 |
Princess Charlotte | Official Number
18554 |
|
|
Princess Charlotte | Official Number
18554 |
The Princess Charlotte was a full-rigged 22 gun ship built by Thos. & Jno. Brocklebank at Bransty, Whitehaven. She was launched on the 6th September 1815. The following report is from "From Cumberland to Cape Horn" and is probably a contemporary launch report from the Cumberland Pacquet newspaper:
" On Wednesday morning a new vessel called Princess Charlotte was launched from the building yard of Messrs. Thomas & John Brocklebank. She was 514 tons register measure (which we are informed is more than 7 tons more than any ship hitherto built at this port), and is believed to be a vessel of uncommon strength and beauty. The weather was delightful, and a great concourse of people computed at not less than 6,000 witnessed her gallant descent from the stocks a little before 10 o'clock. It is what is termed a dry launch; and after smoothly running (or rather gliding) about 80 yards with scarcely any diminution in speed, she stopped. The tide was then flowing; in a little more than half-an-hour she was afloat, and soon after 1 o'clock she was towed safely into the harbour. "
The Times, Friday, 30th August, 1816, page 2;
" The Princess Charlotte, Kean, which sailed from Whitehaven
the 19th of February last, arrived safe at the Cape of Good Hope on the
21st of May. She is the largest vessel (carrying upwards of 900 tons) ever
built on the coast of Cumberland, and the first that ever left it directly
for the East Indies."
The Princess Charlotte served in the Brocklebank fleet for thirty years. Her first commander was Capt.McKean, and he took her to Calcutta and Bombay in the years until 1827. Her first voyage saw her taking troops of the East India Company from Batavia to Calcutta in 1816. She did more work for the East India Company before loading a cargo at Calcutta for Liverpool, departing on the 15th September and arriving in the Mersey on the 24th March 1818. Her cargo included 2,500 bales of cotton, 452 bags of ginger, 4,000 bags of rice, 552 bags of sugar, 200 bags of saltpetre, and one pipe of madeira wine. All this was valued at £28,000, and resulted in a profit to Brocklebanks of over £10,000.
In 1840 the master of the Princess Charlotte was Capt.Michael King and the ship was sailing to Bombay. Two years later the vessel was valued at £2,570.
In 1845 the Princess Charlotte was sold to Willis & Co. of Scarborough, and then was resold to the East Coast Scottish Whalers. The Princess Charlotte, of Dundee, was crushed by the ice in Melville Bay on the 14th June 1856. Capt.Deuchars and his crew were able to abandon the sinking vessel onto the ice, and were picked up by other whalers following them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sources :