Ganges (whaler)

The "Ganges" was a whaleship from Nantucket, Massachusetts operating in the Pacific Ocean during the mid-nineteenth century. It was probably the vessel reported to have found Gardner Island in the Phoenix group. Although Barzillai Folger, the master of the ship during its voyage of 1835-39, is sometimes credited with being the first to discover the right whales of the Northwest coast, he was preceded by the Frenchman Narcisse Chaudiere in the "Gange". Chaudiere cruised on this ground during the summer of 1835, while Folger didn’t leave port until October 26 of the same year. [ Webb 1988, pp. 35-40 ]

Discovery of Gardner Island

Capt. Joshua Gardner, reportedly on board the whaler "Ganges", discovered an island in 1825, located at 4°20' S, 174°22' W, and named it "Gardner's Island". His discovery was reported in the "Nantucket Enquirer", December 1827. [Dunmore, p 115] However, contemporary Joshua Coffin (also reportedly on the "Ganges") is sometimes credited with the discovery, naming the island after his ship's owner, Gideon Gardner. [Stackpole, p]

Masters

* c. 1835: Barzillai T. Folger [http://mysite.du.edu/~ttyler/ploughboy/starbuck.htm Starbuck:History of American Whaling] ]
* c. 1857: John B Nicholson [ [http://mariners.records.nsw.gov.au/1857/02/041gan.htm Australian Mariners' Records] ]

Notes

References

* Dunmore, John (1992); "Who's Who in Pacific Navigation", Australia:Melbourne University Press, ISBN 052284488X
* Mawer, Granville Allen; "Ahab's Trade: The Saga of South Seas Whaling"
* Stackpole, Edouard A.; "The Sea Hunters: The New England Whalemen During Two Centuries, 1635-1835"