| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Three Bees |
| Owner | Buckles & Co |
| Port of registry | London |
| Launched | 1813 |
| Fate | Caught fire and blew up in Sydney Harbour on 20 May 1814. |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 459 [1] (bm) |
| Armament | 4 × 12-pounder carronades [2] |
Three Bees was launched at Bridgwater in 1813. Her first voyage was transporting convicts to New South Wales. After she arrived at Sydney Cove in 1814 she caught fire and was destroyed.
Captain John Wallis and Three Bees gathered her convicts from Ireland. [3] She then sailed to Falmouth.
Three Bees sailed from Falmouth on 8 December 1813. [1] The 46th Regiment of Foot provided the guard, which consisted of five officers and 43 non-commissioned officers and privates. Three Bees left in convoy under the escort of HMS Niger and Tagus. They parted after about a month and Three Bees continued on in company with Catherine. Three Bees arrived in Sydney Cove on 6 May 1814. [1]
Three Bees had embarked 210 male convicts, of whom nine died en route. [4] Governor Macquarie wrote:
The Three Bees, commanded by Captn. John Wallis, arrived on the 6th inst. with two hundred and ten male Convicts, out of 219 originally embarked, the other nine having died on the passage; and out of those landed, it has been necessary to Send fifty five to the Hospital many of them being much affected with Scurvy and others labouring under various complaints. On enquiring into the cause of this mortality and sickness, it appeared that many of them had been embarked in a bad state of health, and not a few infirm from lameness and old age. I am happy in being enabled to state that the Convicts by the Catherine and the Three Bees have, without a Single Exception, borne grateful Testimony to their having been treated with the most unremitting care, Attention, and kindness, by the Masters and Surgeons of those Vessels, from the day of their Embarkation until they were finally landed here. The circumstance of several of those unfortunate men being embarked in a diseased or feeble State will, I trust, shew the necessity for greater attention being paid to the state of the Health of the Convicts, who are to be embarked in future, which I have much reason to believe has not been so fully attended to by the Examining Surgeons as Humanity demands. [5]
After the 210 convicts were all disembarked a fire was discovered on the ship at 4.30 pm on 20 May 1814. It was later thought that the fire was caused by candle snuff being dropped on oakum when an officer and boy had entered the hold. It soon became apparent that the fire could not be fought and so Three Bees was cut loose from her moorings and the other ships in the cove maneuvered to avoid the ship. At 5.30 pm the first gun exploded on board and a swivel ball smashed into the parlour of the house of Captain Piper, hitting only a writing table. The ship drifted onto Bennelong Point and shortly after her magazine exploded. Three Bees was a total loss. [6]
Lloyd's List reported on 14 October 1814 that Three Bees, Wallace, master, of London and bound for China, caught fire and was burnt at Port Jackson on 20 May. [7]
Neva was a three-masted barque launched in 1813. She made two voyages transporting convicts to Australia. On her second voyage carrying convicts she wrecked in Bass Strait on 13 May 1835. Her loss was one of the worst shipwrecks in Australian history; 224 people died.
Surry, also known as Surrey, was a square-rigged transport ship, which had an especially long career transporting convicts to Australia. In 11 voyages, the most of any convict transport, she brought 2,177 convicts, male and female, and so became one of the best-known of the vessels that visited Australia. In all, she lost 51 men and one woman during her various passages, 46 of the men dying during her first and most notorious voyage in 1814 when she was under the command of James Patterson. The high death toll on her first voyage led to a Board of Enquiry, which blamed neglect by the Master and Surgeon.
Fortune, also known as La Fortune, was a sailing ship built in Spain. She was taken in prize in 1804. New owners renamed her and she entered British registers in 1805–6. She twice transported convicts from Britain to New South Wales. She was lost c. 1814 on her way to China from Australia.
HMS Porpoise was the former mercantile quarter-decked sloop Lord Melville, which the Royal Navy purchased in 1804 to use as a store-ship.
Norfolk was built at Littlehampton, England in 1814. She was originally a West Indiaman, and then sailed to India and Quebec. She made four voyages transporting convicts from England to Australia, one voyage from Ireland to Australia and one from Madras and Mauritius to Australia. She was wrecked on 7 July 1837.
Royal Admiral was a 414-ton timber three-masted barque, built at King's Lynn, England in 1828 and used as a merchant ship. Royal Admiral first served for trade to India. She subsequently sailed to Australia on four occasions carrying convicts, from Portsmouth to Port Jackson in 1830, from Dublin to Port Jackson in 1833 and 1834, and from Woolwich to Hobart Town in 1842.
Chapman was a two-deck merchant ship built at Whitby in 1777. She made three voyages to India or China for the British East India Company (EIC), during the first of which she was present at the battle of Porto Praya. During the French Revolutionary Wars she served as a hired armed ship, primarily escorting convoys but also seeing some action. Later, she undertook one voyage to Mauritius transporting troops, one voyage carrying settlers to South Africa, and three voyages transporting convicts from England and Ireland to Australia. She was last listed in 1853.
England was built at Chepstow, Wales in 1813. She made three voyages transporting convicts from England to Australia. On the first she was under charter to the British East India Company (EIC) and, after delivering her convicts, sailed to Canton where she picked up a cargo for the EIC. She foundered in 1843 in the Channel while on a voyage to Sierra Leone.
Elizabeth was a merchant ship built at Chepstow, Wales in 1809. She made three voyages transporting convicts from England and Ireland to Australia. Elizabeth is no longer listed after 1832 and may have been lost in 1831.
Phoenix was a merchant vessel launched in 1810 The British East India Company (EIC) chartered her to make one voyage to Madras and Bengal between 1820 and 1821. She then made one voyage transporting convicts to Tasmania in 1822, and two to New South Wales, one in 1826 and one in 1828. She was wrecked in 1829.
Eliza was a merchant ship built in British India, probably in 1804. Between 1819 and 1831 she made five voyages transporting convicts from England and Ireland to Australia. In between, she also made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). Her crew abandoned her at sea in 1836 as she was leaking uncontrollably.
Isabella was a merchant ship built on the Thames, England, and launched in 1818. She made six voyages transporting convicts from England and Ireland to Australia. In between, she made one round trip to China for the British East India Company (EIC). From her launch to 1834 she traded with India and the Far East under a license from the EIC. From 1848 on served in the North America trade. She is last listed in 1850.
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.
Pilot was launched in 1813. She transported convicts to New South Wales in 1817. She disappeared in 1820.
Bheemoolah was launched in 1808 at Calcutta as a "country ship", that is a vessel based in India that traded in the region and with China. She made two voyages to England for the British East India Company (EIC), one before her name changed to Woodbridge in 1812, and one after. She spent most of her career trading with the East Indies. The US Navy captured her in 1814 but the British Royal Navy recaptured her within hours. She also made two voyages transporting convicts, one voyage to New South Wales (1839-1840) and one to Van Diemen's Land (1843). She is last listed in 1855.
Sir Godfrey Webster was launched in 1799. She was a West Indiaman until 1812 when she made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). On her return she returned to trading with the West Indies. However, she then performed two voyages transporting convicts, the first to Van Diemen's Land, and the second to New South Wales. She ran into difficulties on her way home from Singapore after the second voyage and was condemned at Mauritius.
Susan was launched at Calcutta in 1813. She initially traded in the East Indies as a country ship, and with Britain under license from the British East India Company (EIC). Between 1829 and 1831 she made two voyages for the EIC. Then between 1834 and 1836 she made four voyages transporting convicts, two to New South Wales, and two to Tasmania. She foundered in 1846 as she was sailing between London and the Cape of Good Hope.
Fairlie was launched at Calcutta in 1810 and sailed to England. There she became a regular ship for the British East India Company (EIC). Including her voyage to England, she made four voyages for the EIC. From around 1821 on she became a Free Trader, continuing to trade with India under a license from the EIC. She also made two voyages transporting convicts to New South Wales (1834), and Tasmania (1852). She made several voyages carrying immigrants to South Australia, New South Wales, and British Guiana. She foundered in November 1865.
Mangles was built in Calcutta in 1803 and immediately sailed for England. Including that voyage, she made a total of six voyages as an "extra ship" for the British East India Company (EIC). Between her first as second voyages for the EIC a French privateer captured her. Mangles also made nine voyages transporting convicts to Australia: eight voyages to Port Jackson, one to Hobart Town, and one in which she delivered some convicts to Port Jackson but carried most of her charges to Norfolk Island. She was last listed in 1844.
John was launched at Chester in 1809 as a West Indiaman. Between 1827 and 1833 she made three voyages to New South Wales and two to Van Diemen's Land transporting convicts. Thereafter she traded between the United Kingdom and North America. She was wrecked in May 1855 with heavy loss of life while carrying migrants from Plymouth to Quebec.
