Wolfe's Cove (or Wolf's Cove) was built by Baldwin & Co and launched in 1812 at Ile d'Orleans near Quebec. She sailed to England and from there first traded with Canada and then from 1816 with Mauritius, India, and Java. An American privateer captured her in 1813, but the Royal Navy recaptured her within weeks. She was damaged and hulked at Mauritius in 1819.
Wolfe's Cove sailed to England and entered Lloyd's Register in 1813 with T. Kirby, master, changing to J. Cobb, Redsedle & Hamilton, owners, and trade London–Liverpool, changing to Liverpool–Quebec.[3] The Register of Shipping for 1814 had her master changing from J. Kirby to S. Stephenson, her owner from Risdale & Co. to C. Waltham, and her trade from Liverpool–Quebec to Liverpool–Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Wolf's Cove, William Compleman (or Campleman), master, was on her way from Quebec to England when on 16 November 1813 the American privateer Grand Turk captured her at 42°30′N8°37′W / 42.500°N 8.617°W / 42.500; -8.617.[5] American records state that Wolfe's Cove had two guns and 20 men. Her captor valued her at $60,000, put a prize crew aboard her, and sent her for New Orleans.[6]
Grand Turk was on her third cruise and this was her fifth prize.[7]Wolfe Cove's cargo included 38 bales of fine furs (invoiced at £12,000), and 500 tons of oak and pine timber, spars, staves, and the like (invoiced at £3,000). The weather was too rough to permit the removal of the furs. Captain Breed took off her crew and put a prize crew of 19 men on Wolfe's Cove, under the command of Robert Cloutman.[8]
On 1 December 1813 HMSBriton recaptured Wolf's Cove, which arrived at Scilly on 10 December.[5] At the time a number of other British naval vessels were in sight and so shared in the salvage money for Wolf's Cove.[lower-alpha 1]
On 24 March 1815 as Wolfe's Cove was going down the Thames River on her way to Halifax, Nova Scotia and Saint John, New Brunswick, she grounded and fell on her side at George's Stairs, Deptford. The next tide refloated her. She was hauled to the King's Moorings, Deptford, and there was surveyed. The survey revealed that she had sustained no damage and she resumed her voyage.[10]
In 1814 the British East India Company (EIC) lost its monopoly on the trade between Britain and India. [11] A number of ship owners then commenced trading east of the Cape of Good Hope under licenses from the EIC. Wolfe Cove's's owners applied on 30 November 1814 for a licence, which they received the same day.[12]
In 1816 Wolfe's Cove's trade changed from London−Halifax to London–Île de France. She also had some damages repaired that year.[13]
Wolfe's Cove appeared on a list of licensed ships as having sailed for Bombay on 26 February 1816 under the command of Captain Stephenson.[14]
She again appears as having sailed to Bombay 31 March 1817 under the command of Captain C. M'Gregor.[15] This information may not be entirely correct as Wolf's Cove, Stephenson. master, was reported to have been at 21°30′N69°30′E / 21.500°N 69.500°E / 21.500; 69.500 on 16 April 1817 while on her way back to England from Bengal.[16]
On 25 April 1818 Wolfe's Cove, Stephenson, master, sailed for Île de France.[17]
Loss
When a violent gale hit Mauritius on 24 January 1819, Wolfe's Cove was driven on shore at Île aux Tonneliers. She had come from Java and as a result of being driven on shore the great part of her cargo was damaged.[18]Wolfe's Cove was refloated but her masts and cargo were removed and she was sold as a hulk.[19][2]
Notes
↑ A first-class share of the salvage money was worth £65 6s 3d; a sixth-class share, that of an ordinary seaman, was worth 6s 11¼d.[9]
Ocean was launched in 1802 at Quebec. She made five voyages under charter to the British East India Company (EIC) between 1804 and 1814. Her owners then sold her and she continued to sail between Britain and India under a license issued by the EIC. In 1815–1816 she made one voyage transporting convicts to Australia. She was last listed in 1825.
The Roxburgh Castle launched in Spain in 1803 under an unknown name. She was taken as a prize in 1809, and then sailed under the flag of the United Kingdom. She was wrecked in 1814.
Huddart was launched in 1803 as an East Indiaman. She made eight voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), between 1803 and 1818. In 1810-1811 she participated as a transport in two British military campaigns. In 1818 new owners deployed her in sailing to Canada. She was wrecked there in 1821.
British Army was launched in 1811 at Quebec. She initially traded across the Atlantic. After the British East India Company in 1814 lost its monopoly on the trade with the East Indies, British Army made several voyages there. She then traded across the Atlantic again, and to the Mediterranean. A wave wrecked her at sea in 1822 in the Atlantic.
Benson was launched at Quebec in 1811. She entered Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1813. She was condemned at Mauritius in 1817 and her loss gave rise to a notable court case.
Welton was launched at Hull in 1809. She first traded between Hull and Quebec and then later with South America and the Caribbean. Lastly, she traded with India. She was lost in 1817 at Bengal.
HMS North Star was a ship launched in 1810 and spent much of her naval career on the Jamaica Station. The Navy sold her in 1817 and she became the merchantman Columbo. Columbo sailed between Britain and India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC) until she was damaged in 1822 while returning from Ceylon. She was condemned at Point de Galle and sold there for breaking up.
True Briton was launched at Pont Neuf, Quebec, in 1811. Her primary trade was sailing between Britain and New Brunswick, but she also sailed to Jamaica, and made two voyages to India. Her crew abandoned her in the Atlantic in 1822.
Earl of Buckinghamshire was built at Montreal in 1814. She sailed to Britain and made two voyages to India. She then started trading between Liverpool and North America. In 1821 she carried some 600 settlers from Greenock to Quebec. Her crew abandoned her in the North Atlantic in October 1822 and she was wrecked in November when she drifted ashore at Galway Bay, Ireland.
Sir James Henry Craig was launched at Quebec in 1811. She sailed to England and made three voyages as a West Indiaman. The British East India Company (EIC), in 1813 lost its monopoly on the trade between Britain and India. In 1817 she sailed for India but was condemned at Calcutta after she sustained extensive storm-damage at the start of her homeward-bound voyage.
Stirling was built in 1812 at Montreal, Quebec. She apparently traded out of Liverpool as a West Indiaman. There is little evidence that she traded as an East Indiaman. She was last listed in 1821 and a vessel named Sterling, sailing out of Quebec, was wrecked in November 1821.
HMS Vulture was launched in 1801 at South Shields as Warrior. The Royal Navy purchased her in 1803 as a sloop and renamed her. From 1808 through 1813 she was a floating battery at Jersey,. The Navy sold her in 1814 and she returned to mercantile service as Warrior. She was last listed in 1820, but does not seem to have sailed again after returning from east of the Cape in 1817.
Glenmore was launched in 1806 at Elgin. She was initially a West Indiaman. She made one voyage to Bengal in 1813–14. She became a Greenland whaler in 1818 and made four full whaling voyages. She was lost in the White Sea in 1822.
Aberdeen was launched at Quebec in 1811. She sailed to England and then traded between Quebec and Britain. She made two voyages to India under license from the British East India Company (EIC). After her return from the second, in 1820, she was no longer listed.
Oracabessa was launched in 1810 at Hull. She was initially a West Indiaman but then from 1818 she started trading with India. She foundered in a hurricane in the Bay of Bengal in 1823.
Lord Wellington was launched in 1809 at Shields. She initially sailed as a London-based transport and then made two voyages to India, and one to Mauritius. Thereafter she traded widely until she was condemned c.1842.
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.
Oromocto was launched at Oromocto, New Brunswick in 1813. She then traded between England and the Caribbean. She started trading between England and India but in 1820 she became leaky on her way back to England from India, put into Maranham, and was condemned there in 1821.
Cossack was launched in Quebec in 1813 and then moved her registry to the United Kingdom. She made one voyage to the East Indies under a license from the British East India Company. She was damaged December 1823 and probably condemned.
Countess of Liverpool was launched in 1814 at Portland (Weymouth). She served from February 1814 to July 1827 as a Weymouth–Channel Islands sailing packet. From 1828 she started sailing to Brazil, and from 1830 to India. In 1833, she became leaky while sailing in the Indian Ocean. She was condemned in 1833 and then broken up at Mauritius in 1834.
References
Essex Institute historical collections (1943), Vol. 79.
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.
Marcil, Eileen Reid (1995). The Charley-Man: a history of wooden shipbuilding at Quebec 1763-1893. Kingston, Ontario: Quarry. ISBN1-55082-093-1.
Peabody, Robert Ephraim, ed. (1926). The Log of the Grand Turks. Houghton Mifflin.
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