HMS Hecla was a Royal Navy Hecla-class bomb vessel launched in 1815. Like many other bomb vessels, she was named for a volcano, in this case Hekla in southern Iceland. She served at the Bombardment of Algiers in 1816. Subsequently, she took part in three expeditions to the Arctic. She then served as a survey vessel on the coast of West Africa until she was sold in 1831. She became a merchantman and in 1834 a Greenland whaler. She was wrecked in 1840.
Governor Ready was built at Prince Edward Island, Canada in 1825. She made two voyages transporting convicts from England and Ireland to Australia. She was wrecked in the Torres Strait in May 1829.
Lusitania was a British merchant vessel launched in 1804. She emerges from the general background for two notable events in her history, one in 1813 when the French Navy captured and released her, and then between 1826 and 1830 for a whaling voyage. She was probably wrecked in 1834.
HMS Nimrod was a brig-sloop of the British Royal Navy, launched in 1812. She spent her war years in north American waters where she captured one small privateer, assisted in the capture of another, and captured or destroyed some 50 American vessels. After the war she captured smugglers and assisted the civil authorities in maintaining order in Tyne. She was wrecked in 1827 and so damaged that the Navy decided she was not worth repairing. A private ship-owner purchased Nimrod and repaired her. She then went on to spend some 20 years trading between Britain and Charleston, the Mediterranean, Australia, and India. She was last listed in 1851.
Nimrod was launched late in 1821 at Calcutta. One report has her being sold in 1825; she did change her homeport to the United Kingdom. In 1832 her ownership and homeport changed to Sydney, Australia.
Woodford was launched at Bristol in 1819. She made one voyage as an "extra ship" for the British East India Company (EIC). She also made two voyages transporting convicts from England to Van Diemen's Land. She sank in February 1829 off Madagascar.
Cumberland was launched at Holyhead in 1826 as a steam packet. In 1839 she underwent conversion to a sail barque. In 1846 Cumberland transported Parkhurst apprentices to the Swan River Colony. She foundered on 23 October 1849 while carrying rice from Bally, Netherlands East Indies, to Hong Kong.
Lord Wellington was launched in 1811 in Montreal. She became a London-based transport that made one voyage to India in 1819 under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). Afterwards she continued to sail to the Baltic and North America. She was last listed in 1829.
Amelia was built in Massachusetts in 1809 or 1810. The British captured her in 1813. She sailed as a British merchantman until she foundered in 1829 or 1830.
Sir Francis N. Burton was launched in 1825 at Quebec. She was wrecked on 5 December 1826 on a voyage for the British East India Company (EIC).
Adrian was launched in 1819 at Newcastle-on-Tyne. She initially sailed between London and Canada but then in 1822 she started sailing east of the Cape of Good Hope under a license from the British East India Company. She made voyages to Bengal and Batavia. In between, she transported convicts to New South Wales. She foundered in 1833.
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.
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.
In 1825, three vessels were launched at Quebec and named Sir Francis N. Burton or Sir Francis Burton for Lieutenant-Governor Francis Nathaniel Burton. The launching of three vessels of the same name in Quebec in the same year has led to some confusion in subsequent reports.
Sir Francis N. Burton was launched in 1825 at Quebec. She made several voyages to India under a license from the EIC. She was wrecked on 16 February 1838.
Tranmere was launched in 1819 at Tranmere. She first traded between England and South America. In 1827 she played a role in the settlement of Tasmania and thereafter sailed in the region and between England and Tasmania. She was last listed in 1837.
Wanstead was launched in 1826 at St John, New Brunswick. From 1826 on she sailed from England, first as a West Indiaman. She made two voyages transporting passengers to Tasmania, one voyage in 1827–28, and the other in 1829–30, stopping at the Swan River Colony. Between 1831 and 1837 she made one voyage as a whaler, catching whales off Japan, and New Zealand. She then returned to trading with the West Indies. Her crew abandoned her at sea in September 1843.
Nimble was built at Plymouth in 1813. Initially she engaged in a triangular trade between Africa, Brazil, and Britain. She then sailed between Britain and the eastern Mediterranean. She was twice plundered by pirates, once while on her way to Brazil and the some years later as she was on her way to Smyrna. In 1824 her owners had her lengthened. In 1828–1830 Nimble sailed to Mauritius under a licence from the British East India Company (EIC). She was last listed in 1833.
Asia was built at Bombay Dockyard in 1797. She made at least two voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) before the British Royal Navy purchased her in 1805 in the East Indies. The Royal Navy renamed her HMS Sir Francis Drake and used her as a frigate. She served in the Java campaign of 1811. When she returned to England in 1813 she was refitted as a storeship. Later, she became the flagship, at Newfoundland, for the governors of Newfoundland. The Admiralty sold her in 1825. New owners renamed her Asia and she sailed between Britain and London until 1831 when Portuguese interests purchased her. She then became the frigate Dona Maria II for the Liberal forces that were attempting to install the rightful queen, Dona Maria II, to the throne of Portugal, and overthrow Dom Miguel, who had usurped the throne. In early 1849 conflict developed between the Portuguese government in Macau and the Chinese government over who could collect taxes and tariffs at Macao. Dona Maria II sailed to Macao as part of a small squadron. An internal explosion destroyed her in the harbour on 29 October.
Marquis of Huntley was launched at Aberdeen in 1804 as a West Indiaman. She disappeared from the registers between 1814 and 1824. She then made four voyages transporting convicts to New South Wales. She was a transport for much of her career, carrying cargoes and troops for the British government. She suffered a maritime incident in November 1834. She was last listed in 1843, possibly having been wrecked 24 June 1844.
United Kingdom
