Emma (1808 ship)

For other ships with the same name, see Emma (ship).

United Kingdom
NameEmma
NamesakeEmma, daughter of builder Michael Smith[1]
Owner
  • 1812: T. Ward & Co.
  • 1848:Bews & Co.
  • 1851:Wilson & Co.
  • 1854:Mills
  • 1857:Ward
BuilderMichael Smith, Howrah, Calcutta[2]
Launched25 November 1808,[1] or 1809[2][3]
FateFoundered April 1864
General characteristics
Tons burthen379 (New measurement),[4] or 416,[5] or 440,[1] or 463,[6] or 463+17⁄94,[7] or 463+57⁄94,[3] or 550,[2] (bm)
Length
  • 1808:108 ft 0 in (32.9 m)[3]
  • 1864:100 ft 0 in (30.5 m)[8]
Beam
  • 1808: 31 ft 3 in (9.5 m)[3]
  • 1864: 28 ft 5 in (8.7 m)[8]
Complement53 (1864)
Armament2 × 9-pounder chase guns + 10 × 18-pounder carronades[6]
NotesTeak-built

Emma was a merchant vessel launched at Calcutta in 1809 that in 1810 served as a government armed ship in the British invasion of Île de France. In 1811 she sailed to England where she was sold. She then became a transport and later a whaler. Between 1815 and 1853 she made 11 whaling voyages. She was then sold and became a merchantman on the England-Australia run. Between 1851 and 1853 she made one more whaling voyage to the South Seas fisheries. She then returned to the England-Australia trade. In 1857 her home port became Hull, and she became a Greenland whaler, though that role may have begun as early as 1855. She was converted in 1864 to a screw steamer but was lost in April while seal hunting.

  1. ^ a b c Liebner & Van Dyke (2016), pp. 57–58.
  2. ^ a b c Phipps (1840), p. 103.
  3. ^ a b c d Hackman (2001), p. 274.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference LR1848 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ BSWF Database – voyages: Emma.
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference LR1812 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ House of Commons (1814), p. 87.
  8. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference LR1864 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).