HMS ''Swan'' was launched on 21 November 1767 at Plymouth as the lead ship of the 24 ships in the 14-gun ''Swan''-class of

ship-sloop During the 18th and 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship of the Royal Navy with a single gun deck that carried up to 18 guns. The rating system of the Royal Navy covered all vessels with 20 or more guns; thus, the term encompassed all u ...

s built in the 1760s and 1770s. She served during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

and the

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. She bore the name HMS ''Explosion'' between 1779 and 1783; at the time she was classed as a fireship. She was laid up in 1801 and finally sold in 1814. ''Swan'' then became 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 ...

in the northern whale fishery, sailing out of Kingston-on-Hull. She also made one voyage to the southern whale fishery (1819–1821) and one merchant voyage to Brazil and Hamburg, before returning to the northern whale fishery. She was

broken up Ship breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship scrapping, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships either as a source of Interchangeable parts, parts, which can be sol ...

circa. 1841.

Royal Navy

:December, 1774 under command of Capt. James Ayscough serving in British North America. ''Swan'' took ''Europe'' and sent her to Cowes around 17 July 1793.

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:On 10 April, 1799 under command of Captain Carew, she and frigate HMS Hind captured American merchant sloop "Fair Columbian" off the coast of Florida (). Eventually Fair Columbian's crew reasserted control of the ship and brought her into Baltimore. On 17 January, 1800 USS Warren made contact with sloop of war HMS Swan, Jacob Watson commanding, off Abaco Island operating out of Bermuda.

Whaler

In 1814 ''Swan'' became a

sailing to the Northern Whale Fishery. She made annual voyages to Greenland or

Davis Strait The Davis Strait (Danish language, Danish: ''Davisstrædet'') is a southern arm of the Arctic Ocean that lies north of the Labrador Sea. It lies between mid-western Greenland and Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada. To the north is Baffin Bay. The ...

from 1815 to 1819.

Northern Whale Fishery

''Swan'', Taylor, master, made five annual voyages between 1815 and 1819. The data below is from Coltish.

South Seas Whale Fishery

In 1819–1821 ''Swan'' made one voyage to the South Seas Whale Fishery. Captain Dring sailed on 2 November 1819, bound for

Walvis Bay Walvis Bay (; ; ) is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies. It is the List of cities in Namibia, second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The city covers an area of of land. The bay is a ...

. ''Swan'' returned to Hull on 28 September 1821 with 170 tons of whale oil. The cargo bounty was £500, and the cargo's value was £3420. ''Swan'' then sailed as a merchantman to Brazil. On 4 March 1822 she was at Falmouth, having come from Hull and on her way to Rio de Janeiro. She arrived at Rio on 30 April. On 23 June she was at Bahia. By 12 September she had returned to Deal and on the 17th she sailed for

Hambro Hambro is a Danish and Norwegian surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Calmer Hambro (1747–1806), Danish merchant and banker *Carl Joachim Hambro (banker), Carl Joachim Hambro (1807–1877), Danish banker and founder of Hambros Ba ...

. She arrived at Cuxhaven on 25 September, and Hambro the next day. She returned to Hull on 22 November.

Northern Whale Fishery

''Swan'', Dring, master, returned to the Northern Whale Fishery in 1823. In 1823 and 1824 she did her whale hunting off Greenland. From 1825 to 1840 she was at Davis Strait. The data below is primarily from Coltish. Ward-of-hull fishery

In 1836 ''Swan'', Robert Dring, master, was the last of the Northern Fishery whalers to sail for the fisheries. In October she became ice-bound (beset) and did not get free until spring of 1837. In 1837 she was at Peterhead on 29 June, having gotten free of the ice on 24 May. The first whaler to sight ''Swan'', on 14 May, was . ''Swan'' was then some 30 miles west of

Disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

and Captain Stairton's men refused to go to ''Swan''s assistance on the grounds that ''Swan'' was far off and they weren't paid to do so. She was only able to get free because the crews of five whalers came upon her and sawed 3000 feet of heavy ice to get her out. The vessels also provided provisions, with one, ''Charlotte'', Adamson, master, being particularly helpful. Then ''Dunscombe'', owned by the same company as ''Swan'', left off her fishing, provided 20 men to fill out ''Swan''s crew, and accompanied her home. Of ''Swan''s crew of 48 men, 20 had died, 14 of them in an attempt to reach a Danish colony in her boats. In addition to the men of her crew who died, five more men also died. ''Swan'' had taken on a boat of six men from the wrecked ''Jane and Mary'', of London; of the six, only the mate survived. On 18 August ''Swan'', Dring, master, sailed from Hull to Petersburg. She returned on 14 November. Such off-season voyages may have been more common than this one instance would suggest.

Fate

Her entry in ''LR'' for 1841 and 1842 carried no trade data. Her entry in the 1842 volume bore the annotation "broken up" beneath her name.''LR'' (1842), Seq.No.S869.
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Citations

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Swan (1767) Swan (1767) 1767 ships Swan-class ship-sloops Age of Sail merchant ships of England Whaling ships