She was built on the River Thames for Mathews and Co in 1784.
Launched under the name CHARLOTTE, named after Queen Charlotte, wife of King George.
Tonnage 384 ton (bm). Dim. 32 x 8.6 m., height between decks 1.98m. Loaded draught 16ft.
Two decks, three masts.
Armed with 6 guns.
Apparently without figurehead or galleries, square sterned.
Barque built, later given as a ship.
She was one of the ships in the First Fleet to Botany Bay.
The CHARLOTTE original been built as a cargo vessel.
1785 Copper sheated.
She appears for the first time In Lloyds Register in 1786 when is given that she was employed in the London to Antigua run under command of Capt. J.Sanderson.
Later that year used from London to Stettin, Germany under command of Capt J. Sandrin, the same year the command was transferred to Capt. Thomas Gilbert.
15 November 1786 chartered by the British Admiralty as a transport for the First Fleet to Australia for a charter hire of 12 shilling per ton a month.
24 December 1786 chartered by the British East India company for her return voyage.
13 May 1787 she sailed from Portsmouth under command of Capt. Gilbert, and John White as surgeon, together with the other ships of the First Fleet, with on board 88 male convicts and 20 female convicts.
She was a slow sailer and the first week she had to be towed by a naval escort.
Before the fleet arrived at Tenerife the CHARLOTTE had 15 men sick of which two died.
At Cape Town some female convicts were transferred from the FRIENDSHIP to the CHARLOTTE.
20 January 1788 arrived at Botany Bay.
After embarking of her convicts, together with the SCARBOROUGH sailed out again on 06 May 1788 from Port Jackson bound for China to load a cargo of tea. The surgeon stayed behind at Port Jackson.
17 June Gilbert sighted Tarawa Apemama, the first of the islands chain that until 1979, bore Gilbert’s name.
They sighted and named three groups of islands: beside Gilberts, there were the Marshalls and Knoxs.
Capt Gilbert had given orders to the crew to paint the sides of the hull of the CHARLOTTE bright red, having heard “ that color as most pleasing to the natives of these climates.”
Proceeding on a northerly course, the two ships entered the Radak Chain (Marshall Islands), sighted Milian on 25 June, the Arno, Majuro, Aur, Maloelap, Wotje and finally passing Utirik before altering the course to China.
Gilbert reported that the crew suffered from scurvy, both ships reached Macao on 09 September 1788, where they loaded a cargo of tea.
05 June 1789 the CHARLOTTE arrived at Gravesend, 28 July 1789 was she handed back to her owners.
With the publication of Capt. Marshall’s of the SCARBOROUGH of the account of the voyage in 1789, the new discovered island became known on British charts as the Marshall Islands.
Soon after discharging the CHARLOTTE was sold to Bond & Co., a firm of Walbrook merchants, who employed her on the London to Jamaica trade under command of Capt. B.Howes.
Sometimes between 1792 and 1793 the command of the vessel was transferred to Capt. D.Kent, who retained command until 1806.
1797 The CHARLOTTE underwent small repairs.
1798 Sold by Mr. Rutherford, who kept Capt. Kent.
The same time she is given as armed with 2 – 3pdr. guns, and still in the London to Jamaica run.
1799 Overhauled she got a new deck and her underwater hull was repaired, her armament reduced to 1 – 3pdr.
1803 Her armament increased to 6 – 6pdr. guns.
1804 Underwent repairs, was given new wales and topsides, and was re-sheated with copper.
1806 Sold to Mr. Fletcher, and used as a London based transport ship, under command of Capt. R. Allison (or Ellison), and her armament increased to 8 – 18pdr guns.
Bateson in his book the Convict Ships that the CHARLOTTE was sold to the Quebec merchant John Jones, and her registry transferred to Quebec in 1810, and that she was eventually lost of New Foundland in November 1818.
Consultation of the Lloyds Register shows that this is not the case.
Rather in 1811 further repairs were required, with new topside and generally good repairs.
The last entry for the CHARLOTTE occurs in the Lloyds register for 1823, twenty-nine years after it was built.
The fate of the vessel, whether it was broken up or lost at sea cannot be ascertained at present.
With the exception of small, vignette-like sketches in Gilberts account, no historic picture of the vessel exist.
See also: http://www.shipstamps.co.uk/forum/viewt ... =2&t=10907
On Kiribati 1990 $2 sg MS347, scott 561.
On Marshall Islands 1988 25c sg 186.
Source: CD-Rom ships on stamps. http://marshall.csu.edu.au/Marshalls/ht ... lotte.html