Britannia (1772 ship)

History
Great Britain
NameBritannia
Owner
  • 1776:Graham & Co.
  • 1786:Simpson & Co.
  • 1798:Hill
  • 1810:Raines & Co.
Builder1772, or 1773 South Carolina
Captured1798, and recaptured
FateLast listed in 1816
General characteristics
Tons burthen320, 296, (bm)
PropulsionSails
Sail planBrig
Complement
  • 1800:20
  • 1804:15
Armament
  • 1778:14 × 4-pounder guns
  • 1783:12 × 4-pounder guns
  • 1795:6 × 3-pounder guns
  • 1798:6 × 3-pounder guns + 6 × 12-pounder guns ("of the New Construction"; NC)
  • 1800:2 × 9-pounder + 6 × 12-pounder guns (NC)
  • 1800:12 × 12-pounder guns + 4 swivel guns
  • 1804:8 × 12-pounder guns + 12 swivel guns
  • 1805:2 × 9-pounder guns + 8 × 9-pounder carronades
  • 1815:8 × 18-pounder carronades
NotesBuilt of live oak. Later described as having pine sides. Between the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars she was unarmed.

Britannia was built in South Carolina (probably Charleston) in 1772. Prior to 1798, Britannia sailed between London and South Carolina, or simply served as a transport. In 1798 she changed ownership and began a sequence of whaling voyages. Between 1798 and 1807 she made a number of whaling voyages to the South Seas whale fishery, and the coast of South Africa. On one of those voyages a French privateer captured her, but Britannia was recaptured almost immediately. Between 1808 and 1816, the last year in which she is listed, she returned to operating as a London-based transport.

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