Britannia (1798 ship)

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.

History
Great Britain
Name	Britannia
Owner	W. Boyd[1]
Builder	Dutch
Acquired	1798 by purchase of a prize
Homeport	London
Captured	1801
General characteristics
Tonnage	296,[1] or 309[2] (bm)
Propulsion	Sails
Armament	8 × 12-pounder carronades[2]

Britannia was a Dutch prize, captured in 1797 that underwent repairs in 1798.[3] She entered Lloyd's Register in 1798 with W. Shaw, master, W. Boyd, owner, and trade Portsmouth-Jamaica.[1] In 1799 Mortlock replaced Shaw as master, and her trade was listed as Portsmouth-Cape of Good Hope.[4]

Whaling voyage: Captain Mortlake left Britain on 13 March 1799. Britannia called in at Rio de Janeiro in July for sugarcane syrup.[5] She returned to England on 30 May 1800.[6]

Loss: In May 1801 Lloyd's List reported that a Spanish ship of 24 guns had captured "Britannia, late Mortlock, of London", and Castor & Pollux, Anderson, master, in the Galapagos Islands. The Spaniards then took their prizes into Lima.[7] Their captor was the privateer Atlante, under the command of Dominque de Orué.[8]