The Derwent Hunter
The Derwent Hunter became famous as a Hobart whale ship. She was formerly the North America, built in the United States in 1810. She arrived in Hobart in 1859 under the command of Captain Shepnell. The Derwent Hunter had come into Hobart for repairs, after which she sailed to the seas of Okhtosk to hunt whales there in 1859. The voyage was not so successful and the North America came down to the New Zealand coast. Working to the westward in the Tasman Sea she took a whale which yielded 80 barrels, a large whale. Shortly afterwards three boats lowered for another whale. This whale proved to be a fighter and Shepnell's boat was stove in and one of the crew got a broken leg. The whale was eventually captured and brought alonside the whaling boat. The heavy wind became a gale and the whale was lost.
The increasing gale cause a great deal of anxiety for the whalers. At 1 p.m. a sea broke on board and did a lot of damage, taking away two boats and part of the bulwarks and stanchions. A new main yard lying on the deck was broken. Two casks of fat lashed on deck broke loose and played havoc with the deck fittings. The ship was labouring so heavily that it was found necessary to jettison over 80 barrels of oil. The North America made for Hobart for repairs.
In 1861 the North America was offered for sale by Brown and Co. but at first found no buyer, although her whaling gear, stores and boats were sold. Eventually Alex McGregor bought her and John McGregor carried out the repairs needed to make her seaworthy. She sailed again under the name Derwent Hunter, fitted as a merchant ship for Sydney, commanded by Captain Bayley. During the next year she was trading between Sydney and New Zealand. In 1863, with Captain G.M. Evans in command, the Derwent Hunter loaded 100 cattle and four horses for New Zealand and on the voyage lost 60 head through stormy weather. The Maori Wars was in its first stages and the barque was chartered to take volunteers to Taranaki with Captain Bayley again in commmand. When she was near Stewart Island on her return voyage she missed stays and went ashore in Half Moon Bay and was only got off after twenty tons of cargo had been jettisonned.
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