Scarborough (1782 ship)
| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain
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| Name: | Scarborough |
| Owner: | John, George, & Thomas Hopper |
| Builder: | Fowler & Heward, Scarborough, North Yorkshire |
| Launched: | 1782, Scarborough |
| Fate: | Foundered, 1805 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen: | 41091⁄94, or 411, or 412, or 428 (bm) |
| Length: |
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| Beam: | 29 feet 10 inches (9.1 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 12 feet 5 1⁄2 inches (3.8 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sail |
| Sail plan: | Ship rig |
| Complement: |
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| Armament: |
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Scarborough was a double-decked, three-masted, ship-rigged, copper-sheathed, barque that participated in the First Fleet, assigned to transport convicts for the European colonisation of Australia in 1788. Also, the British East India company (EIC) chartered Scarborough to take a cargo of tea back to Britain after her two voyages transporting convicts. She spent much of her career as a West Indiaman, trading between London and the West Indies, but did perform a third voyage in 1801-02 to Bengal for the EIC. In January 1805 she repelled a French privateer of superior force in a single-ship action, before foundering in April.
Scarborough spent her first four years transporting timber from the Baltic and North America. She first enters Lloyd's Register in 1783. Her entry gives her burthen as 600 tons (bm), her master as "Scorbdle", her owner as T. Hooper, and her trade as "London Transport". The next year J. Marshall replaced Scorbdale as master.
In 1787 south London shipbroker William Richards chartered Scarborough for the First Fleet voyage at a rate of 12 shillings per ton (bm) per month. He selected her after first consulting with Royal Marine officers Watkin Tench and David Collins. Both marine officers would sail with the Fleet to Australia, Tench as a captain of marines and Collins as judge-advocate for the new colony. She was the second-largest transport selected for the Fleet after Alexander.
After selection, Scarborough sailed to Deptford dockyard to be refitted for convict transportation under the supervision of Naval Agent George Teer. The height between decks was increased to 6 feet 2 inches (1.9 m) amidships and between 6 feet 1 inch (1.9 m) and 5 feet 11 inches (1.8 m) fore and aft, and two windsails were brought aboard to improve the flow of air in the convict quarters. Bulkheads were also fitted to separate convict quarters from those of the marines and crew, and space set aside for stores and a sick bay. An Osbridge machine was also installed to filter Scarborough's drinking water during the voyage to New South Wales. Teer was entirely satisfied with Scarborough's fitout; in December 1786 he advised the Navy Board that she and her fellow First Fleet transports were "completed fitted [with] provisions and accommodations .. better than any other set of transports I have ever had any directions in."
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