Australian Colonial Whaling Ship Voyages
This Australian Colonial Whaling Ship Voyages database lists the voyages made in the nineteenth century by the whaling vessels that were owned, registered or based in Australian ports. A few British whalers are also included, some due to the fact they were temporarily based in an Australian port and others because they were owned, or part-owned, by Australian residents although registered and based in Britain.
The database was built from six lists compiled by Mark Howard—The voyages; The fleet; The owners; The captains; The crewmen; and Where the Australian whalers went.
Vessels, masters and voyages may be searched in the site search (top of every page or from the Search page) or in the Australian voyages data viewer. Crewmen, Owners and Reports can be searched in the site search.
Cargo abbreviations
Abbreviations used in the Cargo column when displaying Australian voyages.| Abbreviation | Definition |
|---|---|
| amb | ambergris |
| b | barrel |
| bh | bowhead whale oil |
| bl | black oil, usually from the southern right whale |
| blf | blackfish oil |
| bu | bundles |
| c | circa or about |
| clean | no whale oil or baleen aboard |
| cn | coconut oil |
| cp | copra |
| cwt | hundredweight (50.80 kg) |
| eso | elephant seal oil |
| g | gallon |
| gu | guano |
| hb | humpback whale oil |
| hm | head matter or spermaceti |
| lb | pound weight (.45 kg) |
| o | oil |
| ss | seal skins |
| sp | sperm whale oil |
| sw | sandalwood |
| t | tun or ton |
| ts | tortoiseshell |
| wb | whalebone or baleen |
| @ | may be more |