Lusitania (1805 Ship)

''Lusitania'' was a British merchant vessel launched in 1804. She emerges from the general background for two notable events in her history, one in 1813 when the French Navy captured and released her, and then between 1826 and 1830 for a whaling voyage. She was probably wrecked in 1834.

Career

''Lusitania'' first appeared in ''Lloyd's Register'' (''LR'') in 1805.

On 27 August 1807, Captain John Carman received a letter of marque for ''Lusitania''.Letter of Marque, - accessed 14 May 2011.

On 16 November 1809 the captured ''Lusitania'', Carman, master, at . Four days earlier, ''Génie'' had captured the schooner , which had been carrying dispatches from Jamaica.

''Génie'' also captured ''Fortune'', of Bristol, Hare, master, which had been sailing from St Croix to London. The Frenchmen plundered ''Lusitania'' and then put the captured crews on board her. Next the Frenchmen sank ''Fortune'' and ''Haddock'' and let ''Lusitania'' depart. ''Lusitania'' arrived at Portsmouth on 25 November.

Capture and release

In 1813 ''Lusitania''s owner was Buckle, and her master changed from Bennett to Johnston.

On 27 November 1813 ''Lusitania'' and four other merchant vessels left Portsmouth in a convoy under escort by . The other four were:
* ''Blendon Hall'', 473 tons (bm), Barr, master, which had been sailing from London to Bermuda;
* ''John O'Gaunt'', 426 tons (bm), P. Inglis, master, which had been sailing from London to Martinique;
*''Aurora'', Scheidt, master, which had been sailing to Amelia Island; and,
*''Superb'', 130 tons (bm), R. Roberts, master, which had been sailing from Gibraltar to England.

Due to a heavy storm, the five merchantmen lost contact with the convoy and its escort. On 6 December they were in the Atlantic Ocean when the French frigate ''Clorinde'' captured all five (). The French took off the crews of four vessels and scuttled three. They kept ''Lusitania'' as a cartel and put all their captives aboard her. In their haste, they failed to sink ''Blenden Hall''. They then permitted ''Lusitania'' to sail to a British port.

On 18 December brought ''Blenden Hall'' into Plymouth. There, ''Blenden Hall'' was reunited with her crew, who had arrived that same day on ''Lusitania''.

Voyages to Australia

The ''Register of Shipping'' (''RS'') for 1823 showed ''Lusitania'' with Langdon, master, Buckle, owner, and trade London-New South Wales. She had departed London 6 July 1821 with general cargo and passengers. She had arrived in the River Derwent, Van Diemen's Land on 28/29 October 1821. Langdon made a second voyage that reached Sydney in May 1823.

In 1825 ''Lusitania'' underwent a large repair. Thereafter she is described as a bark.

Also, on 10 October 1825 ''Lusitania'', Biels, master, rescued the six crewmen of ''Three Brothers'', which had foundered in the Mediterranean Sea at ().

Whaling

''Lusitania'' left Britain on 21 October 1826 for a whaling voyage to Timor. Her owner was Thomas Sturge & Co., and her master was Robert Ross. She was at St Iago, Cape Verde, on 5 December. She sighted the Australian coast near Shark Bay on 21 April 1827. By 20 May she was at Timor, where she landed five Dutch missionaries. A few days later, on 1 June, ''Lusitania'' was at Coupang. Between 21 and 25 November 1828 and 2 February 1829 she was whaling off New Guinea. In November 1828 she was at Saint George's Channel, where she encountered many "old friends" among the locals, suggesting that she had been that way before. On 2 February she spoke ''Cyrus''. Nine days later ''Lusitania'' was at Carteret Bay, where she traded with islanders who had come some distance overland to trade a hog for an old whaling lance. ''Lusitania'' was again at Coupang on 27 April. By 1829 illness aboard ''Lusitania'' was so bad that she had to return home. She returned via Delagoa Bay and the Cape of Good Hope. She returned to Britain on 26 January 1830 with 500 casks and 36 tanks of whale oil.

Coaster

On her return Sturge sold ''Lusitania'' and she became a London coaster.

Fate

''Lloyd's List'' did report on 16 September 1834 that ''Lusitania'', Brown, master, had stranded on Fastbro Reef (possibly Falsterborev). She had filled with water and was not expected to be got off." BELFAST SHIP NEWS". ''Belfast News-Letter'' (Belfast, Ireland), 19 September 1834, Issue 10149.

''Lusitania'' was last listed in ''Lloyd's Register'' in 1838, but the listing had been unchanged for several years and showed no owner or trade.

Notes

Citations

References

*
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lusitania (1805 ship)
1800s ships
Captured ships
Whaling ships
Age of Sail merchant ships
Merchant ships of the United Kingdom