SusannahParish: Adding Initial Page W/ Infobox - done

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Adding Initial Page W/ Infobox - done

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{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox ship
|section1={{Infobox ship/image
|image = Arrival of the ships Asp and Indispensable at New Island, November 1814 (C. H. Barnard).png
|image_caption = ''Arrival of the ships Asp and Indispensable'' (right) ''at New Island'' (November 1814, engraving by the sketch of castaway captain [[Charles Barnard (castaway)|C. H. Barnard]])
}}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career
|country = France
|flag = [[File:Civil and Naval Ensign of France.svg|45px]]
|name = ''Indispensable''
|builder = Bordeaux
|launched = 1791
|captured = Early 1793
}}

|section3={{Infobox ship/career
|hide_header = title
|country = Great Britain
|flag = {{shipboxflag|Kingdom of Great Britain|civil}}
|name = ''Indispensable''
|acquired = 11 May 1793
|owner = Daniel Bennett (1793-1827)
|fate = 26 April 1830, Register cancelled as demolition was complete{{sfnp|Hackman|2001|p=132}}
}}

|section4={{Infobox ship/characteristics
|tons_burthen = 350,{{sfnp|Sarre|2007|p=136}} or 351,<ref name=LoM>{{cite web|title=Letter of Marque|url=http://www.1812privateers.org/Great%20Britain/marque1793-1815.pdf|page=69|access-date=27 October 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020052005/http://www.1812privateers.org/Great%20Britain/marque1793-1815.pdf|archive-date=20 October 2016}}</ref> or 351{{small|{{frac|40|94}}}},{{sfnp|Hackman|2001|p=132}} or 362{{sfnp|House of Commons|1816}}{{sfnp|Stanbury|Henderson|Derrien|Bigourdan|2015|loc=App.7}} ([[Builder's Old Measurement|bm]])
|length = {{cvt|106|ft|3|in|m|1|abbr=on}}{{sfnp|Stanbury|Henderson|Derrien|Bigourdan|2015|loc=App.7}}
|beam = {{cvt|28|ft|9|in|m|1|abbr=on}}{{sfnp|Stanbury|Henderson|Derrien|Bigourdan|2015|loc=App.7}}
|propulsion = Sail
|complement = *1793: 20<ref name=LoM/>
*1800: 32<ref name=LoM/>
*1804: 35<ref name=LoM/>
*1806: 25<ref name=LoM/>
|armament = *1793: 8 × 6-pounder guns + 1 × 4-pounder [[coehorn]], + 4 [[swivel gun]]s<ref name=LoM/>
*1799: 12 × 6-pounder + 2 × 4-pounder guns, + 2 × 18-pounder [[carronade]]s<ref>''Lloyd's Register'' (1799).</ref>
*1800: 16 × 6-, 9-, & 18-pounder guns<ref name=LoM/>
*1804: 16 × 6-pounder guns<ref name=LoM/>
*1806: 12 × 6-pounder guns<ref name=LoM/>
}}
}}
'''''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 ''Indispensable''). She performed two voyages for the British [[East India Company]] (EIC) between 1793 and 1797. During this period and later she made two voyages [[transportation (punishment)|transporting]] [[convict]]s 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.

==French career and capture==
''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.<ref>Jameison (1986), p.185.</ref> She was condemned on 11 May 1793.{{sfnp|Hackman|2001|p=132}} On 19 October 1793, she was at Guernsey with P. LeLievre, master.{{sfnp|Sarre|2007|p=136}} Not long thereafter, Daniel Bennett purchased her.

{{see also|List of ships owned by Daniel Bennett & Son}}

==British career==
On 8 December 1793 William Wilkinson received a [[letter of marque]].<ref name=LoM/> This authorised ''Indispensable'' to capture enemy vessels should the opportunity arise.

She sailed to [[Port Jackson]] on 17 December 1793,{{sfnp|Hackman|2001|p=132}} arriving on 14 May 1794. She departed for [[Bengal]] on 7 July 1794, in company with the American vessel ''Halcyon'', Captain Benjamin Page.<ref name=Neptune>''The [[American Neptune]]'' (1958), 131.</ref> 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.{{efn|Findlay's Directory gives the year of discovery as 1790,<ref>Findlay (1877), p. 770.</ref> but this date is in error.<ref name=Neptune/>}} ''Indispensable'' may have left for Bengal, but she arrived at [[Huangpu District, Guangzhou|Whampoa]], China. There the EIC engaged ''Indispensable'' for a voyage back to Britain. Wilkinson left Whampoa on 24 January 1795, reached [[Saint Helena|St Helena]] on 14 April, and arrived at [[The Downs (ship anchorage)|the Downs]] on 23 July.<ref name=BL>{{cite web|url=http://searcharchives.bl.uk/IAMS_VU2:IAMS045-001115193|title=British Library: ''Indispensable''.}}</ref>

On her first convict voyage under the command of William Wilkinson, ''Indispensable'' sailed from England on 5 November 1795.{{sfnp|Hackman|2001|p=132}} She stopped at Rio de Janeiro in January to replenish her water,{{sfnp|Clayton|2014|pp=143-4}} and arrived at Port Jackson on 30 April 1796.{{sfnp|Bateson|1959|p=130}} She transported 133 female convicts, two of whom died on the voyage.{{sfnp|Bateson|1959|p=130}}

''Indispensable'' then left Port Jackson bound for China.<ref name=ATCJ>{{cite web|date=3 January 1891|title=Arrival of Vessels at Port Jackson, and their Departure|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71247621|work=Australian Town and Country Journal|page=16|access-date=10 May 2012}}</ref> The EIC again engaged her for a voyage back to Britain. She left Whampoa on 7 January 1797, reached the [[Cape Colony|Cape]] on 3 April and St Helena on 29 April, and arrived at the Downs on 25 July.<ref name=BL />

''Indispensable'', still under Wilkinson's command, with 14 guns and a crew of 32, was waiting to sail in October 1797. She arrived at [[Rio Janeiro]] in December, requiring "[[calefaction]]", i.e., [[caulking#Wooden ship caulking|caulking]].{{sfnp|Clayton|2014|pp=143-4}} She left on 20 January 1798. She then captured the Spanish ship ''La Union'' of 12 guns and 32 men about {{convert|35|league|lk=in}} southwest of Cape Horn on 19 February 1798 and conveyed her [[prize (law)|prize]] to the [[Cape of Good Hope]]. ''Union'' was carrying tallow, hides and herb tea, and her estimated value was £10,000. She had been travelling from [[Montevideo]] to Lima.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=15039|page=636|date=7 July 1798}}</ref>

While sailing south of [[Van Diemen's Land]], ''Indispensable'' lost two boats and one man overboard in a storm that also stove in two boats and carried away several spars.

In late September 1798 ''Indispensable'' left to do some whaling and returned on 27 October 1798, and left again shortly afterwards on a second whaling voyage before returning on 29 December 1798 with 54 tons of sperm whale oil from whaling within a range of {{convert|125|mi}} above and below Sydney, and within {{convert|90|mi}} of the coast. ''Indispensable'' then underwent a refit and repair while in Port Jackson. ''Indispensable'' undertook numerous whaling voyages before returning to England in October 1800, and sailed to Sydney for careening and refit in 1797–98.{{sfnp|Clayton|2014|pp=143-4}}

On 24 December 1800 Calvin Gardner (or Gardiner) was captain of ''Indispensable'', and received a letter of marque<ref name=LoM/> (applicable to a person, not a vessel). She sailed in February 1801. In August 1801 ''Indispensable'' was reported to be at [[Walvis Bay|Walwich Bay]], together with numerous other whalers.<ref>''Lloyd's List'', no.4200,[http://www.1812privateers.org/LLOYDS/1801/11-03-1801.jpg] - accessed 25 November 2014.</ref> She returned to Britain in February 1802.{{sfnp|Clayton|2014|pp=143-4}}

She sailed for the fisheries later that year. At the time she was valued at £6,500.{{sfnp|Clayton|2014|pp=143-4}} In September 1802 she was reported to again be at Walwich Bay with several other whalers, including {{HMS|Ferret|1784|2}}.<ref>[http://www.1812privateers.org/LLOYDS/1802/11-30-1802.jpg ''Lloyd's List'' №4313.]</ref> She returned to Britain in November 1803.{{sfnp|Clayton|2014|pp=143-4}}

In December 1803 the vessel, spelt ''Indispensible'' in ''Lloyd's List'', was at [[Cork (city)|Cork]].<ref>''Lloyd's List'', no.4399,[http://www.1812privateers.org/LLOYDS/1803/11-04-1803.jpg] - accessed 25 November 2014.</ref> After the outbreak of the [[Napoleonic Wars]], Gardner received a second letter of marque on 10 February 1804. He then sailed ''Indispensible'' to south seas in March. She was at Rio in May 1804 for water and re-provisioning, and was reported "all well" of the Peruvian coast in November. She remained in the fisheries in 1805, and returned to Britain in January 1806.{{sfnp|Clayton|2014|pp=143-4}}

Robert Turnbull received a letter of marque on 20 March 1806,<ref name=LoM/> ''Indispensible'' was also mentioned in the [[Protection List]] for that year.{{efn|The Protection List listed vessels whose crews were exempt from naval service, i.e., [[impressment]].{{sfnp|Clayton|2014|p=10}}}} She sailed to the whale fishery in May.{{sfnp|Clayton|2014|pp=143-4}} The whaler ''Indispensable'' was reported to have been well at New {{sic|Zeela|nd}} in April 1807,<ref>''Lloyd's List'', no.4186,[http://www.1812privateers.org/LLOYDS/1807/09-11-1807.jpg] - accessed 25 November 2014.</ref> and July, and whaling off the [[River Derwent (Tasmania)|River Derwent]]. She returned to London in September 1808.{{sfnp|Clayton|2014|pp=143-4}}

On her second convict voyage to Australia, under Henry Best, she sailed from England on 2 March 1809.{{efn|It is not clear whether she sailed under a letter of marque or not. One comprehensive listing of letters source does not list one.<ref name=LoM/> Another source states that she did.{{sfnp|Clayton|2014|pp=143-4}} She was on the Protection List.{{sfnp|Clayton|2014|p=143-4}}}} She arrived at Port Jackson on 18 August.{{sfnp|Bateson|1959|pp=288–289}} On this voyage ''Indispensable'' transported 62 female convicts, one of whom died on the voyage.{{sfnp|Bateson|1959|p=326}} ''Indispensable'' left Port Jackson for whaling, returning on 18 September with a cargo of oil and leaving on 16 October for more whaling.<ref name=ATCJ />

The whaler ''Indispensable'', Captain Best, was reported leaving New South Wales (Port Jackson), in mid-September 1811. She was sailing to New Zealand to complete her cargo and would then return to Britain directly;<ref>O'Hara (1818), pp.378-9.</ref> she arrived in July 1812,{{sfnp|Clayton|2014|pp=143-4}} with 175 tons of [[sperm oil]].<ref name=bswf />

''Indispensible'' sailed for the South Seas whale fishery in December 1812 under the command of William Buckle. She was reported well at Lima in May 1813,<ref>''Lloyd's List'', no.4821,[http://www.1812privateers.org/LLOYDS/1813/11-12-1813.jpg] - accessed 25 November 2014.</ref> and at "Tombas" in December.{{efn|Tombas appears to be [[Punta Tombo]], in Argentina.{{sfnp|Clayton|2014|loc=Glossary of place names}}}} She returned to Britain, arriving on 31 May 1814 at Deal with several Indiamen (including {{ship||Baring|1809 ship|2}}, {{ship||Charles Mills|1810 ship|2}}, and {{ship||Fairlie|1810 ship|2}}), and another whaler, all under escort by {{HMS|Cornwallis|1813|6}}.<ref>"Ship News". ''The Times'', 2 June 1814. Issue 9236, p. 2.</ref>

In 1813 the EIC had lost its monopoly on the trade between India and Britain. British ships were then free to sail to India or the Indian Ocean under a licence from the EIC.{{sfnp|Hackman|2001|p=247}} ''Indispensable'''s owners applied for a licence on 9 August 1814 to trade or whale in the East Indies; they received it on 15 August.{{sfnp|House of Commons|1816}}

''Indispensable'' sailed again on 23 July.<ref name=bswf>[https://whalinghistory.org/bv/voyages/ British Southern Whale Fishery voyages: ''Indispensible''.]</ref> In December 1814 ''Indispensable'' and ''Asp'', John Kenny, master, rescued [[Charles Barnard (castaway)|Charles H. Barnard]], the former master of ''Nanina'', and four others, two from ''Isabella''. Barnard had rescued the crew of ''Isabella'' in April 1813, only to have them take over his ship and leave him and the four men stranded on [[New Island]].{{sfnp|Headland|1989|p=104}} ''Indispensible'' returned on 2 May 1816.<ref name=bswf/>

Captain Peter Kemp sailed ''Indispensible'' in 1816. She returned on 14 May 1817.<ref name=bswf/>

On 19 June 1817 Kemp sailed for [[South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands|South Georgia]]. He returned on 7 April 1818 with 500 casks of whale oil.<ref name=bswf/>

Captain George Brown sailed ''Indispensible'' from Britain on 17 May 1818, again with destination South Georgia. She was reported to have been there on 3 February 1819.<ref name=bswf/> Also there were ''Ann'', Dowell, master, {{ship||Grand Sachem |1801 ship|2}}, Littlejohn, master, ''Arab'', Barclay, master, and ''Mary Ann'', Todrig, master.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Marine List |work=Lloyd's List |issue=5382 |date=30 April 1819 |hdl=2027/hvd.32044050816529?urlappend=%3Bseq=146 }}</ref> ''Indispensable'' returned to Britain on 25 May 1819 with 260 casks of whale oil and 385 seal skins.<ref name=bswf/>

Brown and ''Indispensible'' sailed again on 28 June 1819. She was reported to have been towards the Cape of Good Hope on 22 August, later at South Georgia with 22 tuns of whale oil. She returned to Britain on 16 March 1821 with 300 casks of whale oil and 736 seal skins.<ref name=bswf/>

Brown and ''Indispensible'' left Britain on 18 July 1821. She was reported to have been on the coast of Peru by 30 August, and at Honolulu on 30 March 1823.<ref name=bswf/> At some point William Tolley Brooks replaced Brown as master.<ref>[http://www.britishwhaling.org/uploads/1/0/9/5/109542063/masters_in_the_bswf_december_2017.pdf British Southern Whale Fisheries: Masters.]</ref> She returned to Britain on 29 April 1824 with 600 casks of whale oil.<ref name=bswf/>

Captain Fenton left Britain on 6 July 1824. ''Indispensible'' was at Madeira on 24 July, bound for the South Seas. By 9 January 1825 she was off the coast of Peru with 400 barrels of [[sperm oil]]. In March she had 510 barrels, but the crew was suffering from scurvy. She was at [[Oahu|Woahu]] on 7 July 1826. She was on 7 September 1827 to have been at [[Saint Helena|St Helena]].<ref name=bswf/> On 13 September 1827, Captain Fenton brought ''Indispensable'' into Dover from the South Seas.<ref>''The Oriental Herald and Colonial Review''(1824-29: London, Richardson), p.191.</ref> She arrived at London on 21 September.<ref name=bswf/>

==Fate==
''Indispensable{{'}}''s registration was cancelled on 26 April 1830, after she had been broken up.{{sfnp|Hackman|2001|p=132}}

===''Lloyd's Register''===
''Indispensable'' appears in ''Lloyd's Register'' in 1806 with C. Gardner as master, Bennett as owner, and trade as London and South Seas Fisheries. That entry remains unchanged through 1811, though other evidence indicates that the actual master changed. The last entry is for 1826, by which time ''Indispensable'' was 37 years old. Her owner from 1799 to 1826 was Bennett & Co., who also had purchased from private owners in 1824 the former {{sclass|Cruizer|brig-sloop}} {{HMS|Eclipse|1807|6}}, and then employed her too in the South Seas fisheries.

{| class="sortable wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Master
! Owner
! Trade
! Notes
|-
| 1812
| C. Gardner
| Bennett & Co.
| London & South Seas
|
|-
| 1813
| C. Gardner
| Bennett & Co.
| London & South Seas
|
|-
| 1814
| Buckle?
| Bennett & Co.
| London & South Seas
| Entry in Supplement
|-
| 1815
| Buckle
| Bennett & Co.
| London & South Seas
|
|-
| 1816
| Buckle <br>Kemp
| Bennett & Co.
| London & South Seas
|
|-
| 1817
|
|
|
| Not published
|-
| 1818
| Kemp
| Bennett & Co.
| London & South Seas
|
|-
| 1819
| J. Brown
| Bennett & Co.
| London & South Seas
|
|-
| 1820
| J. Brown
| Bennett & Co.
| London & South Seas
|
|-
| 1821
| J. Brown
| Bennett & Co.
| London & South Seas
|
|-
| 1822
| J. Brown
| Bennett & Co.
| London & South Seas
|
|-
| 1823
| J. Brown
| Bennett & Co.
| London & South Seas
|
|-
| 1824
| J. Brown; replaced by Fenton
| Bennett & Co.
| London & South Seas
|
|-
| 1825
| Fenton
| Bennett & Co.
| London & South Seas
|
|-
| 1826
| Fenton
| Bennett & Co.
| London & South Seas
|
|-
| 1827
|
|
|
| No entry
|-
|}

The last entry for ''Indispensable'' in the ''Register of Shipping'' was in 1827 and it had the same information as the entry for 1826 in ''Lloyd's Register''.

==Fate==
''Indispensable'' was finally broken up on 26 April 1830.{{sfnp|Stanbury|Henderson|Derrien|Bigourdan|2015|loc=App.7}}

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Bateson |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Bateson |year=1959 |title=The Convict Ships |publisher=Brown, Son & Ferguson |oclc=3778075}}
* {{cite book |last=Clayton |first=J. M. |year=2014 |title=Ships employed in the South Sea Whale Fishery from Britain: 1775-1815: An alphabetical list of ships |publisher=Jane M. Clayton |url={{GBUrl|tzMzAwAAQBAJ}} |isbn=978-1-908-61652-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Findlay |first=Alexander George |year=1877 |title=A Directory for the Navigation of the South Pacific Ocean: With Descriptions of Its Coasts, Islands, Etc., from the Strait of Magalhaens to Panama, and Those of New Zealand, Australia, Etc., Its Winds, Currents, and Passages |publisher=R. H. Laurie}}
* {{cite book |last=Hackman |first=Rowan |year=2001 |title=Ships of the East India Company |location=Gravesend, Kent |publisher=World Ship Society |isbn=0-905-61796-7}}
* {{cite book |last=Headland |first=R. K. |year=1989 |title=Chronological List of Antarctic Expeditions and Related Historical Events |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-30903-5}}
* {{cite book |last=((House of Commons, Parliament, Great Britain))|year=1816 |title=Parliamentary Papers |volume=10 |ref={{sfnref|House of Commons|1816}}}}
* {{cite book |last=Jamieson |first=Alan G. |year=1986 |title=A People of the sea: the maritime history of the Channel Islands |publisher=Methuen |isbn=978-0-416-40540-8}}
* {{cite book |last=O'Hara |year=1818 |title=The History of New South Wales |publisher=J. Hatchard}}
* {{cite book|last=Sarre |first=John W. |editor-last=Howell |editor-first=Alan |year=2007 |title=Guernsey sailing ships, 1786–1936 |publisher=Guernsey Museum monograph series |volume=8}}
* {{cite book |last1=Stanbury |first1=Myra |last2=Henderson |first2=Kandy-Jane |last3=Derrien |first3=Bernard |last4=Bigourdan |first4=Nicolas |last5=Le Touze |first5=Evelyne |year=2015 |chapter=Chapter 18: Epilogue |editor-last=Stanbury |editor-first=Myra |title=The Mermaid Atoll Shipwreck: A Mysterious Early 19th-century Loss |location=Fremantle, WA |publisher=Australian National Centre of Excellence for Maritime Archaeology and the Australasian Institute for Maritime Archaeology |pages=235–290 |url=https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=829245882825003;res=IELENG |isbn=978-1-876-46509-4}}
{{refend}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Indispensable (1791)}}
[[Category:1791 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Bordeaux]]
[[Category:Convict ships to New South Wales]]
[[Category:Ships of the British East India Company]]
[[Category:Whaling ships]]
[[Category:Sealing ships]]
[[Category:Age of Sail merchant ships]]
[[Category:Merchant ships of the United Kingdom]]

Indispensable (1791 ship) - Revision history

SusannahParish: Adding Initial Page W/ Infobox - done