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 to the southern whale fishery. Although the registers carried Thames for some years after her return from her eighth voyage, there is no evidence that she ever sailed again.
W. Mellish purchased Thames and she would go on to make eight whaling voyages for him. There is some confusion among sources as to the vessel. Once source describes her as having been built in Rotherhithe in 1804,[4] but another source points out that other than the name and the name of a master, John Hemmons, there is no further evidence for this vessel.[5]
1st whaling voyage (1805–1808): Captain Charles Gardner acquired a letter of marque on 30 September 1805.[1] He sailed on 10 October 1805 in company with Star, James Birnie, master, and William and Elizabeth, J.Coffin, master. They separated from each other a little later. Thames sailed via Porto Santo (1 November), Palma (5 November), Isle of Mayo (11 November), and St Catherine's (off the coast of Brazil. In February 1807, some men were mutinous, but she rounded Cape Horn and fished off the coast of South America, being reported having been "all well" in March 1807.[4] In 1807 Thames, Charles Gardner, was one of only two British whalers to have visited Easter Island before 1812.[6] She returned to England on 2 January 1808, having taken 57 whales.[4]
2nd whaling voyage (1808–1811): Captain Joseph Bowman (or Bowerman), sailed from England on 11 March 1808, bound for the waters off Peru. Thames was reported to have been on the coast of Peru in December 1809, "all well" on 27 March 1810, and off Peru in September 1810. She returned to England on 13 February 1811.[4]
3rd whaling voyage (1811–1813): Captain Andrew Bristow acquired a letter of marque against America. He sailed from England on 8 June 1811, bound for New Zealand.[4]
Beacon erected on Mellish Reef in the Coral Sea in 1859
On 5 April 1812, Captain Bristow discovered and named Mellish Reef and Cay.[7] The French avisoDuroc wrecked on the reef on 16 August 1856. In 1859 HMSHerald erected the first beacon on the cay, using wreckage from Duroc.
Thames sailed from St Helena on 30 October as part of a convoy under escort by HMSCormorant, a naval storeship coming from the Cape. The convoy included other whalers such as Cumberland, Warre, Admiral Berkeley, and Inspector, and some other vessels including Rambler. Cormorant parted from the convoy on 2 December about 280 miles west of Ushant, and arrived at Portsmouth on 18 December.[9]Thames arrived back in England on 21 December 1813.[4]
Year
Master
Owner
Trade
Source
1813
Bowerman A.Bristow
W.Mellish
London–Southern Fishery
LR; lengthened 1811
1814
A.Bristow
W.Mellish
London–Southern Fishery
LR; lengthened 1811
1816
A.Bristow Stavers
W.Mellish
London–Southern Fishery
LR; lengthened 1811
In 1813 the British East India Company (EIC) had lost its monopoly on the trade between India and Britain. British ships were then free to sail to India or the Indian Ocean under a licence from the EIC.[10]Thames's owners applied for a licence on 9 August 1814 and were issued one on 15 August.[3]
4th whaling voyage (1814–1816): Captain John Stavers sailed from England in 1814, bound for the waters off Peru. In May 1815 Thames was at the Galapagos Islands.[4]
On 5 February 1816, Thames was off St Helena on her way back to London when HMSLeveret, one of the naval vessels patrolling the approaches, fired several shots before Thames hove to have her papers checked. When Leveret's captain asked Stavers why he hadn't stopped at the first shot, Stavers replied that he didn't know whether she was friend or foe. When Leveret's captain stated that it was a pity a shot hadn't struck him, Stavers replied that if it had, Thames would have returned fire. In all, Stavers was quite disrespectful towards the naval officer.[11]
Thames returned to England on 16 April, with in excess of 1500 barrels of whale oil. On her return several crew members accused Stavers of having caused the death of an apprentice.[4]
Although some sources report that Thames was sold to the government,[4] or private owners,[5] she appears to have remained under Mellish's ownership.[4]LR also did not show any change of ownership.
Year
Master
Owner
Trade
Source
1818
E.Lawson
W.Mellish
London–Southern Fishery
LR; lengthened 1811
5th whaling voyage (1816–1818): Captain Edward Lawson sailed from England on 27 June 1816. Thames returned on 1 July 1818, with 760 casks of whale oil.[4]
6th whaling voyage (1818–1820): Captain Lawson sailed from England on 21 September 1818. Thames returned on 22 September 1820.[4]
7th whaling voyage (1821–1823): Captain Lawson sailed from England on 31 March 1821, bound for Peru. On 8 October 1822, Thames was at Honolulu, having taken some 1700 barrels of whale oil in the waters off Japan. She returned to England on 5 October 1823 with 650 casks.[4] The voyage from Lima had taken 93 days. Thames had brought with her a Spanish colonel who was carrying dispatches for the British government.[12] On 5 October, as Thames was returning from the South Seas, she ran afoul of Freundschaft, Johanson, in the Downs. Freundschaft had to put into Ramsgate, having sustained some damage.[13]
Year
Master
Owner
Trade
Source
1824
E.Lawson Meek
W.Mellish
London–Southern Fishery
Register of Shipping; lengthened 1811
8th whaling voyage (1824–1826): Captain John Meek sailed from England on 10 October 1824, bound for the Sandwich Islands. On 25 April and 29 October 1825 Thames was at Honolulu. She returned to England on 5 December 1826 with 500 casks of oil.[4]
Fate
LR continued to carry Thames with stale data for a number of years after 1826. However, William Mellish had purchased a new Thames, launched on the Thames, in 1827, that set out for the Southern Whale Fishery on 6 September 1827.
Abraham Bristow (c1771-1846) was a British mariner, sealer and whaler. In August 1806 he discovered the Auckland Islands.
Seringapatam was built in 1799, of teak, as a warship for Tippu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore. However, the British stormed his citadel at Seringapatam that year and he was killed in the action. The vessel was sailed to England in the hopes that the Admiralty would buy it. The Admiralty did not, and British merchants bought her to use as a whaler. She made six voyages to the Southern Atlantic and the Pacific until 1813, on her sixth voyage, when during the War of 1812, a US frigate captured her. She served briefly as a tender to the frigate before mutineers and British prisoners recaptured her and sailed to Australia. After her return to her owners, she returned to whaling until 1846, making another nine voyages. She then sailed between London and New South Wales until 1850. In the 1850s and 1860s she sailed to Aden and Hamburg, ending her years trading between Shields and Quebec. She is no longer listed in 1870.
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.
Charming Kitty was a ship captured from the Spanish. She first appeared in Gret 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.
Baroness Longueville was a ship built in New York in 1804. She may have been a prize, but from 1806 on she sailed first as a merchantman, and then as a whaler for Samuel Enderby & Sons. She made at least four whaling voyages. She is last listed in Lloyd's Register in 1825.
Serpent was a French navy brig of the Palinure class, launched in 1807 at Paimbeouf (Nantes) as Rivolli, but renamed. HMS Acasta captured her in 1808 in the Caribbean and the British Royal Navy took her into service there as HMS Pert but renamed her Asp. The navy disposed of her in 1814. She then made five voyages as a whaler, and wrecked in December 1828 on her sixth voyage.
Perseverance was launched on the Thames in 1801. She then spent her entire career of 16 voyages as a whaler. Early in her career a French privateer captured her, but the British Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. Perseverance would herself later capture a vessel too. She was broken up 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.
Eliza was a French prize that made nine voyages as a whaler between 1802 and 1822. She is last listed in 1824.
HMS Coquette was launched in 1807 and spent her naval career patrolling in the Channel and escorting convoys. In 1813 she engaged an American privateer in a notable but inconclusive single-ship action. The Navy put Coquette in ordinary in 1814 and sold her in 1817. She became a whaler and made five whaling voyages to the British southern whale fishery before she was lost in 1835 on her sixth.
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 1823. 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. She was lost at Tahiti in 1824 on her eighth whaling voyage.
Spring Grove was a Spanish vessel, launched in 1801, that had been taken in prize in 1806 and that her new owners had renamed. She made six voyages as a Southern Whale Fishery whaler before she wrecked in 1824 on the outbound leg of what was to have been her seventh voyage.
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.
Partridge was built at Antwerp in 1813, under another name, and was taken in prize. From 1814 she was under British ownership. Between 1814 and 1822 she traded with India, sailing under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). She then became a whaler, making three voyages to the British southern whale fishery before she was broken up in 1834.
Argo was launched in 1802 in France, possibly under another name, and captured c. 1804. She became a privateer and then a whaler. She made two complete whale hunting voyages in the British southern whale fishery. A US Navy frigate captured her on her third whaling voyage.
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.
Zephyr was a vessel built in the United States that the Royal Navy captured in late 1813. Between 1814 and 1840, when she was lost, she made eight voyages as a whaler in the southern whale fishery.
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.
References
Richards, Rhys (2018). "The impact of whalers and other vistors before 1862". In Cardinali, Sonia Haoa; Ingersoll, Kathleen B.; Ingersoll, Daniel W.; Stevenson, Christopher M. (eds.). Cultural and Environmental Change on Rapa Nui. Routledge. ISBN9781315294452.
Clayton, Jane M (2014). Ships employed in the South Sea Whale Fishery from Britain: 1775–1815: An alphabetical list of ships. Berforts Group. ISBN9781908616524.
Findlay, Alexander George (1871). A Directory for the Navigation of the South Pacific Ocean: With Descriptions of Its Coasts, Islands, Etc., from the Strait of Magalhaens to Panama, and Those of New Zealand, Australia, Etc., Its Winds, Currents and Passages. Laurie.
de St. M. Watson, George Leo (1912). A Polish Exile with Napoleon: Embodying the Letters of Captain Piontkowski to General Sir Robert Wilson and Many Documents from the Lowe Papers, the Colonial Office Records, the Wilson Manuscripts, the Capel Lofft Correspondence, and the French and Genevese Archives Hitherto Unpublished. Harper.
Hackman, Rowan (2001). Ships of the East India Company. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN0-905617-96-7.
House of Commons, Parliament, Great Britain (1816). Parliamentary Papers. Vol.10.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
United Kingdom