''L'Aigle'' (or ''Aigle'', or ''Eagle'') was launched in France in 1801, 1802, or 1803. The British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

captured her in 1809. From 1810 to 1817, she was 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 ...

. From 1817 ''L'Aigle'' made four complete voyages as 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, Jap ...

in the British Southern Whale fishery. On her third whaling voyage, she carried King

Kamehameha II Kamehameha II (November 1797 – July 14, 1824) was the second king of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Kingdom of Hawaii from 1819 to 1824. His birth name was Liholiho and full name was Kalaninui kua Liholiho i ke kapu ʻIolani. It was lengthened to Kala ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and Queen

Kamāmalu Kamāmalu Kalani-Kuaʻana-o-Kamehamalu-Kekūāiwa-o-kalani-Kealiʻi-Hoʻopili-a-Walu (–1824) was Queen consort of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Kingdom of Hawaiʻi as the wife of King Kamehameha II. Kamāmalu was short for Kamehamalu or Kamehamehamalu m ...

with a number of their retainers and Hawaiian notables to England. She was lost on 6 March 1830 on her fifth whaling voyage.

West Indiaman

''L'Aigle'' first appeared in ''

Lloyd's Register Lloyd's Register Group Limited, trading as Lloyd's Register (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 ...

'' (''LR'') in 1810. It gave her master and owner as .C.Parish, and her trade as London–Jamaica.''LR'' (1810), Supple. pages "L", Seq.№L25+.
/ref> ''L'Aigle'' capsized and sank on 13 August 1813 in the

West India Docks The West India Docks are a series of three docks, quaysides, and warehouses built to import goods from, and export goods and occasionally passengers to, the British West Indies. Located on the Isle of Dogs in London, the first dock opened in 18 ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. She was pumped dry, refloated, and put into dock at Limehouse within three days.

Whaler

From 1817, ''L'Aigle'' made four complete voyages as a whaler in the British Southern Whale fishery, and was lost in 1830 on her fifth. 1st whaling voyage 1817–1819): Captain Robert Poole (or Pool) sailed from England on 12 July 1817. ''L'Aigle'' returned on 4 January 1819 with 650 casks of oil.British Southern Whale Fishery Database – Voyages: ''Aigle''.
/ref> 2nd whaling voyage 1819–1821): Captain Valentine Starbuck sailed from England on 6 April 1819, bound for the Sandwich Islands. ''L'Aigle'' returned on 6 July 1821 with a full ship of 550 casks and 14 tanks. 3rd whaling voyage 1822–1824): Captain Starbuck sailed from England on 7 January 1822, bound for the Sandwich Islands. In May 1822 she spoke at

Charles Island Charles Island may refer to: * Charles Island (Connecticut), United States * Charles Island, Bermuda, see List of islands of Bermuda#Charles Island * Charles Island (Nunavut), Canada * Floreana Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, formerly known ...

. In June ''L'Aigle'' was off Peru while in the company of . ''L'Aigle'' was at Oahu, Fanning Atoll, at Maui, and off Japan. She returned home via Rio de Janeiro and arrived back in England on 2 May 1824 with 550 casks. On this voyage, in 1823, Starbuck sighted

Starbuck Island Starbuck Island (or Volunteer Island) is an uninhabited coral island in the central Pacific Ocean, Pacific, and is part of the Central Line Islands of Kiribati. Its former names include "Barren Island", "Coral Queen Island", "Hero Island", " ...

, which he named Volunteer Island. Captain

George Anson Byron Admiral (Royal Navy), Admiral George Anson Byron, 7th Baron Byron (8 March 1789 – 2 March 1868) was a British people, British nobleman, naval officer, peer, politician, and the seventh Baron Byron, in 1824 succeeding his cousin the poet ...

, of , sighted the island in 1825 and renamed it Starbuck Island. When he sailed back to England, Starbuck brought with him King

of Hawaii, Queen

, and a party of ten notables and retainers. ''L'Aigle'' sailed on 27 November 1823. When ''L'Aigle'' stopped at Rio de Janeiro in February 1824, Kamehameha met Emperor Pedro I. The Royal party disembarked at Portsmouth on 17 May. They were to meet with King

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ...

on 21 June, but they fell ill with measles. They died before they could meet him. Queen Kamāmalu died on 8 July and King Kamehameha II died on 14 July. ''L'Aigle''s owners dismissed Starbuck and sued him for having cut his whaling voyage short to bring the Hawaiians to England. 4th whaling voyage 1825–1827): Captain Dixon sailed from England on 20 May 1825, bound for the Pacific. ''L'Aigle'' was reported at Honolulu and Tahiti. She returned to England on 24 October 1827 with 700 casks, plus fins and 34 seal skins.

Fate

Captain Dixon received custom's clearance on 25 February 1828 to sail to the south seas.''Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser'' (26 February 1828). ''L'Aigle'' was reported at the Seychelles and then the Sandwich Islands. During the voyage Dixon may have died, with Captain John Powell replacing him. ''L'Aigle'' wrecked on 6 March 1830 on a reef 10 to 15 miles NE of Tongataboo. Her crew took to her boats and all were saved. However, her cargo of some 1630 barrels (200 tons) of oil were lost. carried the crew from Tongataboo to Sydney.

Notes

Citations

References

* * {{cite book , last1=Johnston , first1=Paul F. , year=2015 , title=Shipwrecked in Paradise: Cleopatra's Barge in Hawai'i , publisher=Texas A&M University Press , isbn=9781623492830 1800s ships Ships built in France Captured ships Age of Sail merchant ships of England Whaling ships Maritime incidents in March 1830