View source for John Williams (ship)

{{Short description|Ship owned by the London Missionary Society 1844–1864}}
{{Other ships|List of ships named John Williams}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2017}}
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|Ship image=John Williams in 1845 (missionary ship, 1844) PY0584 (cropped).jpg
|Ship caption=''John Williams'' in 1845
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|Ship name=''John Williams''
|Ship namesake=The [[missionary]] [[John Williams (missionary)|John Williams]]
|Ship owner=[[London Missionary Society]]
|Ship operator=London Missionary Society
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|Ship original cost=6200 [[Pound sterling|pounds]]
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|Ship launched=[[Harwich]], 20 March 1844
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|Ship fate=Wrecked in May 1864, [[Pukapuka]], Cook Islands
|Ship notes=10 state rooms
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|Ship tonnage=296 [[ton]]s
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|Ship length={{convert|103|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|24|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship hold depth={{convert|16|ft|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship crew=27
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'''''John Williams''''' was a [[missionary]] ship under the command of Captain [[Robert Clark Morgan]] (1798–1864) and owned by the [[London Missionary Society]] (LMS). She was named after [[John Williams (missionary)|John Williams]] (1796–1839), a missionary who had been active in the [[Oceania|South Pacific]].<ref name="nla1">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article30634963 |title=TOTAL WRECK OF THE JOHN WILLIAMS, MISSIONARY BARQUE. |newspaper=[[The Queanbeyan Age|Queanbeyan Age and General Advertiser (NSW : 1860 - 1867)]] |location=NSW |date=11 August 1864 |access-date=1 January 2016 |page=2 Edition: EVENING |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

She was paid for by the contribution of English school children.<ref>{{cite web |title=Missionary Ships |url=https://www.shippingwondersoftheworld.com/missionrary-ships.html |website=shippingwondersoftheworld |access-date=24 March 2019}}</ref>

She sank in 50 fathoms after drifting onto a reef at Danger Island ([[Pukapuka]]) on 16 May 1864. The passengers and crew were rescued.<ref name="nla1"/>

Six more ''John Williams'' ships successively operated in the Pacific as part of the LMS's missionary work, the last, ''John Williams VII'', being built in 1962 and decommissioned in 1968.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://from.ph/240492 |title=H4686 Ship model, SS "John Williams IV", London Missionary Society steamer |author=Powerhouse Museum |publisher=Powerhouse Museum, Australia |access-date=2 July 2015}}</ref>

==General specifications==
''John Williams'' was launched at [[Harwich]] on 20 March 1844.

She was of 296 [[ton]]s and had a length of {{convert|103|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} and beam of {{convert|24|ft|8|in|m|abbr=off|sp=us}}. The depth of her hold was {{convert|16|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}}. She had 10 state rooms.

A medal was issued commemorating her first three-year voyage and an example of this is held at the Royal Museum of Greenwich.<ref>{{cite web|title=Commemorative medal depicting the 'John Williams' Missionary ship|url=http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/40371.html|website=National Maritime Museum at Greenwich}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* Prout, Ebenezer (1865). ''Missionary ships connected with the London Missionary Society''.

{{1864 shipwrecks}}

[[Category:Victorian-era ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean]]
[[Category:Ships built in Harwich]]
[[Category:1844 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in May 1864]]
[[Category:Missionary ships]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the Cook Islands]]


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