Isabella (1813 ship)

Isabella was launched in Kingston upon Hull in 1813. She initially sailed as a transport, and then as a merchantman trading with Canada. In 1817 the British Admiralty hired her as one of two vessels that would go on an expedition to search for a Northwest Passage. The expedition was unsuccessful. In 1820 she underwent two maritime mishaps, only one of which was substantive. From 1824 until she wrecked in the ice in June 1835 she was a whaler in the Northern Whale Fishery (Davis Strait and Greenland).

For other ships with the same name, see Isabella (ship).

The Northern Whale Fishery: The Isabella and Swan
History
United Kingdom
Name: Isabella
Builder: Kingston upon Hull
Launched: 1813
Fate: Wrecked 14 June 1835
General characteristics
Tons burthen: 374, or 380,[1] or 382, or 385[2] (bm)
Armament: 8 × 18-pounder carronades

Merchantman

Isabella first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1813.[1]

Year Master Owner Trade Source & notes
1813 Haslewd W.Moxon Hull transport LR
1816 Haslewd
A.Haigh		 W.Moxon Hull transport LR
1818 A.Hague
Galloway		 W.Moxon Cork transport LR
1819 Galloway
C.Brady		 Moxon & Co. London–Disco
Hull–Pictou		 LR; good repair 1818
1820 C.Brady
J.Todd		 Moxon & Co. Hull–Pictou LR; good repair 1818, small repairs 1819, & large repair 1820

Discovery expedition (1818-1819): The LR data does not recognize that the Admiralty hired Isabella in 1817 for a discovery expedition in 1818. She sailed with another hired vessel, Alexander, and the whole expedition was under the command of Commander John Ross, who was sailing in Isabella. Of Isabella's crew of 54 men, four officers were clearly from the navy, as were her six marines. The other officers and men were probably civilians, as were Benjamin Lewis (the master and Greenland pilot), and Thomas Wilcox (the mate and also a Greenland pilot).[2] (Generally when the navy hired a vessel, it would put a naval officer in command, but keep on the master and crew.) There were also three supernumeraries — Captain Sabine and a sergeant from the Royal Artillery (Sabine being the scientific observer), and the Eskimo Sacheous, who was being repatriated.[2]

The expedition left the Thames on 18 April 1818 and arrived at Lerwik on 30 April. By 1 June it was on the eastern side of Davis Strait.[3] The expedition followed the coast of Baffin Bay without making any new discoveries.

In mid-November Isabella and Alexander were reported to have arrived in Brassa Sound, Lerwick. Neither had lost any crew nor had any ill.[4]


On 6 January 1820 Isabella, Brady, master, was driven ashore at Spurn Point. A lifeboat rescued the crew, but it was feared that she would be wrecked. She was on a voyage from Miramichi Bay to Hull, Yorkshire.[5] Isabella was later refloated and taken in to Hull.[6]

On 16 July Isabella, Todd, master, was sailing from Hull to Quebec when she ran ashore on a reef of rocks near Lopness. She was gotten off with apparently trifling damage and proceeded on her voyage.[7]

Year Master Owner Trade Source & notes
1824 J.Todd Moxon & Co. Hull–Quebec LR; large repair 1820, & repairs 1821, 1822, & 1823

Whaler
The Swan and Isabella (stern view)

In 1824 Thomas Carlill purchased Isabella to sail her out of Hull as a whaler to Davis Strait.[8]

Year Master Owner Trade Source & notes
1825 Humphrey Captain & Co. Hull–Greenland LR; large repair 1820, & repairs 1823 & 1824

The data in the two tables below is from Coltish.[9]

Year Master "Fish"
(Whales)		 Tuns whale oil
1824 Humphrey 11 145
1825 Humphrey 7 80

In 1825 she struck a submerged rock in the Davis Strait. She was badly damaged but wsurvived to continue whaling.

Year Master "Fish"
(Whales)		 Tuns whale oil
1826 Mackenzie 8 99
1827 Humphrey 23 243; one of the best catches in the year
1828 Humphrey 17 235
1829 Humphrey 10 131
1830 Humphrey 5 94
1831 McKenzie 1 12
1832 McKenzie 42 272
1833 [R. Wallis] Humhprey[s][8] 27 180
1834 Humphrey 13 90

In 1833 Isabella rescued John Ross, whose ship Victory had become beset by ice on Ross's second Arctic expedition.[10]

Fate

Captain Robert Carlill sailed Isabella to Davis Strait in 1835. She was wrecked there on 14 June 1835 by ice. Lee rescued her 35 crew on 17 June.[11][12] Some members of the crew were badly frost-bitten. Lee was lost on 1 July; her crew too were saved.

Citations and references

Citations

  1. LR (1813), Supple. pages "I", Seq.No.I82.
  2. Barrow (1846), p. 19.
  3. Barrow (1846), p. 25.
  4. Friday's Post. Ipswich Journal (Ipswich, England), 14 November 1818. Issue 4247.
  5. "Ship News". The Times (10825). London. 11 January 1820. col E, p. 3.
  6. "Lloyd's Marine List – Jan. 14". Caledonian Mercury (15348). 17 January 1820.
  7. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List (5514). 4 August 1820. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  8. Hull Museums Collections.
  9. Coltish & c.1842.
  10. Barrow (1846), p. 46.
  11. "(untitled)". The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser. Sydney. 1 March 1836. p. 3.
  12. "(untitled)". The Australian. Sydney. 1 March 1836. p. 4.

References

  • Barrow, John, Sir (1846). Voyages of Discovery and Research Within the Arctic Regions, from the Year L8l8 to the Present Time: Under the Command of the Several Naval Officers Employed by Sea and Land in Search of a North-west Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific; with Two Attempts to Reach the North Pole. Abridged and Arranged from the Official Narratives, with Occasional Remarks. J. Murray.
  • Coltish, William (c. 1842). An account of the success of the ships at the Greenland and Davis Straits fisheries 1772-1842 inclusive.
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