Royal Bounty (1785 ship)
Royal Bounty was launched in South Carolina in 1770, probably as George and Sarah. Her owners changed her name to Royal Bounty circa 1786. As Royal Bounty she sailed out of Leith, going on annual whale hunting voyages to the northern whale fishery (Greenland and Davis Strait). She was wrecked in 1819 on her 35th such voyage.
| History | |
|---|---|
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Great Britain | |
| Name | George and Sarah |
| Builder | South Carolina |
| Launched | 1770 |
| Renamed | Royal Bounty |
| Fate | Wrecked 16 July 1819 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 282 (bm) |
| Armament | 6 × 6-pounder guns, or 6 × 6-pounder guns + 2 × 12-pounder carronades |
Career
George and Sarah
George and Sarah first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1779.[1]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1779 | G.Watson | G.Selby | Cork transport | LR; lengthened 1774 |
| 1784 | G.Watson G.Selby |
G.Selby | London London–Memel |
LR; lengthened 1774, and good repair 1784 |
Royal Bounty
Circa 1785 new owners renamed George and Sarah to Royal Bounty; she also underwent a thorough repair. From then on until her loss she was a whaler. Although there is no online copy of LR for 1785, there is a press report that she had returned to Leith from Greenland in August 1785 "clean", i.e., without having caught anything.
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1786 | R.Liddell | J.Scougal | Greenland–Leith | LR; lengthened and rebuilt 1778, thorough repair 1785; former George and Sarah |
| 1787 | R.Liddell W.Paton |
J.Scougal | Greenland–Leith | LR; lengthened and rebuilt 1778, thorough repair 1785; former George and Sarah |
| 1789 | W.Paton J.Wilson |
J.Scougal | Leith–Greenland | LR; lengthened and rebuilt 1778, thorough repair 1785, repairs 1786 |
| 1790 | C.Reid J. Boyd |
J.Scougal | Leith–Greenland | LR; lengthened and rebuilt 1778, thorough repair 1785, repairs 1786 |
| 1792 | J.Boyd J.Newton |
J.Scougal | Leith–Davis Strait | LR; lengthened and rebuilt 1778, thorough repair 1785 |
| 1805 | J.Newton J. Wright |
Douglas | Leith–Davis Strait | LR; lengthened and rebuilt 1778, thorough repair 1785, repairs 1786, 1796, and 1800 |
| 1810 | J.Wright R.Kelly |
Douglas | Leith–Davis Strait | LR; repairs 1800 |
| 1810 | J.Wright Kellie |
Wood & Co. | Leith–Davis Strait | RS; small repairs 1806 & 1807 |
| 1814 | R.Kellis Drysdale |
Douglas | Leith–Greenland | LR; repairs 1811 |
| 1818 | J.Drysdal J.Rich |
Woods & Co. | Leith–Greenland | LR; repairs 1811 |
| 1819 | J.Rich | Wood & Co. | Leith–Greenland | LR; repairs 1811 |
Whaling voyages
The data below for the period 1785 to 1814 comes from press mentions. The data from 1814 on comes primarily from Coltish,[2] augmented by press reports.
| Year | Master | Where | Whales | Tuns whale oil | Butts blubber | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1785 | Liddell | Greenland | Clean late in the season | |||
| 1786 | 4 | |||||
| 1787 | Paton | Greenland | 12 | |||
| 1788 | Paton | Greenland | 1 | 20 | Seven seals, & 1 cwt of whalebone | |
| 1789 | Reid | Greenland | Clean | |||
| 1790 | Boyd | Davis Strait | ||||
| 1791 | Boyd | Greenland | Clean | |||
| 1792 | No press report | |||||
| 1793 | Davis strait | 1 | ||||
| 1794 | Davis Strait | 2 | ||||
| 1795 | Davis Strait | 7 | ||||
| 1796 | Davis Strait | 5 | ||||
| 1797 | Newton | Davis Strait | 8 | Full ship | ||
| 1798 | Davis Strait | Clean | ||||
| 1799 | Newton | Davis Strait | 8 | Full ship | ||
| 1800 | Newton | Davis Strait | 7 | |||
| 1801 | Newton | West coast of Greenland | Full ship; Royal Bounty grossed £5463 for the voyage[3] | |||
| 1802 | Newton | Davis Strait | 10 | |||
| 1803 | Newton | Davis Strait | ||||
| 1804 | Newton | Davis Strait | 9 | 400 | ||
| 1805 | Wright | Davis Strait | 6 | |||
On 13 April 1806 Royal Bounty lost her mizzen mast and several men but was able to get a new mast and proceed to the fishery.
| Year | Master | Where | Whales | Tuns whale oil | Butts blubber | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1806 | Wright | Davis Strait | 3 | |||
| 1807 | No press report | |||||
| 1808 | Wright | Davis Strait | 8 | |||
| 1809 | Wright | Davis Strait | 9 | |||
| 1810 | Kelley | Davis Strait | Well fished | |||
| 1811 | Davis Strait | 8 | ||||
| 1812 | Kellie | Greenland | 19 | 300 | ||
| 1813 | Kelly | Greenland | 2 | 70 butts | ||
| 1814 | Drysdale | Greenland | 6 | 47.5 | 260 butts or 291 casks | 3.5 tons whale fins |
| 1815 | Drysdale | Davis Strait | 3, 7, or 8 | 36.5 | ||
| 1816 | Drysdale | 6, or 15 | 50 | |||
| 1817 | Drysdale | Greenland | 4 | 26.5 | ||
| 1818 | Ritch | Greenland | 3 | 15 | ||
| 1819 | Ritch | Greenland | 3 | Lost with her cargo | ||
Fate
Royal Bounty, Ritch, master, was wrecked on 16 July 1819. She was one of 10 whalers lost within a few days of each other in the Davis Strait due to gales in the ice fields. Her crew was saved.[4] She had taken three whales before she was lost.[5]
Citations
- LR (1779), Seq.No.G251.
- Coltish (c. 1842).
- Jackson (2017), p. 75.
- "DAVIS'S STRAITS WHALE FISHERY". Caledonian Mercury (Edinburgh, Scotland), 21 August 1819; Issue 15283.
- "DAVIS'S STRAITS FISHERY". Caledonian Mercury (Edinburgh, Scotland), 26 August 1819; Issue 15285.
References
- Coltish, William (c. 1842). An account of the success of the ships at the Greenland and Davis Straits fisheries 1772-1842 inclusive.
- Jackson, Gordon (2017). The British Whaling Trade. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9781786949073.
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