''Skelton'' was launched in 1818 at

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...

. She made one notable voyage in 1820 to Australia, notable because her captain later published a detailed account with extensive economic, commercial, and other observational information about the

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 ...

, Hobart Town (

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sepa ...

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 ...

, and Rio de Janeiro. She later became a

West Indiaman West Indiaman was a general name for any merchantman sailing ship making runs from the Old World to the West Indies and the east coast of the Americas. These ships were generally strong ocean-going ships capable of handling storms in the Atlantic ...

and was wrecked in 1828.

Career

''Skelton'' first appeared in ''

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'') in 1819 with Dixon, master and owner, and trade "L"–Quebec. ''LR'' for 1820 showed ''Skelton''s trade changing from London–Quebec to London–New South Wales. The state of the British economy in 1820 not being strong, and the demand for vessels likewise being weak, a number of shipowners sought to transport emigrants to the Cape and Australia. Captain James Dixon sailed ''Skelton'' from Leith on 20 June with 57 passengers and 17 crew. She was bound for the Cape,

Hobart Town Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-smalle ...

, and

. She was the first vessel to sail direct from Scotland to Australia. ''Skelton'' arrived at

Table Bay Table Bay (Afrikaans: ''Tafelbaai'') is a natural bay on the Atlantic Ocean overlooked by Cape Town (founded 1652 by Van Riebeeck) and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula, which stretches south to the Cape of Good Hope. It was named ...

on 28 September. The colony's medical officer limited the number of people that might land as she had an outbreak of measles on board. Still, three of four passengers who had booked passage to the Cape disembarked. ''Skelton'' sailed from South Africa on 14 October, and the pilot brought her into port at Hobart Town on 27 November. Dixon sailed from Hobart on 5 January 1821 and arrived in Port Jackson on 17 January. Dixon sailed from Sydney for Hull, via Rio de Janeiro, on 10 June. ''Skelton'' was carrying 181 bales of wool, 40 tons of timber and plank, 1680 kangaroo skins, a little wattle bark, and 2800 ox horns. ''Skelton'' sailed via

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramírez ...

, which she reached on 3 August. She arrived at

Sugarloaf Mountain Sugarloaf Mountain ( pt, Pão de Açúcar, ) is a peak situated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at the mouth of Guanabara Bay on a peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean. Rising above the harbor, the peak is named for its resemblance to ...

and Rio on 23 August. She was the first vessel in five years to arrive at Rio from Port Jackson. Dixon and ''Skelton'' sailed from Rio on 24 September. Three days later, at a sloop and a schooner approached in a suspicious manner. They would not identify themselves and Dixon made preparations to resist if they attempted to attack ''Skelton'', but eventually they left. ''Skelton'' arrived at the Isle of Wight on 24 November where she landed some passengers, and the Downs the next day, where she landed some more. She reached the

Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between th ...

on 27 November, and arrived at Leith on 5 December. Dixon’s voyage was a commercial success. Between 1820 and 1824 ten vessels sailed from Lieth to Australia. Among them were (1820), (1821), (1822), ''Urania'' (1822), ''Skelton'' (1822), (1822), ''Greenock'' (1823), ''Triton'' (1823), ''Portland'' (1824), and (1824). ''LR'' for 1828 showed ''Skelton''s master changing from Tait to Percy. Her trade was London–Trinidad.''LR'' (1828), Seq.№S581
/ref>

Fate

On 30 July 1828 ''Skelton'', Percy, master, was sailing from Trinidad to London when she struck a rock 13' under water, some 10 miles west of Anguila. Although she foundered, her crew was saved. ''

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 on 23 September 1828 that they had arrived at Tortola in a boat.

Notes, citations, and references

Notes Citations References * * * * {{italic title 1818 ships Ships built in Whitby Age of Sail merchant ships of England Maritime incidents in July 1828