| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | Molly |
| Launched | 1759 |
| Captured | 1806 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 273, or 290, or 300 (bm) |
| Armament |
|
Molly was launched in the Thirteen Colonies in 1759, probably under the same name. From 1776 on she was a whaler, sailing to the northern whale fishery from Kingston-on-Hull. She made annual whaling voyages until 1806 when a French frigate captured her.
Molly first appeared in an online copy of Lloyd's Register in 1776. [1] Although there is no readily accessible data on her career before 1775, apparently she had made 32 annual whaling voyages prior to her capture in 1806, which suggests that she had been whaling since 1774. She made the sixth most whaling voyages of any northern whale fishery whaler.
The whaling season lasted from March to July–August, or so. Favourable conditions could result in short seasons; in 1799 Molly sailed to Greenland on 17 March and returned to Hull 87 days later, on 12 June, [2] with a good catch. When not whaling, the vessels would frequently engage in the coal or Baltic trades, though with a crew a third of the size of that they required for whaling. [2]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1776 | Jn.Potts | B.Thompson B.Blaydes | Memel–Hull Hull–Greenland | LR |
Captain Potts remained Molly's master until 1786.
| Year | Master | Whales | Tuns whale oil | Seals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1775 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1776 | Potts | 3 | 28.25 | 0 |
| 1777 | Potts | 6 | 110 | 0 |
| 1778 | 2 | 36.5 | 0 | |
| 1779 | Potts | 11 | 92 | 15 |
| 1780 | Potts | 9 | 70 | 0 |
| 1781 | Potts | 7 | 100.5 | 0 |
| 1782 | Potts | 14 | 87.5 | 0 |
| 1783 | 8 | 60 | 0 | |
| 1784 | 100.5 | |||
| 1785 | Potts | 1 | 24.5 | 0 |
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1786 | Potts Edward Hall | Tong & Co. | Hull–Greenland | LR; good repair 1774, & new wales 1782 |
| Year | Master | Whales | Tuns whale oil | Seals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1786 | Hall | 9 | 427 | |
| 1787 | Hall | 4 | 86.5 | 0 |
In 1787 Molly was in Greenland when she took an extremely large whale. [3]
The largest whale I ever heard of was got in Greenland by Molly of Hull in 1787. It yielded no less than 40 tuns (the old-fashioned tun), and I believe it was the largest fish that ever was known to be got.
— Smith
That same year Chance gathered one whale. However, Molly claimed it. The matter went to court and on 30 November 1787 the judge found for the plaintiff. The judge awarded Molly £478. [4]
| Year | Master | Whales | Tuns whale oil | Seals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1788 | Hall | 7 | 60 | 7 |
| 1789 | Hall | 1 | 9 | 140 |
| 1790 | 8 | 88 | 0 | |
| 1791 | Hall | |||
| 1792 | Hall | 3 | 35 | 0 |
| 1793 | Hall | 9 | 66.5 | 0 |
| 1794 | Hall | |||
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1795 | E.Hall N.Newham | Gilder & Co. | Hull–Greenland | LR; good repair 1774, new wales 1782, damages repaired 1790, & good repair 1793 |
| Year | Master | Whales | Tuns whale oil | Seals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1795 | Newham | |||
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1796 | Newham A.Sadler | Gilder & Co. | Hull–Greenland | LR; good repair 1774, new wales 1782, damages repaired 1790, & good repair 1793 |
| Year | Master | Whales | Tuns whale oil | Seals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1796 | Sadler | 8 | 98 | 0 |
| 1797 | Sadler | 12 (full ship) | 150 | 0 |
| 1798 | ||||
| 1799 | Sadler | 11 (full ship) | 176.5 | 0 |
| 1800 | Sadler | 13 | 131.75 | 0 |
| 1801 | Sadler | 29 | 219 | 0 |
| 1802 | 16 | 204.25 | 0 | |
| 1803 | Sadler | 7 | 167.5 | 0 |
| 1804 | 19 | 192.5 | 0 | |
| 1805 | Sadler | 18 | 140 | 18 |
| 1806 | Sadler | 0 | 0 | 0 |
In 1806 Molly was attempting to "double the ice", in fog, when she encountered the French frigate Sirène, which captured her. [5] Lloyd's List reported in July 1806 that the frigate had captured the whalers Lion, of Liverpool, and Molly, of Hull. [6] [lower-alpha 1] In August Lloyd's List reported that a French frigate had taken Molly, Sadler. [7]
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.
Andrew Marvel was launched at Hull in 1812. From 1812 to 1835 she was a Greenland whaler, hunting bowhead whales in the northern whale fishery. Thereafter she became a merchantman. She foundered in September 1843 while on a voyage from Hull to Saint John, New Brunswick.
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.
Blenheim may have been launched in 1776 in Philadelphia as Britannia. By 1777 she was the Massachusetts-based privateer American Tartar and had taken several prizes. She had also participated in an inconclusive single-ship action with a British merchantman. The British Royal Navy captured American Tartar late in 1777 and she became HMS Hinchinbrook. The Royal Navy sold her in 1783 and she became the West Indiaman Blenheim. In 1785-86 she became a Greenland whaler and she continued in that trade until two French frigates captured and burnt her in 1806.
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.
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.
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.
Home Castle was launched in Aberdeen in 1811. From 1813 on she was a whaler in the British northern whale fishery. She was lost in 1829 while whaling in Davis Strait.
Isabella was launched in Kingston upon Hull in 1813. She initially sailed as a transport, and then as a merchantman trading with Canada. In 1817 the British Admiralty hired her as one of two vessels that would go on an expedition to search for a Northwest Passage. The expedition was unsuccessful. In 1820 she underwent two maritime mishaps, only one of which was substantive. From 1824 until she wrecked in the ice in June 1835 she was a whaler in the northern whale fishery.
Several vessels have been named Olive Branch, for the olive branch:
Quaker was built in America in 1774, possibly under another name, and was taken in prize in 1780. She appears in British records from 1781. Between 1781 and 1783 she sailed as a privateer and captured several ships, American, Spanish, and French. She then became a whaler, making four voyages to the British southern whale fishery. Thereafter she became a West Indiaman. The French captured her in 1795.
Sappho was launched at Shields in 1785. She spent most of her career trading with the Baltic, though she made some voyages elsewhere, and in particular, between 1788 and 1799 she made a voyage to the Falkland Islands as a whaler. She was last listed in 1798, having perhaps been captured in late 1797.
HMS Spy was a Bonetta-class sloop launched at Rotherhithe in 1756 for the Royal Navy. The Navy sold her in 1773. From 1776, or perhaps earlier she was a transport. Then from 1780 to 1783, as Mars, she was first a privateer and then a slave ship, engaged in the triangular trade in enslaved persons. Between 1783 and 1787 her name was Tartar, and she traded with the Mediterranean. From 1787, as Southampton, she was a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She made at least four complete whaling voyages and was last listed in 1792.
Gibraltar was launched in 1776 in France, almost certainly under another name. Between 1787 and 1795, she was a whaler in the northern whale (Greenland) fishery. A French privateer captured her in February 1796 as she was on her way to the fishery, and burnt her. Her loss led the British government to increase the protection of the outward-bound whaling fleet.
Dwina was launched at Kingston upon Hull in 1792. She primarily traded between Hull and Baltic ports, though she did make some voyages to the Mediterranean. In 1802 she became a whaler in the northern whale fishery. She made two complete voyages; ice wrecked her in 1804 shortly after she arrived at Greenland on her third voyage.
Chaser first appeared under that name in British records in 1786. She had been launched in 1771 at Philadelphia under another name, probably Lord North. Lord North became Cotton Planter, and then Planter, before she became Chaser. Between 1786 and 1790 Chaser made four voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She then became a merchantman. In 1794 a privateer captured her but the Spanish recaptured her. She became a Liverpool-based Slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. In 1796 she was condemned in West Africa on her first voyage in the triangular trade before she could embark any enslaved people.
Several ships have been named Lucy.
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.