HMS Porpoise (1804)
Former Mercantile Quarter decked Sloop Lord Melville (Store ship) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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HMS Porpoise was the former mercantile quarter-decked sloop Lord Melville, which the Royal Navy purchased in 1804 to use as a store-ship.
History | |
---|---|
United Kingdom | |
Name | Lord Melville |
Builder | Temple shipbuilders, South Shields |
Launched | 1804 |
Fate | Sold 1804 |
United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Porpoise |
Acquired | By purchase c. September 1804 |
Fate | Sold 1816 |
United Kingdom | |
Name | Lord Melville |
Owner | J.R. Bell & Co.[1] |
Acquired | 1816 by purchase |
Fate | Last listed in 1820 |
General characteristics [2] | |
Type | Brig |
Tons burthen | 399, or 400,[3] or 412[4] (bm) |
Length |
|
Beam | 30 ft 10 in (9.4 m) |
Depth of hold | 13 ft 0 in (4.0 m) |
Complement | 70 |
Armament |
|
She sailed to the colony of New South Wales in January 1806, arriving seven months later. She was the flagship of William Bligh when he was governor of New South Wales and played a prominent role in the Rum Rebellion. In May 1810 Porpoise sailed from Sydney; after arriving in Britain she underwent a major refit. After voyages to the West Indies, the Cape of Good Hope and North America she served as a harbour ship at Woolwich and Sheerness. She was laid up in 1814 and sold in January 1816.
She then returned to mercantile service under her original name and made one voyage transporting convicts to New South Wales, and a second to Van Diemen's Land. She was last listed in 1820.