Shipping:
Pegasus
Pegasus
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Pegasus
Era: 1809
Captains: Samuel Chase/Chace
Names Associated: Eber Bunker, William Stewart
Her Legacy: Port Pegasus, Pegasus Bay,
Captains: Samuel Chase/Chace
Names Associated: Eber Bunker, William Stewart
Her Legacy: Port Pegasus, Pegasus Bay,
In 1809 the sealing ship Pegasus left Sydney bound for the southern coast of New Zealand where her Captain Samuel Chase and first officer William Stewart charted the recently discovered Foveaux Strait, and where today we find Stewart Island and Port Pegasus.
Although enroute to England, they spent some time in the south before heading north with the intention of sailing between Bank's Island and the mainland. There they discovered Cook's geographical oversight before rounding the peninsula and becoming the first ship known European ship to enter Whakaraupo, or Lyttelton Harbour.
Today the large bay off the coast of Canterbury on the South Island’s east coast bears the name Pegasus Bay, named for the vessel while she was in these waters. A satellite town named Pegasus is being built on the coast north of Christchurch today.
Eb Bunker may also have visited New Zealand in Pegasus about this time. Eber Bunker was the first European whaleship captain to anchor in New Zealand waters when he visited Doubtless Bay in William and Ann in 1792.
Above: Pegasus Bay, New Zealand.