HMS ''Spy'' was a ''Bonetta''-class sloop launched at Rotherhithe in 1756 for the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
. The Navy sold her in 1773. From 1776, or perhaps earlier she was a transport. Then from 1780 to 1783, as ''Mars'', she was first a privateer and then a
slave ship
Slave ships were large cargo ships specially built or converted from the 17th to the 19th century for transporting slaves. Such ships were also known as "Guineamen" because the trade involved human trafficking to and from the Guinea coast ...
, engaged in the
triangular trade
Triangular trade or triangle trade is trade between three ports or regions. Triangular trade usually evolves when a region has export commodities that are not required in the region from which its major imports come. It has been used to offset t ...
in enslaved persons. Between 1783 and 1787 her name was ''Tartar'', and she traded with the Mediterranean. From 1787, as ''Southampton'', she 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 ...
in the British southern whale fishery. She made at least four complete whaling voyages and was last listed in 1792.
HMS ''Spy''
Commander Richard Hughes commissioned ''Spy'' in February 1756, in the Downs.
In November ''Spy'' was under the command of Commander William Bayne. She sailed her for New York on 8 May 1757. She spent 1858 cruising. At some point in late 1758 or early 1759 ''Spy'' and ''Portmahon'' captured ''Guillaume''. Bayne was also her commander when ''Spy'' captured the French privateer ''Banaba'' on 29 December 1758.
In March 1760 ''Spy'' was under the command of Commander William Phillips, and cruising in Home waters.
In November 1761 she was under the command of Commander Thomas Hayward. He paid her her off in late 1762 or early 1763. She then underwent a survey on 22 March 1763.
Commander William Phillips recommissioned ''Spy'' in March 1763. He then sailed for Newfoundland on 22 May 1764.
In 1765 ''Spy'' was under the command of Commander Thomas Allwright, at Newfoundland. She was paid off in December 1767.
''Spy'' was surveyed on 23 June 1768. Between March 1769 and September 1770, she underwent a Small Repair at Deptford.
Commander James Worth recommissioned ''Spy'' in July 1770. He sailed her for the Leeward Islands on 5 October.
''Spy'' was paid off in 1772.
Disposal: ''Spy'' was surveyed in July 1773 and sold at Sheerness on 3 September, for £240.
Mercantile ''Spy''
Missing volumes of ''
Lloyd's Register
Lloyd's Register Group Limited (LR) is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research and education in science and ...
'' (''LR'') have resulted in ''Spy'' first appearing in the register in 1776. From this volume on, throughout her history and name changes, the register gave her launch year as 1758, and her origins as the "King's Yard, perhaps because she was completed at the Royal Dockyards at Deptford.''LR'' (1776), Seq.No.S356. /ref>
Lloyd's List
''Lloyd's List'' is one of the world's oldest continuously running journals, having provided weekly shipping news in London as early as 1734. It was published daily until 2013 (when the final print issue, number 60,850, was published), and is ...
'' reported in January 1781 that the privateer ''Mars'' had sent into Dartmouth a Dutch vessel that had been sailing from Lisbon to Rouen with a cargo of cotton, rice, etc. ''Mars'' had sailed from Dartmouth on 28 December 1780.
''Mars'' then switched from privateering to the slave trade.
Slave trading voyage (1782–1783): Captain Robert Patterson sailed from London on 14 January 1782, bound for the
Gold Coast
Gold Coast may refer to:
Places Africa
* Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana:
** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642)
** Dutch G ...
. ''Mars'' started acquiring slaves on 30 April, first at
Cape Coast Castle
Cape Coast Castle ( sv, Carolusborg) is one of about forty "slave castles", or large commercial forts, built on the Gold Coast of West Africa (now Ghana) by European traders. It was originally a Portuguese "feitoria" or trading post, established ...
, and then at
Anomabu
Anomabu, also spelled Anomabo and formerly as Annamaboe, is a town on the coast of the Mfantsiman Municipal District of the Central Region (Ghana), Central Region of South Ghana. Anomabu has a Human settlements, settlement population of 14,389 pe ...
. She sailed from Africa on 29 September and arrived at Kingston, Jamaica on 3 December. She had embarked 300 slaves and arrived with 284. She landed 275, for about an 8% mortality rate on the voyage. She arrived back at London on 19 July 1793.
''Southampton'', ex-''Tartar'', appeared in ''Lloyd's Register'' in 1787.''LR'' (1787), Seq.No.S548. /ref> She then became a whaler.
1st whaling voyage (1787–1788): Captain William Aikin (or Aiken), sailed from London on 31 August 1787, bound for the Brazil Banks. ''Southampton'' returned on 20 June 1788 with 18 tuns of
sperm oil
Sperm oil is a waxy liquid obtained from sperm whales. It is a clear, yellowish liquid with a very faint odor. Sperm oil has a different composition from common whale oil, obtained from rendered blubber. Although it is traditionally called an " ...
bone
A bone is a Stiffness, rigid Organ (biology), organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red blood cell, red and white blood cells, store minerals, provid ...
. She had killed 15 whales.British southern whale fishery database – voyages: ''Southampton''. /ref>
2nd whaling voyage (1788–1789): Captain Akin (or Atkinson) sailed from Southampton on 28 August 1788, for the southern fishery. In a letter dated 1 December 1788 Akin reported that ''Southampton'' was on the Brazil Coast in latitude 35°30'S. He further reported on the weather and with news of several other whalers. ''Southampton'' returned to Southampton on 12 May 1789 with 12 tun of whale oil.
3rd whaling voyage (1789–1790): Captain A. Muirhead from Southampton on 11 September 1789, bound for
Walvis Bay
Walvis Bay ( en, lit. Whale Bay; af, Walvisbaai; ger, Walfischbucht or Walfischbai) is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies. It is the second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The c ...
. ''Southampton'' was reported in December to have been at Bonavista. She left Walwich Bay on 14 October and
Saint 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 ...
on 5 November, and on her return to England report on whales she had left either location. She arrived at Cowes on 30 December 1790.
4th whaling voyage (1791–1792): Captain Sam Marshall sailed from Southampton on 10 July 1791. On 20 August she was well at