Venus (1815 ship)

Last updated

History
Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameVenus
BuilderFrance
Launched1802
In service1815
FateLast listed in 1838
General characteristics
Tons burthen287, [1] or 288 or 289 (bm)
Sail plan Barque

Venus was launched in France in 1802, possibly under another name. A Guernsey privateer captured her in 1805, but she first appeared as Venus in 1815. She traded generally until in 1830 she carried cargo to Port Jackson. Between 1831 and 1835 she made several voyages from Port Jackson as a whaler, sailing primarily to New Zealand waters. She returned to England and was last listed in 1838.

Contents

Career

A source states that in 1805 a Guernsey privateer captured the vessel that would become Venus. It goes on to state that the vessel was condemned in prize and sold to Spurrier & Co., Poole. [1] Venus did not appear under that name in Lloyd's Register (LR) until 1815. [2]

YearMasterOwnerTradeSource
1815T.GaddenSpurrierPoole–NewfoundlandLR
1816T.GaddenSpurrierPoole–NewfoundlandLR
1821T.Rowe
H.Bristow
Spurrier & Co.Plymouth–LondonLR; thorough repair 1819
1828H.Bristow
Harden
Spurrier & Co.LondonLR; thorough repair 1819
1830Harden
Harvey
Spurrier & Co.LiverpoolLR; thorough repair 1819
1831HarveyRoy & Co.Liverpool–Cape of Good HopeLR; thorough repair 1819

Reportedly, Venus was sold to Roy & Co., in 1831 for the local Indian and Far East trade. [1] Other information shows that she sailed for New South Wales with cargo and then made some voyages from Sydney as a whaler.

Venus, Harvey, master, sailed from Liverpool on 1 June 1830, bound for New South Wales. Venus, Harvey, master, arrived at Cape Town on 12 September and left for Sydney on 1 October. She arrived at Hobart on 19 November and sailed for Sydney two days later, arriving on the 29th. Venus, Harvey, master, left Sydney on 10 January 1831, bound for the "Sperm fishery". [3] During this voyage Venus sailed below 72° South, becoming the first vessel to enter the Ross Sea and to return from there to Sydney on 31 December 1831. [4] She arrived with 170 tons of "black oil". [5] On 2 May 1832 Venus sailed for the sperm fishery again.

Venus, Samuel Harvey, master, Thomas Roy & Co., owners, was reported to be whaling off New Zealand in 1833. [6]

Between 1833 and 1837 or 1838 LR frequently published only minimal information about the vessels listed. Fuller information was available in the Register of Shipping (RS), in 1833, the last year of publication for the RS. This information may have represented an intent, not a reality.

YearMasterOwnerTradeSource
1833S.HarveyProwseLondon–Swan RiverRS; small repairs 1821 and damages repaired 1825

However, Venus had relocated to Sydney. Venus, of 288 tons (bm), appeared on a March 1833 list of whalers belonging to and sailing out of Sydney. [7]

In August 1834, there was a report in Liverpool that Venus, Harvey. master "of this port", was at Bay of Islands on 7 March with 900 barrels of oil. [8]

On 6 January 1835 Venus, Harvey, master, arrived at Port Jackson with a full cargo of 1700 barrels of whale oil. The article reporting this stated that Venus was the first whaling vessel fitted out at Liverpool, that she had been out 16 months, and that she would return to her owners after having undergone some trifling repairs. [9] It took some time for Venus to gather a cargo. She left Sydney on 17 May bound for London with a cargo of colonial produce and a handful of passengers. She was at bay of Islands on 28 May and left for London on 3 June. She was reported to have arrived safely at Deal on 20 September. In January 1837 a whaler, from Scotland, put into Bay of Islands; her master was Captain Harvey, late of Venus. (The whaler was later identified as Diana.)

Venus was last listed in LR, in 1838, with minimal data.

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 Hackman (2001), p. 319.
  2. LR (1815), Supple. pages "V", Seq.No.50.
  3. The Ships List, Sydney Gazette, 1831.
  4. Roebuck Society Publication (1988), Issue 41, p.563.
  5. Sydney Herald (2 January 1832), page 2, "SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE".
  6. British Southern Whale Fishery – voyages: Venus, voyage #BV08930.
  7. "Ship News", Sydney Herald, 7 March 1833, p.3.
  8. "Shipping Intelligence". Liverpool Mercury (Liverpool, England), 29 August 1834, Issue 1217.
  9. "Ship News", Sydney Herald, 8 January 1835, p.3.

Related Research Articles

Sydney Packet was an American ship launched in 1801, taken in prize c. 1814 while under another name, condemned, and sold to Alexander Birnie & Co. She sailed to New South Wales, and next made three voyages as a whaler. She was lost in 1826.

City of Edinburgh was a merchant ship built at Bengal in 1813. She transferred to British registry and sailed between Britain and India. She made two voyages transporting convicts from Ireland to Australia. Later, she made a whaling voyage to New Zealand. She was wrecked in 1840.

Admiral Cockburn was a ship launched in New York in 1808 or Philadelphia in 1809, almost certainly under another name. 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 southern whale fishery. She was wrecked at Muizenberg Beach, False Bay, Cape of Good Hope, in July 1839 while returning to London from her third whaling voyage.

Camden was built at Whitby in 1813. She served as a general trader for much of her career, though in 1820-21 she made one voyage to Bombay for the British East India Company (EIC). Between 1833 and 1837 she was a Greenland whaler out of the Whitby whale fishery, and was the last vessel from Whitby to engage in whaling. She was last listed in Lloyd's Register in 1850.

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.

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.

Cadmus was launched in 1813 at Sunderland. She traded with the East Indies under license from the British East India Company (EIC) until 1827. Then between 1827 and 1834 she made two voyages as a whaler. She was lost in 1835.

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.

Bombay was launched in 1801 at Daman/Demaun. Her early career is obscure. From 1821 on she assumed Calcutta registry. Between 1832 and 1840 she made three voyages from London as a whaler. In 1842 she carried settlers for the New Zealand Company. She was last listed in 1853.

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.

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.

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 in 1833 on her seventh whaling voyage.

Prince of Orange was launched in Sunderland in 1814. She originally sailed as a West Indiaman but then became an East Indiaman, sailing to India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). She made two voyages transporting convicts to Australia, the first in 1820–1821 to New South Wales, and the second in 1822 to Van Diemen's Land. Between 1830 and 1840 she made nine voyages as a whaler to Davis Strait. She was lengthened and rebuilt in 1846. In December 1852 she grounded and it took some months to get her off. She then need major repairs. She also suffered damages in 1854. She foundered in 1858.

Several vessels have been named Venus for the planet Venus or the Roman goddess Venus:

Atalanta was launched in Holland in 1795, perhaps under another name. She was captured in 1798, and thereafter traded generally as a British merchantman. She was brig-rigged. Between 1801 and 1804 she made two voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people, and may have been temporarily captured during the second. She then became a West Indiaman. Next, between 1808 and 1814, she made two voyages as a whaler in Australian and New Zealand waters. After the whaling voyages she traded more widely, especially to the Baltic. She was last listed in 1833.

Marquis/Marquess of Lansdown/Lansdowne was launched at Calcutta in 1824. She was initially a "country ship", trading east of the Cape of Good Hope. She then sailed to Port Jackson, but plans to establish a packet service between Australia and Calcutta, including taking tea from India to Australia under a licence from the British East India Company (EIC), did not work out. She then sailed to England and became a whaler, making four voyages to the British southern whale fishery between 1829 and 1845. She was last listed in 1847.

Denmark Hill was launched at Boston, Massachusetts, in 1809, under another name. She was taken in prize and in 1814 her new owners renamed her. She then spent another 25 years as a merchant ship. She transferred her registry to New South Wales and was lost there in 1839. During this time she also made some voyages as a whaler in the waters off New Zealand.

Dryade was launched at Bristol in 1825. She traded between England and Peru, the Indian Ocean, and then spent most of her career trading between England and New South Wales. Her crew and passengers abandoned her circa March 1841 when she developed a leak while sailing from Mauritius to London.

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.

Robert Quayle was launched at Liverpool in 1814. Between 1816 and 1819 she made several voyages to India, sailing under a licence from the British East India Company (EIC). Between 1819 and 1821 she made one voyage with cargo to New South Wales, and then remained to engage in whaling. After her return to Britain she traded to South and North America. She was wrecked in December 1838 while engaged in the timber trade with Canada.

References