''Active'' was a French ship that came into British hands in 1800 as a prize. William Bennet purchased her and named her ''Active''. He employed her as a
whaler
A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales.
Terminology
The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Jap ...
and she was lost in January 1803 at the start of her second whaling voyage.
Career
''Active'' was first listed in ''Lloyd's Register'' in 1801,
[''Lloyd's Register'' (1801), Supple. Seq. №AA3.]
/ref> and in the ''Register of Shipping'' for 1802.[''Register of Shipping'' (1802), Seq. №A50.]
/ref> Both show her master as Jn. Dunn, her owner as Bennett, and her trade as London to the South Seas Fishery.
Captain John Dunn acquired a letter of marque
A letter of marque and reprisal () was a Sovereign state, government license in the Age of Sail that authorized a private person, known as a privateer or French corsairs, corsair, to attack and capture vessels of a foreign state at war with t ...
on 16 May 1801.[British Southern Whale Fishery Database – voyages: ''Active''.]
/ref> having sailed from Saint Helena
Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory.
Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...
on 11 July, bound for England. She was valued at £9,000 in 1802.
Captain Lewis (or Louis) Blair sailed ''Active'' from England on 27 October 1802.[
]
Fate
''Active'', Blair, master, was lost in January 1803 at the Island of Desolation. The ''Register of Shipping'' for 1804 still carried her with Blair as master.''Register of Shipping'' (1804), Seq.№52.
/ref>
In April 1804 Captain Blair acquired a letter of marque for the 1804 ''Active''.
Citations
References
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{{1803 shipwrecks
Ships built in France
Captured ships
Whaling ships
Age of Sail merchant ships
Merchant ships of the United Kingdom
Maritime incidents in 1803
1800s ships
Shipwrecks in the Southern Ocean