Sparrow was built in Bombay in 1777, possibly under another name. Between 1789 and 1798 Sparrow made several voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. In 1803 she was captured and recaptured. The French Navy captured and burnt her in 1806.
| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | Sparrow |
| Launched | 1777, Bombay[a] |
| Fate | Captured and burnt 1796 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 147,[2] or 148, or 150 (bm) |
| Sail plan | Snow |
| Complement |
|
| Armament |
|
| Notes | Teak-built |
Career
editSparrow first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1790.[3]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1790 | W.Clark | Hurry | London–Southern Fishery | LR; raised and repairs 1789 |
1st whaling voyage (1789–1791): Captain Welham Clark sailed from England on 8 December 1789.[4] A letter dated 2 March 1790 arrived at Norfolk and reported that Trelawney, Captain Clarke, and Sparrow, of London, Captain Clarke, had been at Santiago, Cape Verde, "all well".[5] Sparrow returned on 11 June 1791.[4]
Between 1791 and 1792 Dowson & Co. owned Sparrow.[6]
2nd whaling voyage (1791–1792): Captain Clark sailed from England on 23 September 1791. Sparrow returned on 11 May 1792.[4]
3rd whaling voyage (1792–1793): Captain Smith sailed from the Downs on 3 September 1792. Sparrow stopped at Cowes and on 19 September sailed from there for the Southern Fishery but with Clark as master. She stopped at Falmouth and sailed from there on 23 September. She gathered seal skins on the Brazil Banks and arrived at Gravesend with 21,000 skins on 16 July 1793, having stopped at Cork on her way back.[4]
4th whaling voyage (1793–1794): Captain Clark sailed from England on 31 December 1793. Sparrow arrived back in England on 7 December 1795 with 13 tuns of sperm oil and 65 tuns of whale oil.[4]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1796 | W.Clark Smith |
Hurry & Co. | London–Southern Fishery | LR; raised and repairs 1789 |
Sparrow, built in Bombay, was admitted to registry in Great Britain on 15 February 1796.[7]
5th whaling voyage (1796–1797): Captain Magnus Smith sailed from England in 1796, probably in March. Sparrow returned to England on 6 January 1797 with 13 tuns of sperm oil, 65 tuns of whale oil, 57 cwt of whale bone, and 21,000 seal skins.[4]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1797 | Smith Mather |
Guillaume | London–Southern Fishery | LR; raised and repaired 1795 |
6th whaling voyage (1797–1798): Captain John Mather sailed from England in 1797. Sparrow returned to England on 14 May 1798.[4]
Captain Michael Humble, snr., who replaced Mather, acquired a letter of marque on 31 August 1799.
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1798 | J.Mather M.Humble |
Guillaume | London Southern Fishery | LR; raised 1785 & thorough repair 1798 |
| 1799 | M.Humble | Humble | Liverpool–Demerara Liverpool–Venice |
LR; raised 1785 & thorough repair 1798 |
| 1802 | M.Humble Rogerson |
Humble | Liverpool–Venice | LR; raised 1785 & thorough repair 1798 |
| 1804 | Fawsett | Humble & Co. | Liverpool–Naples | Register of Shipping; new deck 1798 & new wales and repairs 1802 |
Captain John Fawcett acquired a letter of marque on 31 May 1803. In September 1803 Lloyd's List reported that Sparrow, Fawcett, master, had been taken, retaken by Commerce, M'Leeven, master, and brought into Lerwick.[8][b] Sparrow arrived at Liverpool on 23 September.
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1804 | B.Rogerson R.Weatherly |
Humble Holland |
Liverpool–Venice Liverpool–Louisiana |
LR; raised 1785 & thorough repair 1798 |
Captain Weatherly sailed Sparrow to New Orleans. On her way back to Liverpool Sparrow had to put into Charleston leaky.[9]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1805 | Weatherly J.Gilmore |
Holland | Liverpool–Louisiana Liverpool–Newfoundland |
LR; thorough repair 1798 |
Fate
editLloyd's List reported in February 1806 that Sparrow, from Newfoundland to the Mediterranean, was among the vessels that the Rochefort Squadron had captured and burnt.[10] The entry for Sparrow, Gilmore, master, in the Register of Shipping for 1806 carried the annotation "Captured".[11]
Notes
edit- ^ Although Sparrow was reportedly built in Bombay, no vessel by that name appears in the list of vessels built by the Bombay Dockyard.[1]
- ^ Commerce, of 136 tons (bm), was a French prize and a Liverpool-based slave ship.
Citations
edit- ^ Wadia (1986), p. 333.
- ^ "Letter of Marque, p.87 – Retrieved 25 July 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
- ^ LR (1790), Seq.No.S328.
- ^ a b c d e f g British Southern Whale Fishery Database: Voyages – Sparrow.
- ^ Marshall (1963), p. 66.
- ^ Clayton (2014), p. 221.
- ^ House of Commons (1814), p. 86.
- ^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4387. 23 September 1803. hdl:2027/mdp.39015005721504. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
- ^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4514. 14 December 1804. hdl:2027/uc1.c2735021. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
- ^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4299. hdl:2027/mdp.39015005721496. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
- ^ RS (1806), Seq.No.S490.
References
edit- Clayton, J.M. (2014). Ships employed in the South Sea Whale Fishery from Britain: 1775-1815: An alphabetical list of ships. Jane M. Clayton. ISBN 978-1-908616-52-4.
- House of Commons, Parliament, Great Britain (1814). Minutes of the Evidence Taken Before the Select Committee on Petitions Relating to East-India-Built Shipping. H.M. Stationery Office.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Marshall, M.A.N. (1963). "Norfolk Ships". The Mariner's Mirror. 49 (1): 62–68. doi:10.1080/00253359.1963.10657716.
- Wadia, R. A. (1986) [1957]. The Bombay Dockyard and the Wadia Master Builders. Bombay.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)