Engineering:Duke of York (1780 ship)

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History
Great Britain
Name: Duke of York
Owner: Richard Cadman Etches
Builder: Archangel
Launched: 1780
Fate: Lost 11 September 1787
General characteristics
Tons burthen: 500 (bm)
Propulsion: Sail

Duke of York was a fir-built ship of 500 tons (bm), built in 1780 at Archangel. In 1787 her owner was "Hitchie", her master "Jn Wolff", and her trade London—South Seas, indicating that she was a whaler.[1] More accurately, her master was John Wolfe,[2] Woolf, or Wolf, and her owner Richard Cadman Etches.[2] She sailed on 21 April 1787 for the South Seas.[3]

Etches had received a license from the South Sea Company to sail around Cape Horn into the Pacific.[2] He dispatched her to reinforce the settlement at New Years Harbour (now Puerto Ano Nuevo) on Staten Island (now Isla de los Estados), off Tierra del Fuego.[lower-alpha 1] Seal hunters established a factory there in 1786,[5] which was also well-located for vessels rounding Cape Horn to refresh and replenish their water.[4]

On 4 June, Duke of York sailed from St Jago, "all well".[6] By August, she was at the Falkland Islands, "all well".[7]

On 11 September, shortly after she arrived at New Years Harbour, Duke of York was lost. Her crew, however, was saved.[8]

The loss of Duke of York ended the factory. The people took to their boats and left the island.[4]

Notes

  1. Captain James Cook, then on his second voyage of exploration, had named the harbour after the date of his arrival, New Year's Day, 1775.[4]

Citations

References

  • Clayton, Jane M (2014). Ships employed in the South Sea Whale Fishery from Britain: 1775–1815: An alphabetical list of ships. Berforts Group. ISBN 9781908616524. 
  • Gallois, Robert (2011). A Voyage to the North West Side of America: The Journals of James Colnett, 1786-89. UBC Press. ISBN 9780774808552.