History
Great Britain
NameCharlotte
NamesakeCharlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Owner
  • 1784: Mathews & Co.
  • 1789: Bond &Co.
Port of registryLondon
BuilderThames
Launched1784
FatePossibly sunk November 1818; disappears from lists in 1821
General characteristics
Tons burthen335, or 338,[3] or 34553⁄94,[1] or 350,[4] or 384[5] bm
Length105 ft (32 m)[1][2]
Beam28 ft 3 in (8.61 m)[1]
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Crew30[6]
Armament8 × 18-pounder carronades[3]
NotesBarque-built (1786)[1]

Charlotte was an English merchant ship built on the River Thames in 1784 and chartered in 1786 to carry convicts as part of the First Fleet to New South Wales. She returned to Britain from Botany Bay via China, where she picked up a cargo for the British East India Company. Charlotte then spent much of the rest of her career as a West Indiaman in the London-Jamaica trade. She may have been lost off Newfoundland in 1818; in any case, she disappeared from the lists by 1821. Charlotte made an appearance in the movie National Treasure.

Service history

Initial career

Charlotte first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1784.[4] Prior to her voyage transporting convicts, Charlotte traded with the Baltic and the West Indies.

Year Master Owner Trade Source
1784 Sanderson Matthews London–Petersburg LR
1786 J.Sanderson Matthews London–Antigua LR
1787 J.Sanderson
Tho. Gilbert 		Matthews London–Stettin
London–Botany Bay 		LR
1789 T.Gilbert Matthews London–Botany Bay LR

Convict transport

An engraving of the First Fleet in Botany Bay at voyage's end in 1788, from The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay.[7]

Charlotte was a "heavy sailer"; she had to be towed down the English Channel to keep pace with the rest of the Fleet.[8] Her master was Thomas Gilbert, and her surgeon was John White, principal surgeon to the colony.[9] On 15 March, when Charlotte had been two days at sea it was discovered that her third mate had been left behind at Plymouth; he was replaced for the remainder of the voyage by a seaman hastily dragooned from the accompanying naval vessel Hyaena.[10]

She sailed for Botany Bay carrying 84 male and 24 female convicts,[11] or 88 male and 20 female.[12] Among the prisoners were James Squire, James Bloodsworth, James Underwood, Samuel Lightfoot, William Bryant and Mary Bryant,[13] She also carried 42 men from the New South Wales Marine Corps to guard the convicts.[6]

Charlotte arrived at Port Jackson, Sydney, Australia, on 26 January 1788.[14] This voyage was commemorated on the Charlotte Medal, commissioned by White and created by the convict Thomas Barrett.

She left Port Jackson on 6 May 1788 bound for China to take on a cargo of tea, under charter to the East India Company.[15][14]

In May 1788, Captain Gilbert in Charlotte and Captain John Marshall in Scarborough, left Port Jackson together intending to find a new route to China.[16] After sighting Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island they discovered, on 27 May 1788, Matthew Island, and then, on 24 June, they saw land in the southern sector of the Marshall Islands.[17] They continued on via Abemama, Kuria, Aranuka, Tarawa, Abaiang, Butaritari, and Makin without attempting to land on shore.[9] They reached Canton on 9 September 1788, 126 days from Port Jackson.[18] The two large dispersed groups of islands they discovered in the Central Pacific have since been known as the Gilbert and Marshall Islands.

Later career

On her return to England on 28 November 1789 Bond and Co., Walbrook merchants, purchased Charlotte to use her in the London—Jamaica trade. The following data is from Lloyd's Register.

Year Master Owner Trade
1790 T. Gilbert
B. Howes 		Matthews
Bond & Co. 		London–Botany Bay
London–Jamaica
1795 Kent Bond & Co. London–Jamaica
1800 D. Kent Rutherford London–Jamaica
1805 D. Kent Rutherford London–Jamaica

Charlotte was one of the transport vessels that were part of the expedition under General Sir David Baird and Admiral Sir Home Riggs Popham that would in 1806 capture the Dutch Cape Colony.

See also: Transport vessels for the British invasion of the Dutch Cape Colony (1805-1806)

On 11 March she and Anacreon sailed as cartels to France with prisoners from Volontaire.

Year Master Owner Trade Source & notes
1807 R.Allison Fletcher London transport LR; repairs 1804
1810 R.Allison Fletcher London transport LR; repairs 1804, & good repair 1804
1819 R. Allison Fletcher London transport LR; good repair 1810

At some point she may have been sold to a Quebec merchant;[19] if so, this does not appear in LR or the Register of Shipping.

Fate

A Charlotte was lost off Newfoundland in November 1818.[20][19] However, there is no evidence to link the Charlotte that sank while sailing from Quebec to Liverpool with M'Call, master, to the Charlotte of this article. Another source notes that Charlotte continued to be listed in Lloyd's Register until 1821,[5] but it is not unusual for Lloyd's Register to carry stale data for several years.

Recognition

An Urban Transit Authority First Fleet ferry was named after Charlotte in 1986.[21]

See also

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d Bateson (1959), pp. 79–82.
  2. ^ "Picture of the Charlotte". First Fleet Fellowship. 1996. Archived from the original on 29 December 2011. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  3. ^ a b LR (1810), Seq.No.C363.
  4. ^ a b LR (1784), Seq.No.C481.
  5. ^ a b Hackman (2001), p. 81.
  6. ^ a b "The Ships of the First Fleet". Fellowship Of First Fleeters. 2011. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  7. ^ The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay (1789)
  8. ^ Collins (1975), p. lvi.
  9. ^ a b Samuel Eliot Morison (22 May 1944). "The Gilberts & Marshalls". Life. Retrieved 14 October 2009.
  10. ^ Collins (1975), p. lvii.
  11. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 29 June 2017. Retrieved 25 June 2018.((cite web)): CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. ^ Bateson (1959), p. 85.
  13. ^ "First Fleet Online". Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  14. ^ a b "Ship News". The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, Sunday 2 November 1806, p.1. 2 November 1806. p. 1. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  15. ^ Letter from Newton Fowell, midshipman on HMS Sirius, to John Fowell, 12 July 1788. Cited in Irvine (ed.) 1988, p.81.
  16. ^ Richards (1986), p. 104.
  17. ^ Sharp (1962), pp. 152–155.
  18. ^ Richards (1986), p. 106.
  19. ^ a b Bateson (1959), p. 102.
  20. ^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 5352. 15 January 1819. hdl:2027/mdp.39015005778181. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  21. ^ Sydney Ferries Fleet Facts Archived 12 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine Transport for NSW

References

External links

Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1818
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