Ganges (1798 ship)

Ganges was a ship launched in 1798 at Philadelphia, probably for French owners. During the Peace of Amiens her registration and homeport became Dunkirk. Her (possibly new) French owners sent her to engage in whaling at Delagoa Bay, where the British letter of marque whaler Scorpion captured her in 1803. She then made one whaling voyage to Isle of Desolation before a French squadron captured her in 1806 during a second whaling voyage. Accounts differ as to whether her captors sank her, or released her and she continued to operate as a merchant vessel until 1814.

For other ships with the same name, see Ganges (Age of Sail merchant ship) and Ganges (East India Company ship).

History
Franco-American
NameGanges
BuilderPhiladelphia
Launched1798
FateSold or transferred to France in 1802
French Navy EnsignFrance
NameGange
OwnerLouis De Baecque
CommissionedSeptember 1803
HomeportDunkirk
CapturedLate 1803
United Kingdom
NameGanges
OwnerVarious
FateEither captured and sunk 1806, or released and still sailing until 1814
General characteristics
Tons burthen
  • French:310 tons (French; "of load")[1]
  • British: 243,[2] or 280[3][4] (bm)
PropulsionSail
Armament12 × 9-pounder guns[3]

Career

Ganges was launched at Philadelphia, possibly for the Rotch brothers. After the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars, a number of French whaling companies transferred their operations to the United States, operating out of New Bedford and Nantucket under American colours and with American masters and crews, frequently Nantucket whalers.[5] During the Peace of Amiens (1802–1803), some French owners returned their vessels to French registration, and resumed whaling from France.[6]

Gange was commissioned at Dunkirk circa September 1803 by Louis De Baecque. She departed in late September with Charles Harris (or Harrax), master, for the whaling grounds at Delagoa Bay.[1][7]

There she encountered Scorpion, which captured Gange and a second French whaler, Cyrus, in late 1803.[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2] Scorpion then escorted both into St Helena.[9] From there they sailed to Britain, where they arrived in April 1804 and were sold. Their new owners then fitted them out for whaling and armed them.

Ganges's new owners were James Milman (mast maker), and James Herbert (cooper),[2] or Milner & Co.[3] She sailed from Britain on 4 August 1804 with master C.W. Hodan,[3] or Bacon or Main,[2] for the Isle of Desolation. She was reported to have been there on 25 February 1805.[2] Reportedly she engaged in sealing and the hunt for "sea elephants".[10] She was then reported at St Helena on 16 August 1805. She returned to Britain on 12 September 1805.[2]

Loss

Ganges, Obed Folger,[2][3][4] master, and the same owners as on her previous voyage, left on a whaling voyage shortly after returning from her first voyage.[2][4] While outward bound, she encountered "a flotilla from Rochefort".[11][1]

The flotilla captured her on 19 December 1805,[1] or 11 March 1806.[2][4] The French either sank Ganges,[2] or released her, and she continued to operate as a merchant vessel until 1814.[4] Lloyd's Register for 1807 notes that she was captured.[12] If she returned to service, she did not appear in Lloyd's Register for 1808 or 1809.

Fortuitously, the Rochefort squadron had captured a West Indiaman named Ganges prior to November 1805. This coincidence may be part of the reason for confusion but the fate of the Ganges of this article.

Notes
  1. Some reports of the capture refer to Scorpion as a British Royal Navy frigate. She was not. She had been a Navy 22-gun sloop until the Admiralty had sold her in 1802 and her new owners fitted her out as an armed whaler sailing under a letter of marque.
  2. Many of the Nantucket whaling captains were Quakers, who were unwilling to fight.[8]

Citations
  1. Demerliac (2007), p. 331, №2851.
  2. British Southern Whale Fishery Database – voyages: Ganges.
  3. "Lloyd's register of British and foreign shipping". Vols. For Has Title:lloyd's Register. Supplement Seq.№G33. 1804. hdl:2027/hvd.32044105233704.
  4. Clayton (2014), p. 127.
  5. Richards & du Pasquier (1989), pp. 239 & 243-4.
  6. Richards & du Pasquier (1989), pp. 234 & 245.
  7. French Whaling Voyages: Ganges (FV0363).
  8. Richards & du Pasquier (1989), p. 245.
  9. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4422. London: William Phillips. 27 January 1804. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  10. du Pasquier (1990), p. 121.
  11. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4304. London: Phillips & Fardon. 11 March 1806. Archived from the original on 21 September 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016. The Ganges, Folger, from London, to the So Seas, was taken by the Rochfort Squadron 19th December, and sunk.
  12. "Lloyd's register of British and foreign shipping". Vols. For Has Title:lloyd's Register. Seq. №G15. 1807. hdl:2027/hvd.32044105233738.

References
  • Clayton, Jane M (2014). Ships employed in the South Sea Whale Fishery from Britain: 1775–1815: An alphabetical list of ships. Berforts Group. ISBN 9781908616524.
  • Demerliac, Alain (2007). La Marine de la Restauration et du Louis-Phillipe 1er: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1815 A 1848 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN 978-2-906381-23-0.
  • du Pasquier, J. Thiery (1990). Les baleiniers français de Louis XVI à Napoléon. Kronos (Paris, France). Paris: H. Veyrier. ISBN 2-85199-521-9.
  • Richards, Rhys; du Pasquier, Thierry (1989). "Bay whaling off southern Africa, c. 1785–1805". South African Journal of Marine Science. 8 (1): 231–250. doi:10.2989/02577618909504564.
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