''Catherine'' (or ''Catherina''), was a

whaler A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Japa ...

, launched in 1811 at

New Bedford New Bedford (Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. Up through the 17th century, the area was the territory of the Wampanoag Native American pe ...

, that also made one voyage transporting

convict A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convict ...

s from England to

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

in 1813. She made seven whaling voyages between 1813 and 1831.

Career

Between 1811 or so and 1813 ''Catherine'' was under the command of Captain J. Clark. Initially she may have traded between

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

and

Archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...

Convict transport

Under the command of William Simmonds, ''Catherine'' sailed from Falmouth, England, on 8 December 1813, and arrived at

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

on 4 May 1814. She carried 98 female convicts, one of whom died on the voyage.

Whaling

''Catherine'' left Port Jackson on 13 July bound for the whale fisheries around New Zealand. Captain Simmons died three days after leaving Port Jackson; Robert Graham replaced him as master. In 1814 ''Catherine'' was recorded as being at the

Bay of Islands The Bay of Islands is an area on the east coast of the Far North District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is one of the most popular fishing, sailing and tourist destinations in the country, and has been renowned internationally for its ...

, New Zealand. ''Catherine'' returned to Britain on 15 June in 1816.British Southern Whale Fishery Database – voyages: ''Catherine''.
/ref> ''Catherine'' was still under Robert Graham's command when she returned to the whale fisheries around New Zealand in 1816. ''Catherine'' returned to England on 20 May 1819. ''Catherine''s third whaling voyage began on 22 July 1819. Her destination was the Galapagos Islands, but it is unclear who her master was. (''Lloyd's Register'' has this name as "Grayham".) On 16 March 1821 she was on the New South Wales fishery with 800 barrels. On 21 December she was off New Zealand. She returned to Britain on 31 May 1822 with 420 casks. For her fourth whaling voyage, ''Catherine''s master was Younger (or Young), though T. Prescott would succeed him. She left Britain on 9 August 1822 with destination Timor. She was reported to be at Timor on 20 December, and at Guam on 28 September 1823 with 1120 barrels. In December she was at Moraty (possibly

Morotai Morotai Island ( id, Pulau Morotai) is an island in the Halmahera group of eastern Indonesia's Maluku Islands (Moluccas). It is one of Indonesia's northernmost islands. Morotai is a rugged, forested island lying to the north of Halmahera. It ha ...

), with 1200 barrels. She returned to Britain on 30 September 1824 with 600 casks, seven tanks, and fins (

baleen Baleen is a filter-feeding system inside the mouths of baleen whales. To use baleen, the whale first opens its mouth underwater to take in water. The whale then pushes the water out, and animals such as krill are filtered by the baleen and ...

). On her fifth voyage, ''Catherine'' left Britain on 26 November 1824 with Ford, master, and destination again Timor. On 27 March 1824 she was at Timor with 80 barrels. She returned to Britain on 2 October 1826 with 350 casks and five tanks. Ford (or Foord) was still her master for ''Catherine''s sixth voyage when she left on 30 March 1827 with destination Seychelles. She was reported there on 9 September 1828 with 1400 barrels. She returned to Britain on 4 April 1829 with 450 casks. For her last recorded whaling voyage ''Catherine'' left Britain on 7 July 1829 with R. (or H.) Price, master. In September she was at Timor with 180 barrels. She then was reported on 10 May 1831 at San Francisco with 1100 barrels. She returned to Britain on 19 September 1831 with 1100 barrels of sperm oil, and possibly other cargo as well. The entry in ''Lloyd's Register'' for ''Catherine'', Price, master, Bennett, owner, New Bedford-built, 325 tons, trade London-South Seas continued unchanged in 1832 and 1833. She was no longer listed in 1834.

Citations

References

* * {{cite book , last1=Clayton , first1=Jane M , year=2014 , title=Ships employed in the South Sea Whale Fishery from Britain: 1775–1815: An alphabetical list of ships , publisher=Berforts Group , isbn=9781908616524 1811 ships Ships built in New Bedford, Massachusetts Convict ships to New South Wales Whaling ships