Princess Charlotte (1814 ship)
Princess Charlotte was launched in 1814 at South Shields. She initially sailed as West Indiaman. Then between 1818 and 1819 she made a voyage to India and one to Ceylon, both under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). On her return in 1819, Princess Charlotte became a whaler in the Northern Whale Fishery. She continued whale hunting until ice crushed her on 14 June 1856.
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Builder: | R & J Bulmer, South Shields[1] |
| Launched: | 1814 |
| Fate: | Wrecked 14 June 1856 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen: | 35758⁄94,[2] or 360, or 361 (bm) |
Career
Princess Charlotte first appeared in Register of Shipping (RS) in 1814 and in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1815.
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1814 | Stephenson | Bulmer | RS | |
| 1815 | Stephenson Leishman |
Bullman | London–Jamaica | LR |
| 1818 | Lishman Reynoldson |
Blanchard Somes & Co. |
London–Bombay | LR |
In 1813, the EIC had lost its monopoly on the trade between India and Britain. British ships were then free to sail to India or the Indian Ocean under a license from the EIC.[3]
On 7 March 1818, Princess Charlotte, Leishman, master sailed from Deal for Bombay. She returned to Deal on 11 April 1818.
On 8 July 1818, Princess Charlotte, Rennoldson, master, sailed for Ceylon under a license from the EIC.[4] On 5 April 1819, she was at the Cape of Good Hope, having come from Pointe de Galle. On 8 May, Princess Charlotte was at St Helena. On 1 August, she returned to Deal.
The registers continued to carry Princess Charlotte with unchanged data until 1825–1826 when they showed her master having changed to Adamson and her trade as Dundee.
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1825 | Adamson | Blanchard | London–Bengal | |
| 1826 | Adamson | J.Hume | Dundee | LR |
However, in 1820, Princess Charlotte had become a whaler sailing to the Northern Whale Fishery (Greenland and Davis Strait) from Dundee. On 2 January 1820, she entered the graving dock at Dundee.[5]
The data below came primarily from Coltish:[6]
| Year | Master | Where | Whales | Tuns whale oil | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1820 | Adamson | Davis Strait | 7 | 149 | |
| 1821 | Adamson | Greenland (GR) | 27 | 218 | |
| 1822 | Adamson | Gr | 7 | 95 | Newspapers reported eight fish (whales) |
| 1823 | Adamson | Gr | 12 | ||
| 1824 | Adamson | Gr | 7 | 90 | |
| 1825 | Adamson | Gr | 10 | 112 | |
| 1826 | Adamson | Gr | 8 | 133 | |
| 1827 | Adamson | Gr | 21 | 230 | |
| 1828 | Adamson | Gr | 33 | 253 | |
| 1829 | Adamson | Gr | 7 | 105 | |
| 1830 | Adamson | Gr | 0 | 0 | Vessel damaged |
| 1831 | Adamson | Gr | 2 | 30 | |
| 1832 | Adamson | Gr | 26 | 200 | Per newspapers; plus 12 tons whale bone |
| 1833 | Adamson | Gr | 31 | 280 | Full |
| 1834 | Adamson | 31 | 205 | ||
| 1835 | Adamson | 1 | 18 | ||
| 1836 | Adamson | 2 | 25 | ||
| 1837 | Adamson | 1 | 13 | ||
| 1838 | Deuchars | 23 | 234 | ||
| 1839 | Deuchars | 3 | 41 | ||
| 1840 | Deuchars | ||||
| 1841 | Deuchars | 4 | 57 | ||
| 1842 | Deuchars | 11 | 135 | ||
During this period (1820–1842), a voyage yielded an average 12 fish (whales) and 118 tuns of whale oil. Thus each fish yielded an average 9.7 tuns of oil.
| Year | Master | Where | Whales | Tuns whale oil | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1843 | 6 | 60 | |||
| 1844 | DS | 1 | 10 | ||
Princess Charlotte continued to whale for another dozen years.
Fate
In June 1856, Princess Charlotte was in Davis Strait having had reasonable success; she had gathered five whales, 75 tuns of whale oil, and 5 tons of whale bone. On 14 June, as she was sailing between two ice floes in Melville Bay the ice suddenly closed in on her and crushed her, sinking her. The crew were barely able to get on the ice before she sank, and lost everything. Other whalers, which were following, took on the crew: Captain Deuchars and 24 men went on Advice (of Dundee), eight men went on Chieftain (of Kirkaldy), eight men went on Truelove (of Hull), and seven men went on St Andrew (of Aberdeen).[7]
Citations and references
Citations
- Tyne Built Ships – "p".
- Hackman (2001), p. 306.
- Hackman (2001), p. 247.
- LR (1819), "Licensed India Ships".
- "ABERDEEN SHIPPING". Aberdeen Journal (Aberdeen, Scotland), 12 January 1820; Issue 3757.
- Coltish & c.1842.
- "Local Intelligence." Dundee Courier (Dundee, Scotland), 17 September 1856; Issue 2089.
References
- Coltish, William (c. 1842). An account of the success of the ships at the Greenland and Davis Straits fisheries 1772-1842 inclusive.
- Hackman, Rowan (2001). Ships of the East India Company. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-96-7.