Charlotte (ship)
| History | |
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| Name: | Charlotte |
| Owner: |
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| Port of registry: | London |
| Builder: | Thames |
| Launched: | 1784 |
| Fate: | Possibly sunk November 1818; disappears from lists in 1821 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen: | 335, or 338, or 345 53⁄94, or 384bm |
| Length: | 105 ft (32 m) |
| Beam: | 28 ft 3 in (8.61 m) |
| Sail plan: | Full-rigged ship |
| Crew: | 30 |
| Notes: | Barque-built (1786) |
Charlotte was an English merchant ship built in the River Thames in 1784 and chartered in 1786 to carry convicts as part of the First Fleet to New South Wales. She returned to Britain from Botany Bay via China, where she picked up a cargo for the British East India Company. Charlotte then spent most of the rest of her career in the London-Jamaica trade. She may have been lost off Newfoundland in 1818; in any case, she disappears from the lists by 1821.
She was a "heavy sailer," such that she had to be towed down the English Channel in order to keep pace with the rest of the Fleet. Her master was Thomas Gilbert, and her surgeon was John White, principal surgeon to the colony. On 15 May, when Charlotte had been two days at sea it was discovered that her third mate had been left behind at Portsmouth; he was replaced for the remainder of the voyage by a seaman hastily dragooned from the accompanying naval vessel Hyaena.
She left Portsmouth on 13 May 1787, carrying 84 male and 24 female convicts, or 88 male and 20 female. Among the prisoners were James Squire, James Bloodsworth, James Underwood, Samuel Lightfoot, William Bryant and Mary Bryant, She also carried 42 men from the New South Wales Marine Corps to guard the convicts.
Charlotte arrived at Port Jackson, Sydney, Australia, on 26 January 1788. This voyage was commemorated on the Charlotte Medal, commissioned by White.
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Wikipedia