''Charming Kitty'' was a ship captured from the Spanish. She first appeared in Gret Britain's Protection Lists for whalers in 1799. She conducted four whaling voyages between 1799 and 1808 before becoming a West Indiaman, trading with the Caribbean. She was wrecked in October 1813.

Whaling voyages

''Charming Kitty'' left Britain on her first whaling voyage 21 March 1799 under the command of John Mather, master, with destination Walvis Bay.British Southern Whale Fishery Database – voyages: ''Charming Kitty''.
/ref> ''Charming Kitty'' was reported at Walvis Bay in August 1801 with Burn, master. By 19 September 1801 she was at

St Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

, and she arrived back at Britain on 6 December. Captain Thaddeus Luce (or Lewis) sailed ''Charming Kitty'' on 16 March 1802 from Britain and bound for Delagoa Bay. She was reported there with other whalers, including , and , on 8 August. She left

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

on 12 February 1804 for Britain, and arrived there on 3 April 1804. In August 1802, the Honourable the Court of Directors of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

announced that they had licensed 19 vessels, , ''Charming Kitty'', and among them, to sail east of the

to engage in whaling in the "Southern Whale Fishery". At the time ''Charming Kitty'' was valued at £9,000. ''Charming Kitty''s third whaling voyage began on 1 July 1804 when she left Britain under the command of George Hedge (or Hodges), master. She was reported to have called at Rio de Janeiro in January 1805 with 40 tons of oil, but with her master and seven crew members dead. Her new master appears to have been "Mitchell". She returned to Rio in December, to refill her water casks. She left St Helena on 7 September in a convoy under the escort of the 50-gun , and returned to Britain on 29 October 1806. Captain Henry King sailed ''Charming Kitty'' on her fourth and last whaling voyage. She left Britain on 9 February 1807 bound for Delagoa Bay. She was reported to have been at Delagoa Bay on 1 August and on 1 September 1807. She sailed out of the Cape of Good Hope on 19 January 1808. She was then reported "feared lost". She arrived in Britain on 12 December 1808, but put into Ramsgate on 15 December 1808 having lost her anchor, cables, and bowsprit.

Subsequent career

''Charming Kitty''s entry in ''Lloyd's Register'' for 1809 showed an amendment, changing master from H. King to Manning, and her trade from South Seas to Yucatán. ''Lloyd's Register'' for 1810 gave her trade as London-Antigua, her master as Manning, and her owner as Shuttleworth. ''Charming Kitty'' was reported to have been at Havana on 11 June 1812, loading for London.

Fate

''Charming Kitty'', Nevin, master, was lost near

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

on 20 October 1813. Her crew and part of the cargo were saved. She had been sailing from British Honduras to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

.''LL'' №4832, 24 December 1813.
/ref>

Notes

Citations

References

* * {{italic title 1790s ships Whaling ships Captured ships Age of Sail merchant ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in 1813