| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | Isabella |
| Builder | America |
| Launched | 1793 |
| Fate | Last listed 1813 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 349 (bm) |
| Armament | 6 × 9-pounder guns |
Isabella was launched in 1773 in America, possibly under another name. She appeared in United Kingdom sources in 1802 and between 1802 and 1810 she made nine annual voyages as a whaler in the northern whale fishery (Davis Strait (DS) and Greenland (Gr)). She was last listed in 1813 with data unchanged since 1810.
Isabella first appeared in the Register of Shipping (RS) in 1804. [1] By then she had been sailing out of Newcastle as a whaler for some time.
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1804 | Clarke | Humble | Newcastle–Davis Strait | RS; thorough repair 1794 & 1802 |
| Year | Master | Where | "Fish" (Whales) | Tuns blubber |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1802 | Clark | DS | 12 | 219 |
| 1803 | 13 | 270.25 | ||
| 1804 | DS | 11 | 157 | |
| 1805 | Clark | DS | 13 or 19 | 267.5 |
| 1806 | Clark | 3 | 82.5 | |
| 1807 | Clark | DS | 7 | 167.5 or 192, + 5 tons of fins |
| 1808 | Lambert | DS | 15 | 152.25 |
In 1805 one of the whales that Isabella had killed was one of the largest whales ever caught.
When Isabella returned home to Newcastle in 1808 one of her crewmen lost his arm. The arm was shot off when he fired a cannon to signal her arrival. [2]
On 17 December 1808 HMS Briseis towed Isabella, of Newcastle, Lambert, master, into Harwich. Isabella had been sailing from Calmar to Hull when she became distressed. she had five feet of water in her hold, part of her cargo and guns had been thrown overboard, and her foreyard and her sails from the foreyard had been cut down. Her crew had been about to take to her boats and abandon her when Briseis came on the scene. [3]
| Year | Master | Where | "Fish" (Whales) | Tuns blubber |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1809 | Johnson | Gr | 15 | 300 |
| 1810 | 21 | 322.25 |
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1810 | Clarke | Humble | Newcastle–Davis Strait | RS; thorough repair 1806 |
Isabella was last listed in the Register of Shipping in 1813, with data unchanged since 1810.
HMS Briseis was a 10-gun Cherokee- class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, launched in 1808 at Upnor, on the River Medway. She participated in one notable single ship action before she wrecked in 1816.
Many ships have borne the name Isabella:
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.
HMS Swift was the whaler Pacific launched in 1802 that the British Royal Navy purchased in 1804 on her return from the Galápagos Islands. She served briefly in the Caribbean where she was involved in one notable capture of a Spanish garda-costa. She then served in the North Sea. The Navy laid her up July 1807, but then returned her to duty in 1810 as a storeship. The Navy sold her in 1814. She then resumed the name Pacific and returned to mercantile service. She was wrecked in 1828 but remained listed in 1833.
Eliza was a French prize that made nine voyages as a whaler between 1802 and 1822. She is last listed in 1824.
Swan was launched at Flensburg in 1806. By 1808 Samuel Enderby & Sons had acquired her. Between 1808 and 1810 she made one whaling voyage during which she rediscovered Bouvet Island. The Enderbys sold her and from 1811 on she traded widely. Then in 1823 the Enderbys repurchased her and she made two more whaling voyages for them, this time on a reconnaissance voyage to the waters around and north of the Seychelles. Although she herself was not very successful, her reports of abundant whales resulted in other whalers exploiting a new whaling ground. The Enderbys sold her again and she then became a West Indiaman. She was last listed in 1833.
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.
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.
Duchess of Portland was launched at Bristol in 1783. She was primarily a West Indiaman. However, she made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people, and two as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She then became a transport. The US Navy captured her in 1812. She was in ballast and her captors burnt her.
Regalia was launched at Sunderland in 1811. In 1819 she made a voyage to Calcutta, sailing under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). She also sailed to New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land. From Sydney she engaged in several sealing hunting voyages to the waters around Macquarie Island. In 1826 she transported convicts from Dublin to New South Wales. From 1831 until 1852, when she was wrecked at Davis Strait, Regalia was a whaler in the northern whale fishery.
Gardiner and Joseph was launched at Hull in 1802. She made seven voyages as a whaler in the northern whale fishery until she was wrecked in November 1808.
Gardiner and Joseph was launched at Hull in 1810. She made 11 voyages to Greenland or Davis Strait as a whaler in the northern whale fishery. She then traded briefly between Hull and North America. She foundered on 9 October 1824.
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.
Carleton was launched in New Brunswick or Nova Scotia in 1802. First she traded between Liverpool and North America. Then between 1806 and 1807 she made one voyage as a whaler to Van Diemen's Land. Afterwards she traded with the Caribbean and Malta, and was lost while sailing from Hull to Quebec.
Caledonia was launched in 1780 in Spain. She apparently was taken in prize circa 1797. She made one voyage to the Caribbean and then under a subsequent owner made five voyages as a whaler in the Southern Whale Fishery. She may then have become a transport, but though listed in the registries until 1813, does not clearly appear in ship arrival and departure data after 1805.
HMS Woodlark was launched in 1808 and commissioned in 1809. The Royal Navy sold her in 1818. She then became a merchantman with her new owners retaining her name. From 1820/1821 she became a whaler, sailing out of Port Jackson. She was still sailing as late as the late 1850s.
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.
Trelawney was launched in 1775 at Liverpool as Clayton, sailing as a West Indiaman. She first appeared as Trelawney in 1779. Between early 1788 and end-1790 she made two voyages as a whaler in the northern whale fishery, and one in the southern whale fishery. Her return from the southern fishery resulted in her owners suing the government for a bounty payment; the owners won. She disappeared from the registers between 1794 and 1800. In 1800 she reappeared as a coaster, sailing between the River Tyne and London. In 1809 she started sailing across the North Atlantic to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Quebec. A United States privateer captured her in 1812.