| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Duchess of Portland |
| Namesake | Duchess of Portland |
| Builder | Robert Thomson, Troon |
| Launched | 1826 |
| Fate | Foundered 12 February 1867 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Tons burthen | 173 (bm) |
| Length | 77 ft 6 in (23.6 m) |
| Beam | 22 ft 7 in (6.9 m) |
| Depth | 13 ft 10 in (4.2 m) |
| Propulsion | Sail |
Duchess of Portland was launched at Troon in 1826. In the next 40-some years she sailed as a West Indiaman, and then around Britain. In 1831 she survived a maritime incident. She foundered in 1867.
Duchess of Portland first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1826, [2]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1826 | J.Hill | J.Hill | Greenock–New York | LR |
| 1831 | M'Ghie R.Miller | J.Hill&Co. | Falmouth | LR |
On 13 August 1831 Duchess of Portland, Miller, master, encountered a violent hurricane as she was sailing for England from Aux Cayes. The hurricane threw her on her beam ends and she stayed that way for eight hours. She lost one of her boats, several sails, and was obliged to cut away her spare spars. She arrived at Falmouth on 28 September. [3]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Homeport | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1835 | R.Millar | Glasgow | LR | ||
| 1840 | D.Kerr | M'Gill & Co | Clyde–Trinidad | Glasgow | LR; small repairs 1839 |
| 1845 | P.Brown G.Dickson | M'Gill & Co. | Clyde–Saint Kitts Clyde–Trinidad | Glasgow | LR; large repair 1843 & damages repaired 1846 |
| 1850 | D.Ross | M'Gill & Co. | LR | ||
| 1855 | Micklreid | Turnock & Co. | London | Leith | LR; large repair 1843 & small repairs 1848 & 1850 |
| 1860 | Micklreid | Turnock & Co. | London | Leith | LR; large repair 1843 & small repairs 1848 & 1850 |
| 1862 | Micklreid | London Shields | LR; large repair 1843 & small repairs 1848 & 1850 | ||
Duchess of Portland was last listed in Lloyd's Register in 1862. However, in December 1865 she stranded at Bridlington but was later refloated.
Duchess of Portland foundered 15 miles off Hartlepool on 12 February 1867 after taking in water. Crew were saved from the ship's boat. She had been sailing from Sunderland to Le Conquet with a cargo of coal. Her British registry was cancelled in 1869. [1]
| Shipwrecks |
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|---|---|
| Other incidents |
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Sun was a brig built in 1819 at Sunderland and was condemned at the Cape of Good Hope in August 1822. She was repaired and began sailing east of the Cape. She was wrecked in May 1826 in the Torres Strait.
Forth was built in 1826 at Leith, Scotland. She made two voyages transporting convicts to New South Wales. After disembarking the convicts from her second voyage she sailed to Manila. She sailed from Manila in July 1835 and subsequently foundered without a trace.
Castle Forbes was a merchant ship built by Robert Gibbon & Sons at Aberdeen, Scotland in 1818. She was the first vessel built at Aberdeen for the trade with India. She then made several voyages to India, sailing under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). She made two voyages transporting convicts from Ireland to Australia. She sustained damage in 1826 on a voyage to India and was condemned at the Cape of Good Hope. However, she was repaired. She was last listed in 1832, and in 1838 in Lloyd's Register (LR).
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.
HMS Nimrod was a brig-sloop of the British Royal Navy, launched in 1812. She spent her war years in north American waters where she captured one small privateer, assisted in the capture of another, and captured or destroyed some 50 American vessels. After the war she captured smugglers and assisted the civil authorities in maintaining order in Tyne. She was wrecked in 1827 and so damaged that the Navy decided she was not worth repairing. A private ship-owner purchased Nimrod and repaired her. She then went on to spend some 20 years trading between Britain and Charleston, the Mediterranean, Australia, and India. She was last listed in 1851.
Asia was launched at Philadelphia. Early records have her launch year as 1795, but later records have it as 1798. She entered British records in 1800 as trading with the Far East. As the British East India Company had a monopoly of British trade with the Far East, Asia almost certainly did not sail under the British flag, though she did operate from Britain. In 1805 the privateer Mercury seized her and the High Court of Admiralty condemned Asia for trading with France. New owners named her Duchess of York. She then became a West Indiaman. She was wrecked at Guadeloupe in 1826.
Woodford was launched at Bristol in 1819. She made one voyage as an "extra ship" for the British East India Company (EIC). She also made two voyages transporting convicts from England to Van Diemen's Land. She sank in February 1829 off Madagascar.
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.
Hashemy, was a teak-built vessel launched at Calcutta in 1817. She was originally a country ship, trading east of the Cape of Good Hope. In 1829 she made one voyage as a whaler in the Southern Whale Fishery. From 1846 on she made several voyages transporting people, notably coolies from India to British Guiana, and convicts to Australia. She was probably hulked in Bengal c.1867.
Busiris was launched at Newcastle upon Tyne in 1814 as a West Indiaman. She made one voyage as an East Indiaman and then returned to the West Indies trade. She was wrecked in May 1826.
Amelia was built in Massachusetts in 1809 or 1810. The British captured her in 1813. She sailed as a British merchantman until she foundered in 1829 or 1830.
Duchess of Portland was launched at Bristol in 1783. She was primarily a West Indiaman. However, she made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people, and two as a whaler in the British Southern Whale Fishery. She then became a transport. The US Navy captured her in 1812. She was in ballast and her captors burnt her.
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.
Venus was built in Mauritius in 1807. She spent most of her career sailing between London and the Cape of Good Hope (CGH). She also sailed to Mauritius, sailing under a licence from the British East India Company (EIC). She wrecked in July 1826 while sailing from Sydney to Singapore.
Vansittart was launched at New York in 1807, under another name. She was captured c.1814 and new owners gave her the name Vansittart. She was initially a West Indiaman. Then between 1817 and 1837 she made seven voyages as a whaler in the British Southern Whale Fisheries. Thereafter she was a merchantman sailing out of Shields. She foundered on 2 February 1855.
Stentor was a British transport and merchant vessel launched in 1814 at Sunderland. In 1820 she transported settlers to South Africa. She made several journeys to India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). As a transport she carried troops and supplies to such destinations as Sierra Leone, Fernando Po, Ceylon, and the West Indies. She was wrecked in November 1846.
Medina was launched in 1811 and quickly became a West Indiaman. Ten years later she started sailing to the East Indies under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). She made two voyages transporting convicts to Australia, first to Sydney and then to Hobart. She also brought immigrants to the Swan River Colony. On that voyage she sustained damage that caused her to be condemned in July 1831.
Boyne was built in 1822 in Newcastle upon Tyne as a West Indiaman. In 1824–1825 she made one voyage to Bengal for the British East India Company (EIC)). She next made one voyage to Bombay under a license from the EIC. She then returned to the West Indies trade. Her crew abandoned her on 18 August 1830 in a sinking state as she was sailing from Jamaica to London.
Doncaster was launched on the River Thames in 1825. Early in her career she carried emigrants to Australia. She made other voyages to Van Diemen's Land and New South Wales, but also traded as a West Indiaman. She was wrecked on 17 July 1836 on the coast of South Africa while sailing from Île de France (Mauritius) to London under a license from the British East India Company (EIC).
Emulous was a merchant ship launched at Whitby in 1817. She traded widely, including to Mauritius under a licence from the British East India Company (EIC). She foundered in the North Atlantic in May 1841.
