Indispensable (1791 ship)
| History | |
|---|---|
 France
|
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| Name: | Indispensable |
| Builder: | Bordeaux |
| Launched: | 1791 |
| Captured: | Early 1793 |
 Great Britain
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|
| Name: | Indispensable |
| Owner: | Daniel Bennett (1793-1827) |
| Acquired: | 11 May 1793 |
| Fate: | 26 April 1830, Register cancelled as demolition was complete |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen: | 351, or 351 40⁄94 (bm) |
| Propulsion: | Sail |
| Complement: |
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| Armament: |
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Indispensable was a sailing ship built in France and launched in 1791. She was captured in 1793 at the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars and thus came into British hands, keeping her name (occasionally reported as Indispensible). She performed two voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1793 and 1797. During this period and later she made two voyages transporting convicts to New South Wales. Amongst her notable events were the discovery of Indispensable Strait (1794), the capture of a Spanish vessel (1798), and the rescue of some castaways (1814). She later went on serve as a whaler in the South Seas until autumn 1827. She ceased trading after this last voyage and was broken up by April 1830.
Indispensable was launched in 1791 as a West Indiaman. In 1793 she was on her way to the West Indies under the command of Arnaud Florence when the Guernsey privateer Tartar, Peter Le Lacheur, master, captured her. She was condemned on 11 May 1793 and purchased by Daniel Bennett.
On 8 December 1793 William Wilkinson received a letter of marque. This authorised Indispensable to capture enemy vessels should the opportunity arise.
She sailed to Port Jackson on 17 December 1793, arriving on 14 May 1794. She departed for Bengal on 7 July 1794, in company with the American vessel Halcyon, Captain Benjamin Page. On this voyage, Wilkinson discovered a strait between the Florida Islands and Guadalcanal to the southwest, and Malaita to the northeast, that he named the Indispensable Strait.Indispensable may have left for Bengal, but she arrived at Whampoa, China. There the EIC engaged Indispensable for a voyage back to Britain. Wilkinson left Whampoa on 24 January 1795, reached St Helena on 14 April, and arrived at the Downs on 23 July.
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