Jane (middle vessel), Middleton, and Viewforth stuck fast in the ice. Thomas Binks (1799–1852). Maritime Museum, Hull
History
United Kingdom
NameJane
BuilderHull
Launched1813
FateWrecked 1866
General characteristics
Tons burthen357, or 359[1] (bm)
Length106 ft 7 in (32.5 m)[2]
Beam28 ft 2 in (8.6 m)[2]
Armament
  • 1813:2 × 9-pounder guns + 8 × 18-pounder carronades[3]
  • 1816a:2 × 9-pounder guns + 8 × 18-pounder carronades[1]
  • 1816b:2 × 9-pounder guns + 8 × 12-pounder carronades[1]

Jane was launched at Kingston upon Hull in 1813 as a West Indiaman. Between 1818 and 1836 she was a whaler in the northern whale fishery. She then became a merchantman and was wrecked in 1866.

West Indiaman

Jane entered Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1813 with John Mazon, master, Raines & Co., owners, and trade Hull–Saint Croix.[3] As a West Indiaman she was armed with 10 cannons, though her owners reduced her armament after the end of the Napoleonic Wars. (Once she became a whaler she did not need any armament as she no longer had to fear privateers and pirates in the Caribbean.)

Year Master Owner Trade Source
1814 Mason Raines & Co. Hull–Saint Croix LR
1816 Mason
Bonnifer		 Rains & Co. London–Saint Vincent
London–Jamaica		 Register of Shipping

Northern Fisheries whaler

From 1818 on, Jane became a whaler in the Northern Whale Fisheries, first at Greenland and then at the Davis Strait. In 1818 her captain was Sadler; in 1817 he had been captain of Aurora, whaling at Greenland.

The following data is from Coltish:[4]

Year Master Where Whales Tuns whale oil
1818 Sadler Greenland 1 24
1819 Sadler Greenland 3 18
1820 Sadler Greenland 3 25
1821 Gamblin Greenland 1 18
1822 Maddison Greenland 4 66
1823 Maddison Davis Strait 23 220
1824 Maddison Davis Strait 8 114
1825 Maddison Davis Strait 6 76
1826 Maddison Davis Strait 7 103
1827 Maddison Davis Strait 16 228
1828 Maddison Davis Strait 13 156

On 8 April 1828 Lloyd's List reported that Jane, Maddison, master, had put into Stromness leaky. Three days later it reported that she had been surveyed and had resumed her voyage.

Year Master Where Whales Tuns whale oil
1829 Maddison Davis Strait 11 115
1830 Maddison Davis Strait 5 91
1831 Maddison Davis Strait 6 68
1832 Maddison Davis Strait 26 247
1833 Maddison Davis Strait 11 138
1834 Robinson Davis Strait 4 21
1835 Tather Davis Strait 1  ?

On 30 September 1835, Jane, Middleton, and Viewforth were beset by ice in Davis Strait while in close proximity. On 15 November, Middleton was crushed and sank. Jane and Viewforth split Middleton's crew.[5] In January 1835, Jane, Tather, master, got free of the ice at 58°0′N 56°40′W / 58.000°N 56.667°W / 58.000; -56.667.[6]

Year Master Where Whales Tuns whale oil
1836 Tather Davis Strait Clean

Merchantman

After having returned from the Davis Strait in 1836, without having killed a single whale (i.e., "Clean"), with whaling in the previous two years having been almost as poor, and after her overwintering in Davis Strait, her owners shifted her to the merchant trade.

Year Master Owner Trade Source & notes
1836 W.Tather
Mackenzie		 Shackles & Co. Hull–Davis Strait
Hull		 LR; damages repaired 1836
1842 W.Tather Shackless
J.Shackle		 Hull–Quebec
Hull–Greenland		 LR; damages repaired 1836; small repairs 1840 & 1842

In 1842 Captain W. Tather sailed Jane to Greenland again, but the voyage was not very successful. She killed one whale and 861 seals.

Year Master Owner Trade Source & notes
1845 J.Brown J.Shackles Hull–Greenland LR; small repairs 1842 & 1843; damages repaired 1845
1850 W.Walker Anderson Hull LR
1855 W.Walker Anderson Leith–"U.Stts" LR; homeport Bo'ness
1860 W.Walker Anderson Leith–Mediterranean LR; homeport Bo'ness; small repairs 1857
1865 J.Armstrong Anderson Leith–Baltic LR; homeport Bo'ness; small repairs 1857 & 1862

Fate

LR for 1867 had unchanged information from that for 1865, except that it carried the annotation "[wr]ecked".[2]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 RS (1816), Seq.№J177.
  2. 1 2 3 LR (1867), Seq.№J98.
  3. 1 2 LR (1813), Supple.pages "J", Seq.№J158.
  4. ↑ Coltish (c. 1842).
  5. ↑ Anon. (1837), pp. 145–156.
  6. ↑ Jones (1992), p. 234.

References

  • Anon. (1837). "The Viewforth". The Pilot, or Sailors' Magazine. British and foreign sailors' society (May): 145–56.
  • Coltish, William (c. 1842). An account of the success of the ships at the Greenland and Davis Straits fisheries 1772-1842 inclusive.
  • Jones, A.E. (1992). Polar Portraits: Collected Papers. Caedmon of Whitby.
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