Venus (1807 ship)
Venus was built in Mauritius in 1807. She most of her career sailing between London and the Cape of Good Hope (CGH), and Mauritius. She wrecked in July 1826 while sailing from Sydney to Singapore.
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Builder: | Île de France,[1] or India[2] |
| Launched: | 1807,[1] or 1804[2] |
| Fate: | Wrecked 1 July 1826 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen: | 158,[3] or 169, or 190[2] (bm) |
| Sail plan: | Snow |
| Armament: |
|
Career
Venus first appeared in the Register of Shipping (RS) and Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1809, with essentially the same information. LR gave her launch year as 1804 and her origin as India, while RS gave no launch year but gave her origin as Île de France (Mauritius). Some years later RS gave her launch year as 1807.
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1809 | B.Bunn C.Allen |
H.Howten | London–Madeira London–CGH |
RS[1] |
| 1810 | C.Allum Allarlet |
Houghton H.Hart |
London–CGH London–Mediterranean |
RS |
| 1811 | Alariot Kilgour |
Hart H.Howton |
London–Mediterranean London–CGH |
RS |
| 1815 | Kilgour | Atkinson | London–CGH | RS |
| 1820 | Kilgour | Captain & Co. | London–CGH | RS; large repair 1813 |
On 22 May 1824 Venus arrived at the Cape. She had left Mauritius on 19 April. She reported that while she was at Mauritius there were two hurricanes, one on 23 February and one on 10 April.[4]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1824 | Kilgour Sharp |
Captain & Co. | London–CGH | RS; large repair 1813 & 1812 |
| 1825 | Sharp Kilgour |
Captain & Co. Houghton |
London–CGH | Register of Shipping; large repair 1813 |
On 1 January 1825 Captain G. Kilgower sailed from London for Ceylon.[2]
Fate
Venus was wrecked on 1 July 1826 in Torres Strait when on passage from Sydney to Singapore. Venus had sailed from Sydney to Singapore and had wrecked on the Alerts Reef in the Torris Straits.[5]
She was in company with Security, Ross, master, and Greenock, Miller, master. When Venus struck the reef Kilgour fired her guns, enabling the other two masters to avoid Venus's fate.[6] Security rescued the crew and passengers from Venus and brought them to Batavia, where they arrived on 4 August.[5]
One contemporary newspaper report had Venus in company with Sun, Gillett, master, and both being wrecked. Sun was reportedly carrying 40,000 dollars. The account states that Industry rescued the crews of both Venus and Sun.[7] Sun was wrecked on Flinders' Eastern Field Reef in the approaches to Torres Strait, on 28 May 1826.[8]
Citations and references
Citations
References
- Hackman, Rowan (2001). Ships of the East India Company. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-96-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Nicholson, Ian Hawkins (1996). Via Torres Strait: a maritime history of the Torres Strait Route and the ship's post office at Booby Island. Yaroomba, Qld.: Ian Nicholson [on behalf of the Roebuck Society].CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)