''Ganges'' was a ship launched in 1798 at Philadelphia, probably for French owners. During the

Peace of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens (, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France, the Spanish Empire, and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition. It marked the end of the French Revolutionary Wars; after a short peace it set t ...

her registration and homeport became Dunkirk. Her (possibly new) French owners sent her to engage in

whaling Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...

Delagoa Bay Delagoa is a marine ecoregion along the eastern coast of Africa. It extends along the coast of Mozambique and South Africa from the Bazaruto Archipelago (21°14’ S) to Lake St. Lucia in South Africa (28° 10' S) in South Africa's Kwazulu-Nat ...

, where the British

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 ...

whaler captured her in 1803. She then made one whaling voyage to Isle of Desolation before a French squadron captured her in 1806 during a second whaling voyage. Accounts differ as to whether her captors sank her, or released her and she continued to operate as a merchant vessel until 1814.

Career

''Ganges'' was launched at Philadelphia, possibly for the Rotch brothers. After the outbreak of the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

, a number of French whaling companies transferred their operations to the United States, operating out of

New Bedford New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast (Massachusetts), South Coast region. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, New Bedford had a ...

and

Nantucket Nantucket () is an island in the state of Massachusetts in the United States, about south of the Cape Cod peninsula. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck Island, Tuckernuck and Muskeget Island, Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and Co ...

under American colours and with American masters and crews, frequently Nantucket whalers. During the Peace of Amiens (1802–1803), some French owners returned their vessels to French registration, and resumed whaling from France. ''Gange'' was commissioned at Dunkirk circa September 1803 by Louis De Baecque. She departed in late September with Charles Harris (or Harrax), master, for the whaling grounds at

. There she encountered ''Scorpion'', which captured ''Gange'' and a second French whaler, , in late 1803. ''Scorpion'' then escorted both into

St 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 ...

. From there they sailed to Britain, where they arrived in April 1804 and were sold. Their new owners then fitted them out for whaling and armed them. ''Ganges''s new owners were James Milman (mast maker), and James Herbert (cooper), or Milner & Co. She sailed from Britain on 4 August 1804 with master C.W. Hodan, or Bacon or Main, for the Isle of Desolation. She was reported to have been there on 25 February 1805. Reportedly she engaged in sealing and the hunt for "sea elephants". She was then reported at

on 16 August 1805. She returned to Britain on 12 September 1805.British Southern Whale Fishery Database – voyages: ''Ganges''.
/ref>

Loss

''Ganges'', Obed Folger, master, and the same owners as on her previous voyage, left on a whaling voyage shortly after returning from her first voyage. While outward bound, she encountered "a flotilla from Rochefort". The flotilla captured her on 19 December 1805, or 11 March 1806. The French either sank ''Ganges'', or released her, and she continued to operate as a merchant vessel until 1814. ''

Lloyd's Register Lloyd's Register Group Limited, trading as Lloyd's Register (LR), is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research ...

'' for 1807 notes that she was captured. If she returned to service, she did not appear in ''Lloyd's Register'' for 1808 or 1809. Fortuitously, the Rochefort squadron had captured a

West Indiaman West Indiaman was a general name for any merchantman sailing ship making runs from the Old World to the West Indies and the east coast of the Americas. These ships were generally strong ocean-going ships capable of handling storms in the Atlantic ...

named prior to November 1805. This coincidence may be part of the reason for confusion but the fate of the ''Ganges'' of this article.

Notes

Citations

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ganges (1798 ship) 1798 ships Whaling ships Captured ships