Diana was a whaling ship built in 1840, in Bremen, Germany. She sailed out of Hull, England

Kingston upon Hull

Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...

. In 1858 a steam engine was installed, making her the first steam-powered whaler to sail from Hull (Tay from Dundee

Dundee

Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...

 was the first ever, a year earlier).

Trapped in the ice

In 1866, while on a whaling

Whaling

Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...

 expedition in Baffin Bay

Baffin Bay

Baffin Bay , located between Baffin Island and the southwest coast of Greenland, is a marginal sea of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is connected to the Atlantic via Davis Strait and the Labrador Sea...

, Diana became frozen in the ice, where it was trapped for over six months. The ship's captain, 64 year old John Gravill, and many of the crew died. The diary of the deeply devout ship's doctor, Charles Edward Smith, was published in the book From the Deep of the Sea. (ISBN 0-87021-932-4) There is a memorial fountain to Dianas return from the ice in the city of Lerwick

Lerwick

Lerwick is the capital and main port of the Shetland Islands, Scotland, located more than 100 miles off the north coast of mainland Scotland on the east coast of the Shetland Mainland...

 in the Shetland Islands

Shetland Islands

Shetland is a subarctic archipelago of Scotland that lies north and east of mainland Great Britain. The islands lie some to the northeast of Orkney and southeast of the Faroe Islands and form part of the division between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east. The total...

, as much of the crew was from there. Charles Smith's services and heroism were recognised by the award of a set of surgical instruments from the Board of Trade. Captain Gravill's body was taken back to Hull, and his funeral was attended by an estimated fifteen thousand people.

Fate

In 1869, while making her way back from the Davis Strait

Davis Strait

Davis Strait is a northern arm of the Labrador Sea. It lies between mid-western Greenland and Nunavut, Canada's Baffin Island. The strait was named for the English explorer John Davis , who explored the area while seeking a Northwest Passage....

, Diana encountered a strong gale, and was washed into the Donna Nook

Donna Nook

Donna Nook is a bombing range on the coast of Lincolnshire, England, north of the village of North Somercotes. The area is salt marsh, and is used by a number of Royal Air Force bases in Lincolnshire for bombing practice. The site was also made available to commercial organisations such as BMARC...

 sands, on the Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

 coast, and broke up. Diana was the last whaling ship from the port of Hull. Her loss ended the whaling industry of the city.

Captains

This is a partial list of Captains

Captain (nautical)

A sea captain is a licensed mariner in ultimate command of the vessel. The captain is responsible for its safe and efficient operation, including cargo operations, navigation, crew management and ensuring that the vessel complies with local and international laws, as well as company and flag...

of Diana:

• John Gravill Sr. (1856–57, 1861, 1865-1867 [died on board])
• George Clarke (14 Feb 1867 - 16 April 1867) (Elected Captain after the death of John Graville whilst the ship beset in the ice)
• John Gravill Jr. (1858–60)
• Robert Day (16 April 1867-Loss)