''Duke of York'' was a fir-built ship of 500 tons (bm), built in 1780 at Archangel. In 1787 her owner was "Hitchie", her master "Jn Wolff", and her trade London—South Seas, indicating that she was a
whaler. More accurately, her master was John Wolfe, Woolf, or Wolf, and her owner Richard Cadman Etches. She sailed on 21 April 1787 for the
South Seas.
[British Southern Whale Fishery Database – voyages: ''Duke of York''.]
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Etches had received a license from the South Sea Company to sail around Cape Horn into the Pacific. He dispatched her to reinforce the settlement at New Years Harbour (now Puerto Ano Nuevo) on Staten Island (now Isla de los Estados), off Tierra del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla G ...
. Seal hunters established a factory there in 1786, which was also well-located for vessels rounding Cape Horn to refresh and replenish their water.
On 4 June, ''Duke of York'' sailed from St Jago
Santiago (Portuguese for “ Saint James”) is the largest island of Cape Verde, its most important agricultural centre and home to half the nation's population. Part of the Sotavento Islands, it lies between the islands of Maio ( to the east) ...
, "all well". By August, she was at the Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...
, "all well".
On 11 September, shortly after she arrived at New Years Harbour, ''Duke of York'' was lost. Her crew, however, was saved.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Duke of York (1780)
1780 ships
Maritime incidents in 1787
Individual sailing vessels
Age of Sail merchant ships
Whaling ships