Butterworth Squadron
British commercial ships (1780s–1790s)
Why this is trending
Interest in “Butterworth Squadron” spiked on Wikipedia on 2026-07-18.
Categorised under Geography & Places, this article fits a familiar pattern. wt.cat.geography.2
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Key Takeaways
- The Butterworth Squadron was a British commercial group of three vessels, Butterworth , Jackal , and Prince Lee Boo , that sailed for the Pacific Ocean from London via Cape Horn in late 1791.
- The leader of the expedition was Captain William Brown, an established whaling captain from the Greenland whale fishery.
- Bacstrom produced a number of drawings during the first part of the voyage, some of which are still in existence.
- Butterworth , Jackal and Prince Lee Boo are often credited with being the first European vessels to enter Honolulu Harbor.
- The role of each of the two sloops, Jackal and Prince Lee Boo , was to act as a ship's tender, to scout ahead in shallower waters, or to go off on errands.
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Source summary
WikipediaThe Butterworth Squadron was a British commercial group of three vessels, Butterworth, Jackal, and Prince Lee Boo, that sailed for the Pacific Ocean from London via Cape Horn in late 1791. The principals financing the expedition were Alderman William Curtis, London ship-owner Theophilus Pritzler, and probably John Perry (shipbuilder), a Blackwall shipbuilder. The leader of the expedition was Captain William Brown, an established whaling captain from the Greenland whale fishery. Sigismund Bacstrom, a naturalist who had previously sailed as a secretary to Joseph Banks, was the surgeon for the expedition. Bacstrom produced a number of drawings during the first part of the voyage, some of which are still in existence.
The expedition is notable for a violent conflict with the Tla-o-qui-aht of Vancouver Island and another reported conflict in Formosa. Butterworth, Jackal and Prince Lee Boo are often credited with being the first European vessels to enter Honolulu Harbor.
Jackal and Prince Lee Boo are also notable for taking part in the Battle of Nuʻuanu between Kalanikūpule and his uncle, Kaʻeokulani, on the island of Oʻahu, for firing the shot that killed John Kendrick aboard Lady Washington, and for participating in an aborted attack on Kamehameha I by Kalanikūpule.
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