Diana (1840 ship)

For other ships with the same name, see Diana (ship).

Diana was a whaling ship built in 1840, in Bremen, Germany. She sailed out of Hull, England. In 1858 a steam engine was installed, making her the first steam-powered whaler to sail from Hull (Tay from Dundee was the first ever, a year earlier). Records held in Kingston upon Hull, claimed that the steam engine was installed in Diana in 1857, and, according to Dundee websites, in Tay in 1859.

Whaling ships Diana and Anne in the Arctic. Painting by James H. Wheldon
History
United Kingdom
Name	Diana
Builder	Bremen, Germany
Launched	1840
Out of service	20 October 1869
Homeport	Hull
Fate	Grounded on the Lincolnshire coast while returning home in 1869
Notes	Most famous for its disastrous 1866-7 expedition when it was trapped in ice off Greenland for many months, resulting in the death of 13 of its crew before its eventual return.
General characteristics
Type	Whaler
Displacement	355 long tons (361 t)
Length	117 ft (36 m)
Beam	29 ft (8.8 m)
Draught	17 ft 6 in (5.33 m)
Propulsion	Steam Engine, 40 hp (30 kW)
Sail plan	Barque
Range	Limited by water and provisions
Complement	51

Trapped in the ice

The Diana nipped in the ice, on 2 December 1866, and abandoned for a time, taken from the diary of the voyage by the ship's doctor; Charles E. Smith

Memorial to the rescue of the Whaler "Diana" at Victoria Pier, Lerwick, Shetland Islands

In 1866, while on a whaling expedition in Baffin Bay, Diana became frozen in the ice, where it was trapped for over six months. The ship's captain, 64-year-old^[1] John Gravill, and many of the crew died. The diary of the ship's doctor, Charles Edward Smith, was published in the book From the Deep of the Sea. (ISBN 0-87021-932-4). After the death of the Gravill, the ice-master George Clarke takes command of the ship and William Lofley navigates the Diana to Lerwick.^[2] There is a memorial fountain to Diana's return from the ice in the town of Lerwick in the Shetland Islands, as many of the crew originated from the islands and all the deceased except the captain were buried there.^[3] Charles Smith's services and heroism were recognised by the award of a set of surgical instruments from the Board of Trade.^[4] Captain Gravill's body was taken back to Hull, and his funeral was attended by an estimated fifteen thousand people.^[5]

Fate

On 20 October 1869, while making her way back from the Davis Strait, Diana encountered a strong gale, and was washed into the Donna Nook sands, on the Lincolnshire coast, and broke up. Her crew were rescued by the lifeboat North Briton.^[6] Diana was the last whaling ship from the port of Hull.^[7] Her loss ended the whaling industry of the city.

Captains

This is a partial list of Captains of Diana:

• John Gravill Sr. (1856–57, 1861, 1865-1867 [died on board])
• George Clarke (14 February 1867 – 16 April 1867) (Elected Captain after the death of John Graville whilst the ship beset in the ice)^[8]
• John Gravill Jr. (1858–60)
• William Wells (1863)
• Robert Day (16 April 1867-Loss)^[9]

See also

• Whaling in the United Kingdom

References

1. "Memorial: M627, Spring Bank Cemetery, Kington-upon-Hull, England". Graville.co.uk. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
2. In 1880, William Lofley joins Benjamin Leigh Smith as ice-master on the Eira and is later trapped in Franz Josef Land for another winter when the Eira is pinched in the ice and sinks.
3. Pottinger, James A (April 2000). "The Voyage of the Diana". Shetland Life. The Shetland Times Ltd. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
4. From the Deep of the Sea, Naval Institute Press (1977), page 271.
5. From the Deep of the Sea, Naval Institute Press (1977), page 272.
6. "Ship News". The Times. No. 26574. London. 21 October 1869. col B, p. 9.
7. "The Late Gales". The Times. No. 26575. London. 22 October 1869. col C, p. 10.
8. From the Deep of the Sea, Naval Institute Press (1977), page 187.
9. From the Deep of the Sea, Naval Institute Press (1977), page 268.

External links

• Media related to Diana (ship, 1840) at Wikimedia Commons
• Hullwebs History of Hull