Career
Paragon first appeared in Lloyd's Register in 1803 with W. Worden, master, Cating, owner, and voyage Dublin–London. [3] The next year her master and owner changed to W. Byron, and her voyage to Bristol–Virginia. She traded between Britain and the united States, and in 1806–1807 her ownership changed back to the United States, though she continued to be listed in Lloyd's Register.
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source and notes |
|---|
| 1805 | W. Byron | Captain & Co. | Bristol–Virginia | Register of Shipping (RS) |
| 1807 | W.Byron
J. Myrick | Capt. & Co.
Day & Co. | Hull–New York City | Lloyd's Register (LR); Day & Co. were American owners |
| 1810 | J. Myrick | Day & Co. (A) | Hull–New York City | RS |
| 1815 | G. Fowler | Kennet & Co. (A) | Liverpool–New York City | LR |
| 1820 | B. Halstead (or Alstead) | Ogden & Co. | Liverpool–New York City | LR & RS; small repairs in 1817 |
|
The registers were only as accurate as owners chose to keep them. Both Lloyd's Register and the Register of Shipping kept the data unchanged from 1820 to 1825.
However, in 1819 Paragon had already begun the first of three whaling voyages out of Nantucket, Massachusetts.
Whaling voyage #1 (1819–1821): Captain William Perkins sailed from Nantucket on 7 January 1819, bound for the Pacific. Paragon returned on 26 December 1821 with 690 barrels of sperm oil and 1000 barrels of whale oil. [4]
Whaling voyage #2 (1822–1825): Captain Henry Bunker sailed from Nantucket on 11 June 1822, bound for the Pacific. Paragon returned on 18 January 1825 with 1858 barrels of sperm oil. [2]
Nantucket shipbuilding began in the late 1700s and culminated in the construction of notable whaling ships during the early 19th century. Shipbuilding was predominantly sited at Brant Point. Whaling ship construction concluded in 1838.
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.
The whaler Globe, of Nantucket, Massachusetts, was launched in 1815. She made three whaling voyages and then in 1824, on her fourth, her crew mutinied, killing their officers. Eventually most of the mutineers were killed or captured and the vessel herself was back in Nantucket in her owners' hands. She continued to whale until about 1828. She was broken up circa 1830.
Albion was a full-rigged whaler built at Deptford, England, and launched in 1798. She made five whaling voyages to the seas around New South Wales and New Zealand. The government chartered her in 1803 to transport stores and cattle, to Risdon Cove on the River Derwent, Tasmania.
HMS Indian was a Bermuda-built sloop launched in 1805. She captured several small privateers while on the West Indies and Halifax stations before the Royal Navy sold her in 1817. Her main claim to fame, however, is that she was the first command of future Rear-Admiral Charles Austen, who was also the brother of the famed novelist Jane Austen. After the Navy sold her she became a whaler for Samuel Enderby & Sons. She apparently sailed for them until the mid-1830s; she then sailed for other owners until mid-1847, for a total of nine whaling voyages since leaving naval service.
Admiral Cockburn was a ship launched in New York in 1808 or Philadelphia in 1809. The British captured the American ship in 1814 and she was sold as a prize. Corney & Co. purchased and renamed her; originally she served as a London-based transport. In 1829 she became a whaler in the South Seas. She was wrecked at Muizenberg Beach, False Bay, Cape of Good Hope, in July 1839 while returning to London from her third whaling voyage.
Amelia Wilson was built in France under another name and captured by the British in 1809. Her new owners renamed her and she became a West Indiaman. She later became a whaler and was wrecked in 1833 on her fifth whaling voyage.
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.
Renown was launched in 1794 at New Bedford, Massachusetts. She made four voyages from Nantucket as a whaler. In 1813, while she was on her fifth American whaling voyage, she became the first American whaler that British whalers captured in the South Seas. She was sold in London and under the name Adam became first a London-based transport and then a British Southern Whale Fishery whaler. She made four whaling voyages and was wrecked in 1825 at the outset of her fifth British whaling voyage.
Sir Andrew Hammond was launched at Bermuda in 1800. She spent almost a dozen years as a West Indiaman. From 1812 on she was a whaler. On her first whaling voyage she sailed to the Pacific where the United States Navy captured her. She then served briefly in the United States Navy before the British Royal Navy recaptured her. She returned to whaling and made a further eight whaling voyages. She was lost in 1841 on her tenth whaling voyage.
Charlton, was built in America. She first appeared in British-origin online records in 1803. She made three complete voyages as a whaler. She was on her fourth voyage when the U.S. Navy captured her. After her captors released her she returned to England and then disappears from easily accessible online records.
Policy was launched at Dartmouth in 1801. She was a whaler that made seven whaling voyages between 1803 and 1824, when she was lost at Tahiti on her eighth. On her second whaling voyage, in 1804, she was able to capture two Dutch vessels. On her fourth voyage the United States Navy captured her, but the British Royal Navy recaptured her.
Manchester Packet was built at New York in 1806. She immediately transferred to British registry and spent a number of years trading across the Atlantic. In 1814 she successfully repelled an attack by a U.S. privateer. In 1818 she returned to U.S. registry. She eventually became a whaler operating out of New London, Connecticut. In May 1828 she made the first of five whaling voyages; she was condemned in 1835 while on her sixth voyage.
Fonthill was built in France in 1781 and was probably taken in prize in 1782. She sailed as a West Indiaman between 1783 and 1791. She next became a Southern whaler and made four whaling voyages between 1791 and 1799. After refitting she became a Northern whaler. She was last listed, with stale data, in 1810.
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.
Harriet was launched in Georgia in 1809 and captured c.1812. She made four voyages as a whaler in the British Southern Whale Fishery and was last listed in 1833.
Venus was launched at Deptford in 1788 and made 15 voyages as a whaler in the British Southern Whale Fishery. She was last listed in 1823.
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 she carried King Kamehameha II of Hawaii, Queen Kamāmalu, and a number of their retainers and Hawaiian notables to England. She was lost on 6 March 1830 on her fifth whaling voyage.
Sir Charles Price was launched in America in 1812 under another name. The British captured her c.1814 and Daniel Bennett purchased her and added her to his fleet of whalers. She made six complete whaling voyages and was lost on her seventh whaling voyage.
United States
United Kingdom
