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Brunswick (1827 ship)

History
United States
NameBrunswick
BuilderMaine[1]
Completed1827[1]
CapturedJune 1865; burnt[1]
General characteristics
Tons burthen295[1] (bm)

Brunswick was launched in Maine in 1827. She completed twelve whaling voyages before CSS Shenandoah burnt her in the Bering Straits in June 1865 on Brunswick's 13th voyage.

Career

It is currently unclear what Brunswick did between her launch in 1827 and her first voyage as a whaler in 1834. As a whaler, most of her whale hunting took place in the North Pacific, though she also hunted in the South Pacific and the Indian Ocean on occasion. All the data below is from the American Whaling Voyages Database.[1]

Date out Date in Master Homeport Cargo
April 1834 April 1836 Heman N. Stewart Providence, Rhode Island 60 barrels of sperm oil + 1440 barrels of whale oil
July 1836 July 1837 Heman N. Stewart Providence, Rhode Island 200 barrels of sperm oil + 1200 barrels of whale oil
August 1837 April 1839 Isaac Gardner Providence, Rhode Island 80 barrels of sperm oil + 1320 barrels of whale oil
August 1839 April 1841 Abraham Manchester Providence, Rhode Island 280 barrels of sperm oil + 2500 barrels of whale oil
August 1841 July 1843 George F. Champlin Providence, Rhode Island 150 barrels of sperm oil + 850 barrels of whale oil
6 November 1843 June 1846 John Coggeshall Almy New Bedford, Maine 248 barrels of sperm oil + 2417 barrels of whale oil + 20,400 pounds of whalebone (Baleen)
September 1846 September 1848 John Coggeshall Almy New Bedford, Maine 186 barrels of sperm oil + 1959 barrels of whale oil + 17,200 pounds of whalebone
November 1848 May 1851 Thomas J. Johnson New Bedford, Maine 302 barrels of sperm oil + 2315 barrels of whale oil + 30,000 pounds of whalebone
November 1851 May 1853 Lyman Wing Dartmouth, Massachusetts 53 barrels of sperm oil + 1595 barrels of whale oil + 25,800 pounds of whalebone
July 1853 July 1856 Henry P. Butler Dartmouth, Massachusetts 0 barrels of sperm oil + 1265 barrels of whale oil + 19,800 pounds of whalebone
9 October 1856 September 1859 Henry P. Butler Dartmouth, Massachusetts 677 barrels of sperm oil + 589 barrels of whale oil
26 November 1859 August 1862 Verenus Baker Dartmouth, Massachusetts 537 barrels of sperm oil + 103 barrels of whale oil + 800 pounds of whalebone
14 October 1862 28 June 1865 (burnt) Alden Tillinghast White Potter New Bedford, Massachusetts 30 barrels of sperm oil + 1230 barrels of whale oil + 5,000 pounds of whalebone

Fate

On 28 June, CSS Shenandoah burnt Brunswick, Alden T. Potter, master, in Bering Straits Narrows near Mys Dezhneva (“East Cape”), Chukotka.[2] Brunswick was disabled. The night before she had run into ice and was stove in. A number of other whalers were around her rendering assistance when CSS Shenandoah arrived. Brunswick was beyond salvaging though Captain Potter had heeled her over to keep more water from coming in. The captains of the other whalers had come aboard to purchase at auction her cargo and moveable gear. Two heads of baleen had been sold and transferred to James Maury when a steamer approached. Suggestions by some of the captains that she might be a Confederate raider that had been at Sydney in February were dismissed. Shenandoah launched her boats and captured all 10 whalers. She burnt eight of them; she put the captured crews on two and sent them south.[3] In all, CSS Shenandoah burnt 20 whale ships, occasioning one of the greatest episodes of losses in the region.[4]

Citations

References