Royalist (1794 ship)

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History
Great Britain
NameRoyalist
Launched1794, Sunderland
FateFoundered 15 April 1814
General characteristics
Tons burthen424, or 426 (bm)
Armament
  • 1810: 10 × 6–pounder guns
  • 1813: 10 × 6–pounder + 2 × 12–pounder guns

Royalist was launched in 1794 at Sunderland. She was a general trader until 1812 when she became a whaler in the northern whale fishery. She was lost in April 1814 while whaling in the Davis Strait.

Career[edit]

Royalist first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1795 with Robert Finley, master, H.Rudd, owner, and trade London–Hamburg.[1]

Year Master Owner Trade Source
1800 J.Wray Schoffield Hull–Petersburg LR
1805 F.Walton Schoffield Cork LR; damages repaired 1801
1810 Walton Schofield Hull–Baltic Register of Shipping
1812 J.Atkin
Edmonds
Heseltine Hull–Quebec LR; rebuilt 1810
1813 A.Edmonds Gibson & Co. Hull–Davis Strait LR; rebuilt 1810 & damages repaired 1812

In 1812 Royalist became a Northern Whale Fishery whaler. The following data is from Coltish:[2]

Year Master Where Whales Tuns whale oil
1812 Edmonds 6 93
1813 Edmonds Davis Strait 0 0
1814 Edmonds Greenland 0 0

Fate[edit]

Lloyd's List (LL) reported in August 1814 that Royalist had foundered in the Davis Strait with the loss of all hands.[3] There had been 54 crew members on board.

It was believed that she had foundered at 61°30′N 59°00′W / 61.500°N 59.000°W / 61.500; -59.000. Three years later one of her casks washed ashore at Hoy Sound.[4]

Captain Benet, of Venerable had been in company before Royalist was lost. At 8 am on the 14th, they fell in with drift ice. A gale of 12 hours' duration developed, followed by a tremendous storm of 20 hours' duration. Royalist and Venerable separated; Captain Bennet believed that she had been lost to windward of some icebergs.[5]

Citations[edit]

References[edit]

  • Coltish, William (c. 1842). An account of the success of the ships at the Greenland and Davis Straits fisheries 1772-1842 inclusive.
  • Harrison, George (1952). "Lost whaling ships". The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle: A Journal of Papers on Subjects Connected with Maritime Affairs (April): 189.
  • Macaulay, James (1879). All true, records of peril and adventure by sea and land [&c].