''L'Enterprise'' was a French

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

wrecked on the Sister Islands in

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct waterwa ...

off

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, in 1802 or 1803 Registered in

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

, ''L'Enterprise'' was a schooner of 90 tons.

Voyage

Her master, Alexander Le Corre, sought permission from Governor King in September 1802 to go sealing in

. He was given permission and departed

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 October 1802. The ship was wrecked either late in 1802 or early in 1803 and Corre and all 12 members of his crew drowned.

Salvage

The schooner ''Endeavour'' under Joseph Underwood was sent to salvage ''L'Enterprise'' but was unsuccessful. ''L'Enterprise''′s

rigging Rigging comprises the system of ropes, cables and chains, which support a sailing ship or sail boat's masts—''standing rigging'', including shrouds and stays—and which adjust the position of the vessel's sails and spars to which they are ...

and

sail A sail is a tensile structure—which is made from fabric or other membrane materials—that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails may ...

s were

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

ed in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

on 15 March 1803.''Australian Shipwrecks - vol1 1622-1850'',

Charles Bateson Charles Bateson (4 August 1903 – 5 July 1974) was a maritime historian, journalist and author. Early life Charles Henry Bateson was born in Wellington, New Zealand, son of Charles Bateson, a company manager born Liverpool, England, and moth ...

, AH and AW Reed, Sydney, 1972, p34

References

Shipwrecks of Bass Strait Maritime incidents in 1802 Maritime incidents in 1803 Schooners of Australia Ships built in France 1790s ships {{ship-stub