The Tonquin was a 290-ton American merchant vessel built in 1807 by Adam and Noah Brown in New York City. Originally constructed for the Old China Trade, it was outfitted to carry valuable Chinese goods and had a crew of approximately 24 at its outset, including Captain Edmund Fanning. The ship’s early career included crossing the Atlantic, surviving a typhoon near Macclesfield Bank, and being detained briefly by British authorities before returning to the United States with a cargo of valuable trade items in 1808. In its second voyage, starting in 1808, the Tonquin was repurposed for the sandalwood trade in the Pacific, operating with Captain Reuben Brumley. It traveled from New York through the Atlantic, Indian Ocean, and into the Pacific, visiting Australia, Tonga, Fiji, and Micronesia, where it engaged in exchanging goods and collecting sandalwood under agreements with local chiefs such as Tynahoa. The vessel returned to Guangzhou with a cargo of sandalwood, which it sold in China before returning to New York. In 1810, the vessel was sold to John Jacob Astor’s Pacific Fur Company for $37,860, and was then assigned to the Pacific Fur Company to establish fur trading operations on the North American west coast. Under the command of Lieutenant Jonathan Thorn, the Tonquin departed New York in September 1810, carrying trade goods, building materials, and personnel—including British subjects, Canadian voyageurs, and company partners. The voyage was arduous, with encounters at the Cape Verde Islands, South America, and the Falkland Islands, where tensions arose leading to Thorn ordering the ship to return for a stranded crew member. The Tonquin arrived in Hawaii in February 1811, where negotiations with Kamehameha I took place, and some crew members deserted. It then proceeded to the Columbia River, facing deadly attempts to find a safe passage over the treacherous Columbia Bar, resulting in the deaths of eight men. The ship established Fort Astoria in March 1811, but its final and most notorious event occurred in June 1811 at Clayoquot Sound, Vancouver Island. Following a dispute with the Tla-o-qui-aht people over fur trading terms, the crew was attacked; most were killed, and the ship was destroyed by an explosion set off by crew member James Lewis, possibly killing over 100 natives. The sole survivor, Joseachal, provided the only detailed account of the ship’s destruction. The Tonquin’s wreck and its dramatic history remain significant in maritime exploration and the early fur trade in the Pacific Northwest.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.