''Cato'' was a merchant vessel launched at

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...

in 1807. She was 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 ...

, a

transport ship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable to land troops directly on shore, typic ...

, and traded across the Atlantic between England and North America. She foundered in November 1841.

Career

''Cato'' first appeared in ''

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 ...

'' (''LR'') in 1808. Captain John Hossack 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 6 December 1808. A gale on 13 January 1828 drove the

''Cato'', and several other vessels, ashore in Mountbatten Bay. The initial report was that her rudder had been unshipped and that her keel was much damaged, but that it was expected that she would be refloated. ''

Lloyd's List ''Lloyd's List'' is one of the world's oldest continuously running journals, having provided weekly shipping news in London as early as 1734. It was published daily until 2013 (when the final print issue, number 60,850, was published), and i ...

'' reported on 22 December 1835 that ''Cato'' had arrived at Liverpool from Quebec in a much damaged state.

Fate

On 11 November 1844 her crew, who were rescued, abandoned ''Cato'' west south west of the

Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly ( ; ) are a small archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, St Agnes, is over farther south than the most southerly point of the Great Britain, British mainla ...

. She had become waterlogged as she sailed from

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

, to

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

. Her entry in ''LR'' bears the annotation "Abandoned".''LR'' (1844), Seq.№C254.
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Citations

References

* {{cite book , last=Hackman , first=Rowan , year=2001 , title=Ships of the East India Company , location=Gravesend, Kent , publisher=World Ship Society , ISBN=0-905617-96-7 1807 ships Ships built in Kingston upon Hull Age of Sail merchant ships of England Maritime incidents in January 1828 Maritime incidents in November 1844 Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean