost in the White Sea in 1822.
During the Age of Sail many merchant ships were named Ganges, after the Ganges river in India.
Comet was launched in 1791 at Rotherhithe. At the outbreak of war with France, she briefly became a privateer before the British East India Company (EIC) chartered her for one voyage to bring back sugar, saltpeter, and other goods from Bengal. Between 1812 and 1821 she made three voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. Then between 1823 and 1840 she became a whaler based in Hull, whaling in the northern whale fishery. She returned to trade in 1841 and was lost on 1 December 1843 homeward bound from Quebec.
Hebe was launched at Hull in 1809. She initially sailed as a West Indiaman, but then sailed to the Mediterranean. In 1813 a privateer captured her but the Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. Between 1816 and 1819 she made two voyages to India, sailing under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). On her return new owners sailed her as a whaler. She was wrecked on 10 March 1821 on her second whaling voyage to the British northern whale fishery.
Sally was launched in 1782 at Liverpool as a West Indiaman. She made one voyage as a whaler and one as an East Indiaman sailing to Bengal under charter to the British East India Company (EIC). After a storm damaged her in 1805 as she was on her way in 1805 from Liverpool to Africa as a slave ship she had to put into Barbados where she was condemned.
Fame was launched in India in 1786. She was sold to Portuguese owners. A French privateer captured but the Royal Navy recaptured her in 1794. She then became a West Indiaman, sailing from Liverpool. Between 1796 and 1804 she made three voyages as a slave ship. She then returned to the West Indies trade. From 1818 on she was a whaler in the Greenland whale fishery, sailing from Whitby and then Hull. She burnt in 1823 while outward bound on a whaling voyage.
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.
Carmarthen was launched in 1802 as an East Indiaman. She made eight round voyages as an "extra" ship for the British East India Company (EIC). On her first voyage she participated in an experiment in bringing variolation to India and other British possessions to combat smallpox. After leaving the EIC's employment, she took one more voyage to India, sailing under a licence from the EIC. She was last listed in 1820.
Indus was launched in 1803 at Newcastle on Tyne. In 1804 the British East India Company (EIC) hired her for six voyages to India as an "extra ship". She completed the last of these six voyages in 1814. Thereafter she continued to trade with India, but privately, sailing under a licence from the EIC. She was last listed in 1823.
Mediterranean was launched in 1810 in Lowestoft or Great Yarmouth. Initially she sailed to the Mediterranean. Between 1819 and 1823 she made two voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She then traded with India, sailing under a licence from the British East India Company (EIC). She may have shifted to India, before returning to British registry in 1835–1837 while performing a third whaling voyage. She then disappeared from online records.
Several ships have been named Harmony:
Traveller was launched at Peterhead in 1815. She made three voyages to India, sailing under a licence from the British East India Company (EIC), and then from 1821 to 1858 she was a whaler and sealer in the British northern whale fishery. She was wrecked on 2 May 1858.
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.
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.
References
Clayton, Jane M (2014). Ships employed in the South Sea Whale Fishery from Britain: 1775–1815: An alphabetical list of ships. Berforts Group. ISBN9781908616524.
Hackman, Rowan (2001). Ships of the East India Company. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN0-905617-96-7.
Pope, Charles (1831). The Merchant, Ship-Owner, and Ship-Master's Custom and Excise Guide ... Eighth edition.
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