Vigilant (1802 ship)

Last updated

History
Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameVigilant
CapturedMay 1806
General characteristics
Tons burthen194, [1] or 199 [2] (bm)
Armament10 × 6-pounder guns
Notes Clinker-built [2]

Vigilant was built in Britain, but the date and place of her launching are obscure. Vigilant first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1802, [2] having undergone a repair in that year, [3] which suggests that she may have been launched some years earlier under another name. She made one complete voyage as a whaler to the British Southern Whale Fishery, and was captured in the Pacific on her second whaling voyage.

YearMasterOwnerTradeSource
1802WilliamsH.Roper [4] London–Southern FisheryLR

Vigilant was valued at £4200 in November 1802. [4]

1st whaling voyage (1802–1805):Vigilant, Williams, master, sailed from Falmouth on 26 November 1802, bound for the South Seas. [5] Vigilant, Williams, master, arrived at Rio de Janeiro at the end of October 1804. A heavy gale had carried away her topmast and caused her to spring a leak. [6] She arrived back at Gravesend on 17 February 1805, [7] with oil and skins from Patagonia. [1]

YearMasterOwnerTradeSource
1805T.GayPrice [4] London–Southern FisheryLR

2nd whaling voyage (1805–Loss): On 28 October 1805 Vigilant, T.Gay, master, sailed from London, bound for Peru and the Galapagos Islands. [1]

In October 1807 Lloyd's List reported that Vigilant, Gay, master, had been taken around Cape Horn (i.e., in the Pacific ocean) in November 1806. [8]

In May 1806 the Spanish privateer San Gabriel had captured Vigilant. [9] Vigilant arrived at Callao in March 1807, in the interim having captured on 30 June the Guayaquil polacre Monserrat, five of whose crew later overpowered the prize crew on Vigilant, killed her captain, and took her into Tumaco, where they joined a convoy to Callao. [10]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 British Southern Whale Fishery Database – voyages: Vigilant.
  2. 1 2 3 LR (1802), Supple. pages "V", Seq.No.V119.
  3. Register of Shipping (1806), Seq.No.137.
  4. 1 2 3 Clayton (2014), p. 241.
  5. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4303. 30 November 1802. hdl:2027/mdp.39015005721512.
  6. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4186. 25 January 1805. hdl:2027/uc1.c2735022.
  7. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4193. 19 February 1805. hdl:2027/uc1.c2735022.
  8. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4198. 23 October 1807. hdl:2027/uc1.c2735023.
  9. Ortiz Sotelo (2015), pp. 271.
  10. Ortiz Sotelo (2015), pp. 282.

Related Research Articles

Ganges was a ship launched in 1798 at Philadelphia, probably for French owners. During the Peace of Amiens her registration and homeport became Dunkirk. Her French owners sent her to engage in whaling at Delagoa Bay, where the British letter of marque whaler Scorpion captured her in 1803. She then made one whaling voyage to Isle of Desolation before a French squadron captured her in 1806 during a second whaling voyage. Accounts differ as to whether her captors sank her, or released her and she continued to operate as a merchant vessel until 1814.

Britannia was a merchant vessel captured from the Dutch. She made one complete whaling voyage to the South Seas. A Spanish vessel captured her at the Galapagos Islands in 1801 on her second whaling voyage.

Juno was launched at Hull in 1793 as a West Indiaman. French privateers once detained her and once captured her, but the Royal Navy recaptured her. She made one voyage as a whaler in the Southern Whale Fishery, and then participated as a transport in a naval expedition. She then disappears from readily accessible records. In 1809 she may have been captured off Africa, or condemned at the Cape of Good Hope and broken up.

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.

Resolution was launched at Liverpool in 1776 as the West Indiaman Thomas Hall; she was renamed in 1779. She sailed briefly as a privateer. Then between 1791 and 1804 Revolution made some six voyages as a whaler. On one voyage, in 1793, a French frigate captured her, but Resolution was re-captured. In 1804 a new owner returned her to the West Indies trade. She does not appear to have sailed after early 1805.

Queen Charlotte was built in Emsworth in 1801. She was a regular packet ship for the Post Office Packet Service, sailing out of Falmouth. She made several voyages across the Atlantic between late 1802 and 16 May 1805 when she was captured. She came back into British hands around 1806. The Post Office took her into temporary service between 1812 and 1817. She then became a whaler off Peru in 1818. She remained in the Pacific Coast of South America until she was condemned there in 1820 as unseaworthy; she was last listed that same year. She may have been repaired and have continued to trade on the coast until 1822.

Antelope was a French vessel launched in 1795 and captured circa 1798. She sailed primarily as a West Indiaman until circa 1804 when Daniel Bennett purchased her and sent her out as a privateer operating off South America, first in the Atlantic and then the Pacific. A Spanish armed merchantman captured her in 1805, in a single ship action that resulted in the death of Antelope's master. A Spanish merchant then sent Antelope to Spain.

Général Pérignon was a brig launched at Saint-Malo in February 1804 as a privateer. She captured numerous British merchant vessels over several cruises. In January 1810 the British Royal Navy captured her. She was sold in March 1810 and became a coaster sailing between Plymouth and London under her original name, or as Intention. She was last listed in 1816.

Westmoreland was launched on the Thames in 1791. She made two voyages as a slave ship, and between them cruized as a privateer for some months. She then traded between Britain and the Mediterranean until he was last listed in 1814.

Harriot was launched in Spain in 1794, almost surely under another name, and taken in prize in 1797. She made two voyages as a London-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Under new ownership, she then made three voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. A privateer captured her as she was returning from her third whale-hunting voyage but the British Royal Navy recaptured her. After her recapture she became a merchantman. She was captured and condemned at Lima, Peru in March-April 1809 as a smuggler.

Rambler was a ship built in France and taken in prize in 1797. However, she did not appear under the name Rambler until 1803 when William Bennett purchased her for use as a whaler. He may, therefore, have renamed her. She made three complete voyages as a whaler. A French privateer captured her in 1807 as Rambler was returning from her fourth whaling voyage.

Sea Horse was launched in 1782 at Gravesend for the Hudson's Bay Company. She then became a merchantman that a French naval squadron captured in 1795. She next became the Spanish merchantman Principe Fernando, which a Guernsey privateer recaptured in January 1800. She became a merchantman again, and then made one voyage as a whaler. She became a Government transport and it was as a transport that she was wrecked in 1816 with great loss of life.

Carleton was launched in New Brunswick or Nova Scotia in 1802. First she traded between Liverpool and North America. Then between 1806 and 1807 she made one voyage as a whaler to Van Diemen's Land. Afterwards she traded with the Caribbean and Malta, and was lost while sailing from Hull to Quebec.

Castor & Pollux was launched at Teignmouth in 1790. Initially she traded with the Mediterranean, and on one voyage suffered a fire at sea. She then became a West Indiaman. In 1799 she commenced a voyage as a whaler. A Spanish privateer captured her in the Pacific circa 1801.

Atlantic was launched at Calcutta, under another name and returned to British ownership as a prize taken from the French in 1805. She made one complete voyage for Samuel Enderby & Sons as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She was lost late in 1807 perhaps while setting out on a second whaling voyage.

Princess Amelia was a ship that was launched in France or the Netherlands in 1789, almost certainly under another name. She was taken in prize in 1801. She made one unsuccessful voyage as a sealer in the British southern whale fishery. Thereafter she became a West Indiaman. She was reportedly broken up in 1807.

HMS Inspector was launched at Wivenhoe in 1782 as the only vessel built to her design. She participated in one campaign and also captured a handful of small merchant vessels before the Navy sold her in 1802. Most notably, her crew participated in the mutiny at the Nore. After her sale, she became the whaler Inspector. She made six complete voyages to the British southern whale fishery. A Chilean privateer captured her in May 1819. Eventually she was condemned as unseaworthy at Santander in 1821.

Laurel's origins are ambiguous. She first appeared in online British sources in 1802. She made three voyages from Liverpool to Africa. On the first she apparently was on a trading voyage. The second was a complete voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. During this voyage she was involved in two sanguinary engagements with French vessels, the second of which resulted in the death of her master. She set out on a second slave trading voyage in 1805 but a French squadron captured her before she had embarked any slaves.

Chaser first appeared under that name in British records in 1786. She had been launched in 1771 at Philadelphia under another name, probably Lord North. Lord North became Cotton Planter, and then Planter, before she became Chaser. Between 1786 and 1790 Chaser made four voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She then became a merchantman. In 1794 a privateer captured her but the Spanish recaptured her. She became a Liverpool-based Slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. In 1796 she was condemned in West Africa on her first voyage in the triangular trade before she could embark any enslaved people.

Several ships have been named Lucy.

References