Several vessels have borne the name ''Matilda'': Sailing Ship Matilda

* was a ship built in France and launched in 1779. She first appears in British records in 1790 as a

whaling ship 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 transported convicts to Australia in 1791; she wrecked in 1792. * was launched at

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comm ...

in 1803. She spent most of her career in private trade in India or in trading between England and India. She participated in the British

invasion of Java (1811) The Invasion of Java in 1811 was a successful British amphibious operation against the Dutch East Indian island of Java that took place between August and September 1811 during the Napoleonic Wars. Originally established as a colony of the Dutch ...

and made one voyage for the British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sout ...

(EIC). She grounded and was wrecked in March 1822. * was an American privateer schooner out of Philadelphia that the British letter of marque captured in July 1813, that the American privateer ''Argus'' recaptured, that recaptured, and that the American privateer again recaptured * was a launched at Ipswich in 1813. During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It ...

she captured one United States privateer, and fought an inconclusive action with another. Between 1825 and 1827 ''Esk'' was part of the

West Africa Squadron The West Africa Squadron, also known as the Preventative Squadron, was a squadron of the British Royal Navy whose goal was to suppress the Atlantic slave trade by patrolling the coast of West Africa. Formed in 1808 after the British Parliame ...

, engaged in suppressing the trans-Atlantic slave trade, during which period she captured a number of

slave ships Slave ships were large cargo ships specially built or converted from the 17th to the 19th century for transporting slaves. Such ships were also known as "Guineamen" because the trade involved human trafficking to and from the Guinea coast ...

. A prize she had taken also engaged in a notable

single ship action A single-ship action is a naval engagement fought between two warships of opposing sides, excluding submarine engagements; called so because there is a single ship on each side. The following is a list of notable single-ship actions. Single-shi ...

. The Royal Navy sold ''Esk'' in 1829. Green, Wigram, and Green purchased her and between 1829 and 1845 she made four voyages in the British southern whale fishery as the

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 ...

''Matilda''.

See also