Unity (ship)
Encyclopedia
The Unity was a ship that went missing in 1813 off the coast of Tasmania
, Australia
.
The Unity was a schooner
and was moored in Hobart
when on the night of 24 April 1813, between 11pm and midnight, a gang of seven armed convicts boarded the ship. They seized the crew and the ship's owner, William Hobart Mansel, a merchant from Sydney, and held them captive as they sailed the ship down the Derwent River
. Off Cape Frederick they released their captives - Mansel, the captain and three seamen, and set them adrift in the ship's boat. Mansel and the crew navigated their way back to Hobart. The Unity was never heard from again. with a special inquiry hearing on 3 May 1820 in front of Special Commissioner J.T. Bigg, that the ship had not been seen at any port, anywhere. The ship was presumed lost.
Of the seven convicts, five had arrived on the Indefatigable and two in the Guilford in 1812.
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
The Unity was a schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
and was moored in Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
when on the night of 24 April 1813, between 11pm and midnight, a gang of seven armed convicts boarded the ship. They seized the crew and the ship's owner, William Hobart Mansel, a merchant from Sydney, and held them captive as they sailed the ship down the Derwent River
Derwent River (Tasmania)
The Derwent is a river in Tasmania, Australia. It was named after the River Derwent, Cumbria by British Commodore John Hayes who explored it in 1793. The name is Brythonic Celtic for "valley thick with oaks"....
. Off Cape Frederick they released their captives - Mansel, the captain and three seamen, and set them adrift in the ship's boat. Mansel and the crew navigated their way back to Hobart. The Unity was never heard from again. with a special inquiry hearing on 3 May 1820 in front of Special Commissioner J.T. Bigg, that the ship had not been seen at any port, anywhere. The ship was presumed lost.
Of the seven convicts, five had arrived on the Indefatigable and two in the Guilford in 1812.