Speedy (1779 ship)
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name: | Speedy |
| Owner: |
|
| Launched: | 1779, Thames[1] |
| Fate: | No longer listed after 1814 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen: | 313[1] (bm) |
| Armament: |
|
Speedy was a whaler launched on the Thames in 1779. She also made voyages to New South Wales, transporting female convicts in 1799. She is last listed in Lloyd's Register in 1813 or so.
Whaler and convict transport
Speedy was under the command of Captain John Locke in 1791 when she sailed to the South Seas Fisheries. She was reported at the Cape Verde islands in January 1792, Rio de Janeiro in February, and off the coast of Peru in November. She was back in Britain in August 1793.[4]
She was mentioned in the Protection Lists in 1793, 1794, and 1796.[4][Note 1]
Captain Thomas Melville sailed in late 1793 to transport stores to Port Jackson and then engage in whaling. However, he was reported to have had to return to Rio de Janeiro in February 1794 to undertake repairs.[4]
Melville had been captain on Britannia, also a whaler belonging to Samuel Enderby & Sons, in 1791 when she had been one of 11 ships of the Third Fleet, bound for the Sydney penal settlement. He had seen sperm whales off Van Diemen's Land and Port Jackson, and after delivering the convicts, Britannia had gone whaling; her crew killed the first four whales taken off the coast of Australia. Melville then wrote to his employers about the prospects for whaling in the region.[6]
On this second voyage, Melville sailed Speedy to the coast of Chile, where she was reported "well" in November. She stopped at Rio in January 1796, and arrived back in Britain in October.[4]
Between 1797 and 1799, Speedy was under the command of Captain Abraham Bristow, serving in the South Seas Whale Fisheries. At this point she was armed, though with only two 3-pounder guns. She was back in Britain by July 1799.[4]
Captain George Quested replaced Bristow later in 1799. Speedy is on the Protection List for 1799.[4] She then sailed from England on 24 November 1799 and arrived at Port Jackson on 15 April 1800.[1] She embarked 53 female convicts, three of whom died on the voyage.[7]
Speedy left Port Jackson in July 1800 to whale off New Holland.[8] She returned to London in November 1802 with 150 tons of sperm oil.[4]
Subsequent career
From 1801 to 1807, Lloyd's Register continues to carry her with "Questade" as master, S. Enderby as owner, and her trades as a transport operating out of London. She also is no longer armed. Between 1801 and 1804, however, she is listed as Speed, only reverting to the name Speedy in 1805.
Between 1807 and 1814, there is a listing for Speedy, 29 years old, of 321 or 322 tons (bm), and launched on the Thames. However, now her master is "Sall", her owner is "Swansea", and her trade is London to Africa. In 1809, the listing is unchanged, except that now she is armed with fourteen 6-pounder carronades. By 1815, Speedy is no longer listed in Lloyd's Register.
Notes, citations and references
- Notes
- ↑ The Protection List listed vessels whose crews were exempt from naval service, i.e., impressment.[5]
- Citations
- 1 2 3 Bateson (1974), pp.139-40.
- ↑ Lloyd's Register (1799 & 1800).
- ↑ Lloyd's Register (1809).
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Clayton (2014), p.222.
- ↑ Clayton (2014), p.10.
- ↑ Free Settler or Felon: Convict Ship Britannia 1791, - accessed 9 December 2014.
- ↑ Bateson (1974), p.153.
- ↑ "Arrival of Vessels at Port Jackson, and their Departure". Australian Town and Country Journal, Saturday 3 January 1891, p.16. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
- References
- Bateson, Charles (1974) The Convict Ships, 1787–1868. (Sydney). ISBN 0-85174-195-9
- Clayton, Jane M. (2014) Ships employed in the South Sea Whale Fishery from Britain: 1775-1815: An alphabetical list of ships. (Berforts Group). ISBN 978-1908616524