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History
Great Britain
Name	Commerce
Builder	Liverpool
Launched	1791
Captured	1797: Peru 1805: Channel
General characteristics
Tons burthen	208, or 210 (bm)
Complement	1793: 30 1796:24
Armament	1793:14 × 6-pounder guns 1796: 4 × 6-pounder + 6 × 4-pounder guns + 1 swivel gun 1805: 8 guns

Commerce was launched at Liverpool in 1791. She was initially a West Indiaman. New owners in 1795 sent Commerce to the southern whale fishery in 1796. The Spanish captured her in 1797, but by 1799 she had returned to British ownership. She then traded generally until a French privateer captured her in 1805.

Career

Commerce first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1791 with J.Conning, master, G. Slater, owner, and trade Liverpool–St Vincent. After the outbreak of war with France in 1793, Captain William Bosworth acquired a letter of marque on 24 October 1794.

In 1795 ownership of Commerce changed to Bolton & Co., and her new owners employed her as a whaler, sending her to the Pacific. Captain Welham Clarke acquired a letter of marque on 17 June 1796. Captain Clarke sailed from London on 27 June 1796, bound for Chile. Commerce sailed for the Southern Fishery from Gravesend on 11 August 1796. On her way to the Pacific she stopped at Rio de Janeiro for water, refreshment, and calefaction.

Lloyd's List reported on 13 February 1798 that Commerce, Clark, master, was one of several British whalers that the Spanish had captured off the coasts of Chile and Peru. Spanish records have Commerce being taken at Pisco, Peru.

In a process that currently is obscure, Commerce had returned to British ownership by late 1798 or early 1799. She then traded between Britain and North America, the West Indies, Portugal, and Ireland. On 14 January 1804, sailing from Jamaica to London, Commerce was assisted (for unknown cause) in mid-Atlantic at 42°N 39°W / 42°N 39°W / 42; -39 by HMS Andromache, which believed she would put into Fayal, Azores. Later, Commerce lost her rudder in bad weather and was, with difficulty, assisted into Cove of Cork about 29 February by HMS Trompeuse, eventually reaching London on 2 April 1804.

Fate

Lloyd's List reported on 5 April 1805 that Commerce, Whitaker, master, had been taken while sailing from Cork to London and taken into Calais, where she arrived before 26 March. Lloyd's Register for 1806 carried the annotation "capt." by her name. Her captor was the French privateer Glâneur.

Lloyd's Register

Notes

1. George Thomas, who would in 1810 go on to be the Royal Navy's hydrographic surveyor for Home Waters, sailed as an apprentice. Later, he spoke of his adventures to William Mogg, his secretary from 1817 to 1821. In 1839 Mogg wrote his recollections of Thomas's recollections. According to Mogg, Commerce had wrecked some 18 months after leaving England. She had not. That does not mean that Thomas was not wrecked, but if so, it would have occurred on a vessel he sailed on after the Spanish captured Commerce (see below).
2. Glaneur was a lugger commissioned in 1804. Her first cruise, under Charles-Robert Cornu de Lassalle with 64 men and 16 guns, took place between 1804 and 1805. Her second, under Thomas Souville, took place in 1805. Her third took place between November 1805 and January 1806 under Charles-Robert Cornu de Lassalle. Her fourth cruise took place under Thomas Souville from February 1807. Her fifth cruise, between November 1807 to February 1808, took place under Léonard-Louis Merlière (or Merlier). Her last cruise, under Thomas Souville, took place from some time in 1808 until a British ship captured her on 30 November 1808.

Citations

1. ^ "Letter of Marque, p.56 - accessed 25 July 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
2. ^ LR (1799), Seq.№C529.
3. LR (1791), Seq.№C445.
4. British Southern Whale Fishery – Voyages: Commerce.
5. Walker & Webb (2018), pp. 211–214.
6. Lloyd's List №2845, Ship arrivals and departures (SAD) data.
7. Clayton (2014), p. 90.
8. Lloyd's List №2983.
9. Ortiz Sotelo (2015), p. 189.
10. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4423. London. 31 January 1804. p. 1. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
11. "Cork, Feb. 29". The Courier and Evening Gazette. No. 3617. London. 7 March 1804. p. 4. Retrieved 24 March 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
12. "Ship News". The Sun. No. 3604. London. 5 April 1804. p. 4. Retrieved 24 March 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
13. Lloyd's List №4205.
14. LR (1806), Seq.№C686.
15. Lloyd's List №4202.
16. Demerliac (2003), p. 243, N°1742.

References

• Clayton, Jane M (2014). Ships employed in the South Sea Whale Fishery from Britain: 1775–1815: An alphabetical list of ships. Berforts Group. ISBN 9781908616524.
• Demerliac, Alain (2003). La Marine du Consulat et du Premier Empire: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1800 A 1815 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN 2-903179-30-1.
• Ortiz Sotelo, Jorge (2015). La Real Armada en el Pacífico Sur. El Apostadero Naval del Callao 1746-1824. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas/Bonilla Artigas Editores. ISBN 9786078348619.
• Walker, David; Webb, Adrian (2018). "The Making of Mr George Thomas, RN, Admiralty Surveyor for Home Waters from 1810". Mariner's Mirror. 104 (4): 211–224. doi:10.1080/00253359.2018.1453651. S2CID 165437238.

• 1791 ships
• Age of Sail merchant ships of England
• Whaling ships
• Captured ships