| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Hope |
| Launched | 1802, Peterhead [1] |
| Fate | Lost 3 July 1830 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 242, [2] or 242 [1] (bm) |
Hope was launched at Peterhead in 1802. She was a whaler in the British northern whale fishery for her entire career. She was lost on 3 July 1830 in the Davis Strait. Her crew were rescued. [3]
The Peterhead Greenland whale fishery began in 1788 with a voyage by a relatively small vessel, Robert, of 169 tons (bm). In 1798 Alexander Geary became master of Robert, and under his command her success improved markedly: she brought in four whales that yielded more than 70 tons of whale oil. However, she was a small vessel, and ill-suited to the business. In 1801, her owners sold her. The newly-built Hope, with Geary in command, replaced Robert. Hope was larger, at 240 tons (bm), and better equipped for Arctic work. In her first whaling season, Hope took 11 whales and brought home more than 117 tons of blubber. [4]
At about this time, Geary, with others, formed Peterhead's first whaling company. They purchased a granary at Keith Inch and converted it into a boil house and stores. [4]
The data below is from the Scottish Arctic Whaling Database. [5]
| Year | Master | Where | Whales | Tuns whale oil |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1802 | A.Geary | East Greenland | Full | |
| 1803 | A.Geary | East Greenland | 8 | |
| 1804 | A.Geary | East Greenland | 20 | |
| 1805 | A.Geary | East Greenland | 20 | |
| 1806 | A.Geary | East Greenland | 6 | |
| 1807 | A.Geary | East Greenland | 9 | |
| 1808 | A.Geary | East Greenland | 27 | |
| 1809 | A.Geary | East Greenland | 26 | |
| 1810 | G.Sangster | East Greenland | 17 | |
| 1811 | G.Sangster | East Greenland | 27 | |
| 1812 | A.Geary | East Greenland | 21 | |
| 1813 | A.Geary | East Greenland | 8 | |
| 1814 | T.Phillips | East Greenland | 14 | 157 |
Eighteen-fourteen was the most successful year for Peterhead whalers. The seven Peterhead whalers killed a total of 163 whales to bring in a total of 192 tuns of whale oil; this gives an average of 198½ tuns per whale. Hope was the least successful of the seven whalers. [2]
| Year | Master | Where | Whales | Tuns whale oil |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1815 | T.Phillips | East Greenland | 5 | 85 |
| 1816 | W.Robertson | East Greenland | 10 | 61 |
| 1817 | W.Robertson | East Greenland | 9 | 103 |
| 1818 | W.Robertson | East Greenland | 3 | 36 |
| 1819 | A.Mackie | East Greenland | 6 + 47 seals | 26 |
| 1820 | A.Mackie | East Greenland | 2 + 45 seals | 9 |
In 1821 she was registered at Aberdeen with Mackie, master, and John Hutchinson, owner. [1]
| Year | Master | Where | Whales | Tuns whale oil |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1821 | W.Robertson | East Greenland | 10 | 113 |
| 1822 | W.Robertson | East Greenland | 4 | 73 |
| 1823 | J.Gilchrist | East Greenland | 13 | 192 |
| 1824 | J.Birnie | East Greenland | 7 | 101 |
| 1825 | J.Volum | Davis Strait | 6 | 72 |
| 1826 | J.Volum | Davis Strait | 1 | 17 |
| 1827 | J.Volum | East Greenland | 7 | 56 |
| 1828 | J.Volum | Davis Strait | 7 | 112 |
| 1829 | J.Volum | Davis Strait | 8 | 120 |
| 1830 | J.Volum | Davis Strait | 0 | 0 |
Hope was lost on 3 July 1830. She was one of the many whalers lost in 1830. She was Peterhead's longest-serving whaler. [2]
Eighteen-thirty was the worst year for ship losses in the Arctic since 1819, when whalers first crossed the straits. Eighteen whalers (or 19), out of 91 vessels were lost, for a total tonnage of 5,614 tons (bm). The second highest loss had occurred in 1823 when 13 vessels totaling 4,409 tons (bm), were lost. [6]
HMS Rattler was a 16-gun sloop of the Royal Navy. Launched in March 1783, she saw service in the Leeward Islands and Nova Scotia before being paid off in 1792 and sold to whaling company Samuel Enderby & Sons. She made two voyages as a whaler and two as a slave ship before she was condemned in the Americas as unseaworthy in 1802. She returned to service though, sailing as a whaler in the northern whale fishery, sailing out of Leith. She continued whaling until ice crushed her in June 1830.
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.
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.
Commercial whaling in Britain began late in the 16th century and continued after the 1801 formation of the United Kingdom and intermittently until the middle of the 20th century.
Rambler was launched in America in 1812. The British captured her in 1813 as she was returning to America from Manila. She then briefly became a West Indiaman. In 1815 she became a whaler in the Southern Fishery. She made four complete whaling voyages and was wrecked on her fifth.
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.
Brunswick was launched at Hull and initially was a Greenland whaler. Her owner withdrew her from the northern whale fishery in 1836 and then deployed her sailing to New York and Sierra Leone. She was apparently on a voyage to India when she was wrecked on 7 April 1842.
Earl Fauconberg was launched at Whitby in 1765. From 1784 on she made numerous voyages as a Greenland whaler. She was lost there in 1821.
Aurora was launched at Kingston upon Hull. She traded with the Baltic until 1803 when she became a Greenland whaler. She was lost in 1821 on her 18th voyage to the northern whale fishery.
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.
Jane was launched in Aberdeen in 1797. She spent her entire career as a whaler in the British northern whale fishery. She was lost in 1829 in the Davis Strait.
Princess Charlotte was launched in 1814 at South Shields. She initially sailed as West Indiaman. Then between 1818 and 1819 she made a voyage to India and one to Ceylon, both under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). On her return in 1819, Princess Charlotte became a whaler in the northern whale fishery. She continued whale hunting until ice crushed her on 14 June 1856.
Spy was built in France in 1780, almost surely under another name, and taken in prize. The British East India Company (EIC) purchased her in 1781 and used her for almost two years as a fast packet vessel and cruiser based in St Helena. It then sold her and she became a London-based slave ship, making two voyages in the triangular trade carrying enslaved people from West Africa to the West Indies. She then became a whaler, making seven whaling voyages between 1786 and 1795. She was probably wrecked in August 1795 on a voyage as a government transport.
Achilles was launched in 1813 at Shields. She sailed from Shields to London and then operated for some years as a transport. She later traded more generally. In 1820 new owners moved her to Dundee. She became a whaler in the British northern whale fishery until she was lost there in 1830.
Monarch was launched at Whitby in 1810. In 1803 her owners sold her to the Montrose Whale Fishing Company. Between 1813 and 1839 she made 27 annual voyages to the northern whale fishery. Her most successful years were 1823 when she killed 28 whales and brought in 193 tuns of whale oil, and 1832 when she killed 24 whales and brought in 205 tuns of whale oil. She was last listed in 1838. However, she was sold in 1839 and still sailing to the Baltic for some time.
Zephyr was a vessel built at Hull in 1796. She initially traded with the Baltic, though for a year or so she was a London-based transport. From 1810 she made 27 voyages as a whaler in the northern whale fishery. She returned to mercantile trade and was last listed in 1853.
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.
William was launched at Kingston upon Hull in 1811. She made 19 complete voyages to Davis Strait and Greenland in the British northern whale fishery, but was lost to ice on her 20th. Her loss gave rise to an interesting case in claims for salvage.
Lady Forbes was launched at Leith in 1799. She became a West Indiaman, sailing under a series of letters of marque. She survived a major hurricane and an attack by pirates. From 1819, she was a whaler in the British northern whale fishery. She made three annual whaling voyages before she was lost in 1822 when ice crushed her.