John Bull (1815 ship)
{{other ships|John Bull (ship)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2020}}
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{{Infobox ship image | Ship image = | Ship caption = }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header= |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|UKGBI|civil}} | Ship name = John Bull | Ship namesake = | Ship owner = | Ship operator = | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = James Scott & Co., Fort Gloster, Calcutta.{{sfnp|Phipps|1840|p=106}} | Ship original cost = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = 1815 | Ship acquired = | Ship commissioned = | Ship decommissioned = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship renamed = | Ship captured = | Ship fate = Disappeared after November 1830 | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship class = | Ship tons burthen=176,{{sfnp|Phipps|1840|p=106}} or 180 (bm) | Ship length = | Ship beam = | Ship draught = | Ship draft = | Ship hold depth = | Ship propulsion = | Ship sail plan = | Ship complement = | Ship armament = | Ship notes = }} |
John Bull was built in 1815 at Fort Gloster, Calcutta. She carried convicts from India to Mauritius and Sydney, and traded between India and Mauritius and New South Wales. She was sold in New South Wales in 1824. Until mid-1827 she traded first with Tasmania, and then with Canton. In June 1827 she became a whaler and made two complete voyages. She disappeared without a trace after November 1830 while on her third whaling voyage.
Career
In 1817 John Bull carried five Indian convicts from Bengal to Mauritius,{{sfnp|Anderson|2000|p=127}} and in 1822 she carried some British convicts from Bengal to Port Jackson. In 1824 Captain Benjamin Osman, her owner and master,East-India register and directory (1824), p.154. offered her for sale in Sydney. He died on 1 March after a long and painful illness.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2182688 "Deaths". Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW), 4 March 1824, p.3.]
In 1824 John Bull was sold in New South Wales,{{sfnp|Phipps|1840|p=106}} to Messrs. James Reibey and Thomas Wills for some £2000. They intended to sail her between Sydney and Port Dalrymple.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2183052 Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 15 July 1824, Page 2.] Later she traded with Mauritius and Canton. She brought tea, and satin, from Canton. On occasion she sailed via Manila, where she acquired sugar.
On 10 September 1825 Captain Henry Row passed within 40 miles from some islands at {{coord|6|47|N|158|1|E}} as he was sailing from New South Wales to Canton. He did not approach more closely as he sighted five boats that gave chase. John Bull was lightly armed and so Row was unwilling to interact with them, choosing instead to sail on. He believed the islands were unknown and so named them "John Bull's Islands".[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2450242 "Nautical Information". Colonial Times and Tasmanian Advertiser (Hobart, Tasmania), 25 May 1827, p.4.]
In June 1827 John Bull was at Sydney undergoing fitting as a whaler.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/37074748 "SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE". Australian (Sydney, NSW) 29 June 1827, p.3.] On 23 August she sailed for the "Sperm fishery". John Bull, Captain Lewis, arrived back at Sydney on 20 May 1828 with 145 tons of sperm oil.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2190428 "Shipping Intelligence". Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 21 May 1828. p.2.] The cargo was sold to the London market at £74 per ton (Imperial measure), yielding a profit of £3-4000 pounds.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/37072119 Australian (Sydney, NSW), 21 May 1828, p.2.] Customs declarations gave her cargo as 179 tons of sperm oil.
John Bull, Salmon, master, of 176 tons (bm), sailed for the sperm fishery again on 19 October.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/166261335 "Vessels cleared from the 1st October to the 15th December, 1828". Sydney General Trade List (NSW), 20 December 1828, p.2.] On 5 or 6 February 1829 John Bull had 300 barrels of oil. A later report stated that she had been seen off Japan; she had poor results, and her chief mate had died in a fall from her yards. She returned to port on 11 February 1830 with 162 tons (or 1300 barrels or 550 casks) of oil; she had caught just 52 "fish". Her cargo was consigned to her owners, Messrs. Jones and Walker.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2194504 Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW), 13 February 1830, p.2.] {{ship||Asia|1818 ship|2}}, Stead, master, carried the whale oil that John Bull had gathered back to England for the London market.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/36864566] Shipping. Australian (Sydney, NSW)
10 March 1830, p.2.
In March Lamb & Co, and other investors, purchased John Bull for £2150.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2194665 Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW), 11 March 1830, p.2.] On 13 May Captain W. Barkus sailed for the sperm fishery with 160 tuns, casks, and fishery stores.
Fate
John Bull was sighted off "Melanti" in November 1830. There was no further trace, presumed foundered with the loss of all hands.{{Cite news |title=From Lloyd's List – May 8. |newspaper=Caledonian Mercury |date=12 May 1832 |issue=17285 }}
Citations
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References
- {{cite book|last1=Anderson |first1=Clare |year=2000 |title=Convicts in the Indian Ocean: Transportation from South Asia to Mauritius, 1815–53 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-349-41427-7}}
- {{cite book|last1=Phipps|first1=John |year=1840|title=A Collection of Papers Relative to Ship Building in India ...: Also a Register Comprehending All the Ships ... Built in India to the Present Time ...|publisher=Scott}}
Category:British ships built in India
Category:Age of Sail merchant ships of England