Lady Forbes (1799 ship)
{{other ships|List of ships named Forbes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2023}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image | Ship image = | Ship caption = }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header= |Ship country=Great Britain |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Kingdom of Great Britain|civil}} | Ship name = Lady Forbes | Ship namesake = | Ship owner = *1799: William Sibbald & Son{{efn|The firm was involved in the West Indian sugar and rum trade. In addition to Lady Forbes, the firm owned Isabella Simpson, Roselk, Lune, and some other vessels. The firm went out of business circa 1826.{{sfnp|Martine|1888|p=10}} Isabella Simpson was lost in July 1834.}} | Ship operator = | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = | Ship original cost = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = 1799, Leith | Ship acquired = | Ship commissioned = | Ship decommissioned = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship renamed = | Ship captured = | Ship fate = Crushed by ice 22 June 1822 | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship class = | Ship tons burthen= 335,{{cite web|url=http://www.1812privateers.org/Great%20Britain/marque1793-1815.pdf|title=Letter of Marque, p.72 – Retrieved 25 July 2017.|access-date=27 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020052005/http://www.1812privateers.org/Great%20Britain/marque1793-1815.pdf|archive-date=20 October 2016|url-status=dead }} or 337 (bm) | Ship length = | Ship beam = | Ship draught = | Ship draft = | Ship hold depth = | Ship propulsion = | Ship sail plan = | Ship complement =*1799: 30
| Ship armament =*1799: 6 × 6-pounder guns + 4 × 12-pounder + 4 × 18-pounder carronades
| Ship notes = }} |
Lady Forbes was launched at Leith in 1799. She became a West Indiaman, sailing under a series of letters of marque. She survived a major hurricane and an attack by pirates. From 1819, she was a whaler in the British northern whale fishery. She made three annual whaling voyages before she was lost in 1822 when ice crushed her.
Career
Lady Forbes first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1799.[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015004281260?urlappend=%3Bseq=219 LR (1799), Seq.no.L330.]
| class=" wikitable" |
| Year
! Master ! Owner ! Trade ! Source & notes |
|---|
| 1799
| T.Bishop | Sibbald | Leith–Petersburg | LR |
| 1800
| T.Bishop | Sibbald | Leith–Petersburg | LR |
Captain David Gourlay acquired a letter of marque on 25 December 1799. After the resumption of war with France he acquired a new letter of marque on 21 January 1805.
Between 21 and 23 August, Lady Forbes survived the 1806 Great Coastal hurricane. She was part of the Jamaica fleet, 109 merchantmen plus escorts, returning to England.{{cite news |title=The Marine List |work=Lloyd's List |issue=4088|date=7 October 1806 |hdl=2027/uc1.c2735022?urlappend=%3Bseq=377}} Of the 109 vessels, by October five vessels of the 109 in the convoy were still unaccounted for, though only 13 were known to have sunk. The seventy crew on the vessels known to have been lost were drowned.
| class=" wikitable" |
| Year
! Master ! Owner ! Trade ! Source & notes |
|---|
| 1808
| D.Gourlay{{efn|Gourlay went on to become the manager of the Old Shipping Company of London and Leith.{{sfnp|Martine|1888|p=3}}}} | Sibbald | Leith–Jamaica | LR; repairs 1806 & 1807 |
| 1810
| J.Richardson | Sibbald | Leith–Jamaica | LR; repairs 1806 & 1807 |
On 25 January 1811, Lady Forbes, of Leith, Nelson, master, was driven ashore at Annotto Bay, Jamaica. After she unloaded part of her cargo she was gotten off without any damage.{{cite news |title=The Marine List |work=Lloyd's List |issue=4547|date=22 March 1811 |hdl=2027/hvd.32044105232920?urlappend=%3Bseq=973}}
| class=" wikitable" |
| Year
! Master ! Owner ! Trade ! Source & notes |
|---|
| 1812
| A.Nelson | Sibbald | Leith–Jamaica | LR; repairs 1807 & 1810 |
Captain M'Vicar died at Morrant Bay. Captain William Wight acquired a letter of marque on 19 December 1811. He acquired a second one on 1 December 1812.
| class=" wikitable" |
| Year
! Master ! Owner ! Trade ! Source & notes |
|---|
| 1813
| D.M'Vicar | Sibbald | Leith–Jamaica | LR; repairs 1810 & 1812 |
| 1815
| W.Wright | Sibbald | Leith–Jamaica | LR; repairs 1810 & 1812 |
| 1816
| Robinson | Sibbald | Leith–Jamaica | LR; repairs 1810 & 1812 |
On 2 February 1817, pirates in two schooners boarded Lady Forbes off San Domingo. They plundered her of her firearms, cutlasses, and powder. She was on her way from Jamaica to Leith.{{cite news |title=The Marine List |work=Lloyd's List |issue=5164 |date=1 April 1817 |hdl=2027/hvd.32044105226351?urlappend=%3Bseq=59}}
On 12 September 1817, Lady Forbes, Marjoribanks, master, arrived at New York City from Leith, with passengers.{{sfnp|Dobson|1998|p=72}} From New York she sailed on to Jamaica.
| class=" wikitable" |
| Year
! Master ! Owner ! Trade ! Source & notes |
|---|
| 1818
| Marjoribanks | Sibbald | London–New York | LR; repairs 1819 |
| 1819
| Marjoribanks | Sibbald | London–New York | LR; repairs 1812 & 1819 |
| 1820
| Robertson | Hurry & Co. | London–Greenland | LR |
In 1819, Hurry & Co. purchased Lady Forbes, which became a northern whale fishery whaler sailing out of Liverpool. That year she was the only whaler operating out of Liverpool. In 1820, Baffin and James joined her. The whaling season lasted from February–March to July–October. Between whaling seasons, Lady Forbes sailed to Archangel or New Brunswick. In 1819 and 1820, Lady Forbes hunted whales in the waters off Greenland. In 1821, Captain William Manger replaced Captain Robertson; under Manger, Lady Forbes hunted whales in Davis Strait.
| class=" wikitable" |
| Year
! Master ! Whales ! Tuns of whale oil ! Seals ! Source |
|---|
| 1819
| Robertson | 13 | | | Lloyd's List (LL) |
| 1819
| | 13 | 124 | | Coltish{{sfnp|Coltish|c. 1842 |
|-
| 1820
|
| 10
| 110
|
| LL
|-
| 1820
|
| 11
| 125
|
| Coltish{{sfnp|Coltish|c. 1842|}}
|-
| 1820
|
| 11
| 186
| 350
|
|-
| 1821
| Manger
| 8
| 86
|
| Coltish{{sfnp|Coltish|c. 1842|}}
|-
| 1821
| Manger
| 8
| 110
|
| LL
|-
|}
Another source reports that in 1821, Lady Forbes had boiled 200 tons of oil.{{sfnp|Lubbock|1937|p=218}}
Fate
Ice crushed Lady Forbes on 26 June 1822, while she was whaling in Davis Strait. Her crew was saved.{{Cite news |title=(untitled) |newspaper=The Morning Post |date=13 September 1822 |issue=16068 }}{{Cite news |title=Davis Straits Whale Fishery. |newspaper=The Morning Post |date=20 September 1822 |issue=16074 }}
The day before, several vessels were made fast to ice flows at 72°5'N. The next day a small channel opened. {{ship||Brunswick|1814 ship|2}} managed to get through. Lady Forbes tried, but the ice came back, crushing her. Her crew barely had time to save their clothes. Captain William Manger shifted to {{ship||Cumbrian|1811 ship|2}}, Johnson, master. On her on Sunday he raised the Bethel Flag, the first time it had been raised in Davis Strait, and conducted a prayer service for the seamen from all the nearby whalers.{{sfnp|Lubbock|1937|pp=245–246}}
Lady Forbes was one of seven whalers lost that year.{{cite news |title=The Marine List |work=Lloyd's List |issue=5733 |date=13 September 1822 |hdl=2027/uc1.c2735032?urlappend=%3Bseq=310 }}{{sfnp|Lubbock|1937|p=250}}
Notes
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Citations
{{reflist}}
References
- {{cite book|last=Coltish |first=William |year=c. 1842 |title= An account of the success of the ships at the Greenland and Davis Straits fisheries 1772-1842 inclusive|url=https://hydra.hull.ac.uk/assets/hull:7178/content}}
- {{cite book|title=Ships from Scotland to America, 1628-1828|volume=1|first=David |last=Dobson |year=1998|publisher=Genealogical Publishing}}
- {{cite book|last=Lubbock|first=Basil|year=1937|title=Arctic Whalers|location=Glasgow|publisher=Brown, Son & Ferguson}}
- {{cite book |title= Reminiscences of Port and Town of Leith |last=Martine|first=John |date=1888}}