Zephyr was a vessel built at Hull in 1796. She initially traded with the Baltic, though for a year or so she was a London-based transport. From 1810 she made 27 voyages as a whaler in the northern whale fishery. She returned to mercantile trade and was last listed in 1853.
Career Zephyr first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in the volume for 1796.LR (1796), "Z" supple. pages.
Year Master Owner Trade Source & notes 1796 Jn.Ward T.Ward Hull–Petersburg LR 1799 J.Ward T.Ward Hull–PetersburgLondon transport LR 1801 J.WardW.Brown T.Ward London transportLondon–Petersburg LR
Zephyr was absent from the 1809 volume of Lloyd's Register. She reappeared in the 1810 volume with a new owner and new trade, that of a northern whaler.
Year Master Owner Trade Source & notes 1810 J.Bell Raines Hull–Greenland LR; good repair 1810
The data below is from Coltish, augmented with press reports. On occasion, after the whaling season (April to September), Zephyr traded with the Baltic.
Year Master Where Whales Tuns whale oil !810 Bell Greenland 12 130 1811 Bell Greenland 5 75 1812 Bell Greenland 20 155 1813 Bell Greenland 6 78 1814 Bell Greenland 18 167 1815 Bell Greenland 1 19
In 1815 Captain Unthank purchased Zephyr.
Year Master Owner Trade Source & notes 1815 J.BellJ.Unthank Raines & Co. Hull–Greenland LR; good repair 1810, damages repaired 1814, & large repair 1815
Year Master Where Whales Tuns whale oil 1816 Bell Davis Strait 11 163 1817 Unthank Davis Strait 6 72 1818 Unthank Davis Strait 4 55 1819 Unthank Davis Strait 3 34 1820 Unthank Davis Strait 11 140 1821 Unthank Greenland 19 214 1822 Unthank Greenland 7 93 1823 Unthank Greenland 26 195 1824 Unthank Davis Strait 6 80 1825 Unthank Davis Strait 4 55 1826 Unthank Davis Strait 5 71 1827 Ash Davis Strait 12 210 1828 Ash Davis Strait 19 221 1829 Ash Davis Strait 14 146 1830 Ash Davis Strait 5 76
On 2 July 1830 the whaler became trapped in ice at Davis Strait, leading her crew to abandon her and join other whaling vessels in the area. The crews of Zephyr and worked for 48 hours to clear her of ice. They then set fire to the upper part of William, lightening her and causing her to rise. When she rose to the point that the beams above the casks of blubber she had collected were exposed, they set fire to them too. When the casks appeared, the crews put out the fire. When Williams master would not sign over her blubber and whale fins to the crews, Zephyr sailed away. Traveller took on 70 butts of blubber and one ton of whale fins. Captain Simpson took them back with him and sold them, keeping the proceeds for himself and his men. Williams owners sued for the proceeds, but Simpson argued that it was a long-standing custom of the whaling trade that salvaged cargo belonged to the men who had salvaged it. The jury found for the plaintiffs, who had estimated the value of the lost whale products at £500, and awarded them £392."Whale Fishery", Nautical Magazine (1833), pp.89−92. Although all but one witness, all of whom were masters of whaling ships, testified for the defendant, the jury found for the plaintiff.
Year Master Where Whales Tuns whale oil 1831 Ash Davis Strait 7 70 1832 Ash Davis Strait 29 231 1833 Ash Davis Strait 19 148 1834 Ash Davis Strait 16 168 1835 Ash Davis Strait 4 120 butts 1836 Ash Davis Strait 0 0 1837 Ash Greenland 0 0
Zephyr was not listed in 1837, and the relevant page is missing from the volume for 1838. Zephyr reappeared in the volume for 1839. Lloyd's Register gave her owner as Stock & Co. John Unthank, Benjamin Stocks (merchant of Cottingham), and Thomas Shackles (oil merchant of Hull) were partners.
Year Master Owner Trade Source & notes 1839 T.Magens Stock & Co. Hull–America LR; small repair 1838, damages repaired 1839; "wants repair" 1844 T.MagensBrumell Stock & Co.Gibson Hull–AmericaLondon collier LR; small repair 1838, damages repaired 1839 1845 BrumellW.Sadler Gibson London collier LR; small repair 1838, damages repaired 1839 & 1845
In 1845 her owners sold her to London owners and her homeport changed from Hull to London. A few years later the London owners sold Zephyr to owners that sailed her between Stockton and Canada.
Year Master Owner Trade Source & notes 1850 A.Watt Faucus Stockton–Quebec LR; small repairs 1849 & large repairs 1850
Fate Zephyr was last listed in the 1853 volume of Lloyd's Register, without a trade.
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