| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Builder | Thames |
| Launched | 1783 |
| Fate | Condemned 1824 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 300, [1] or 330, or 334, [2] or 346 [3] (bm) |
| Armament | 2 × 6-pounder guns (1810) |
King George was built on the Thames in 1783 as a West Indiaman. From 1817 she made four voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She was condemned at Guayaquil in 1824 on her fifth.
King George first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1783 with O'Brian, master, Neave & Co., owners, and trade London–Antigua. [1]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1790 | O'Brian | A.Wilcock | London–Antigua | LR; damages and good repair 1790 |
| 1795 | O'Brian | A.Wilcock Neave & Co. | London–Dominica | LR; damages repaired 1790 |
| 1800 | O'Brian | Neave & Co. | London–Dominica | RS; damages repaired 1790 [3] |
| 1805 | J.Cotter | Neave & Co. | London–St Vincent | LR; damages repaired 1790 & good repair 1800 |
| 1810 | J.Cotter | Neave & Co. | London–St Vincent | RS; damages repaired 1790 & good repair 1800 |
| 1816 | J.Cotter | Neave & Co. | London–St Vincent | RS; damages repaired 1790 & good repair 1800 |
| 1818 | F.Todrig | Neave & Co. | London–South Seas | LR; good repair 1813 |
1st whaling voyage (1817–1818): Captain Francis Todrig sailed from London on 9 May 1817. King George returned on 29 March 1818 with 490 casks of whale oil and 160 seal skins. [2]
2nd whaling voyage (1818–1819): From this voyage Todrig & Co. owned King George. [2] Captain Kemp sailed on 16 June 1818 for the South Seas. [4] King George, Kemp, master, returned on 29 October 1819 with 250 casks of whale oil, fins, and two seal skins. [2]
3rd whaling voyage (1820–1821): Captain Thomas Duell (or Dewell), sailed from London on 8 February 1820, bound for the coast of Africa. [2] On 10 June she was in Mossel Bay. On 10 August 1820 she was at Saint Helena, having come from the coast of Africa. On 13 August she sailed for the Brazil coast. [5] On 10 April 1821 she sailed from Saint Helena for England. King George returned on 24 July 1821 with 650 casks of whale oil, the fins of three whales, and 1,550 seal skins. [2]
4th whaling voyage (1821–1822): Captain Todrig sailed from Deal on 17 October 1821, bound for the South Seas. [6] On 29 October she sailed from Torbay, still bound for the South Seas. On 31 March 1822 King George was at South Georgia with three tons of oil. [7]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1821 | Todrig Brian | Todrig | London–South Seas | LR; good repair 1815 & thorough repair 1821 |
5th whaling voyage (1823–Loss):King George, Bryan, master, arrived at the Cape of Good Hope on 1 February 1823 from Tristan da Cunha. [8] The "King George Whaler", Captain Charles Bryan, sailed on 25 April from the Cape. [9] On 17 July the whaler King George, Captain Charles Bryant, from England, via the Cape, in ballast, put into Storm Bay Passage (Derwent River (Tasmania)), to join Thalia, for the whaling season. [10] In late September King George, and her tender, the 28-ton (bm) sloop Success, Anderson, master, came into Hobart. [11] [lower-alpha 1] [lower-alpha 2]
King George sailed again in November for New Zealand. On 19 October 1824 Lloyd's List reported that King George "Whaler, late Bryan", had been condemned at Guayaquil. [15]
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.
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.
Henry Wellesley was a barque built in 1804 by Bacon, Harvey & Company at Calcutta, British India. In 1808 a French privateer captured her, but she returned to British ownership. Between 1820 and 1824 she was a whaler that made three voyages to the British southern whale fishery. Later, she twice transported women convicts from England to Port Jackson, New South Wales. She was wrecked near Calais in 1841.
Cumberland was launched in 1800 and sailed as a West Indiaman until 1807 or 1808 when she was sold to Enderbys. She then made five voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. Enderbys sold Cumberland and she proceeded to sail between England and Australia. In 1827 she sailed from Hobart and was never seen again. It later transpired that pirates had captured her off the Falkland Islands and killed her crew and passengers.
Emma was a merchant vessel launched at Calcutta in 1809 that served as a government armed ship in the British invasion of Île de France in 1810. 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.
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.
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.
Vansittart was launched at New York in 1807, under another name. She was captured c.1814 and new owners gave her the name Vansittart. She was initially a West Indiaman. Then between 1817 and 1837 she made seven voyages as a whaler in the British Southern Whale Fisheries. Thereafter she was a merchantman sailing out of Shields. She foundered on 2 February 1855.
Jane was an American vessel launched in 1810 or 1812 and taken in prize, first appearing in British registers in 1818. She then became a whaler. Under the command of Captain James Weddell she explored the area around the South Shetland Islands and in 1823 reached the southernmost point ever reached until then. From about 1825 on she traded generally as a merchantman until she was condemned in 1829.
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.
L'Aigle was launched in France in 1801, 1802, or 1803. The British Royal Navy captured her in 1809. From 1810 to 1817, she was a West Indiaman. From 1817 L'Aigle made four complete voyages as a whaler in the British Southern Whale fishery. On her third whaling voyage, she carried King Kamehameha II of Hawaii and Queen Kamāmalu with a number of their retainers and Hawaiian notables to England. She was lost on 6 March 1830 on her fifth whaling voyage.
Princess of Wales was launched at Broadstairs in 1796 as a Margate hoy. She was rebuilt in 1815. She became a sloop, but was referred to as a cutter. She left on her first seal hunting voyage in 1820 and was wrecked in March 1821 at the Crozet Islands.
Brixton was built in the United States of America in 1802, with sources disagreeing on where, and under a different name. The British Royal Navy seized her in 1805 and she was sold in prize. She then traded widely, sailing to the West Indies, Canada, Bengal, Australia, and Russia. Between 1835 and 1842 she made two voyages to the southern whale fishery as a whaling ship, and was last listed in 1842.
Harriet was launched at Calcutta, between 1793 and 1795. Between 1795 and 1801 she made three voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), and was chartered for use as a transport for a naval campaign that was cancelled. She became a transport and then in 1817 made another voyage to India, this time under a license from the EIC. She then became a whaler in the British Southern Whale Fishery, making seven complete whaling voyages and being lost c.1841 on her eighth.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.