Isabella first appeared in ''
Lloyd's Register (LR'') in 1813.
Discovery expedition (1818-1819): The ''Lloyd's Register
data does not recognize that the Admiralty hired Isabella
in 1817 for a discovery expedition in 1818. She sailed with another hired vessel, . The two vessels was under the command of Commander John Ross, who was sailing in Isabella'', and their task was to explore Baffin Bay. They accompanied the Davis Strait whalers. Of
Isabellas crew of 54 men, four officers were clearly from the navy, as were her six marines. The other officers and men were probably civilians, as were Benjamin Lewis (the master and Greenland pilot), and Thomas Wilcox (the mate and also a Greenland pilot). (Generally when the navy
hired a vessel, it would put a naval officer in command, but keep on the master and crew.) There were also three supernumeraries — Captain Sabine and a sergeant from the Royal Artillery (Sabine being the scientific observer), and the Eskimo Sacheous, who was being repatriated. The expedition left the Thames on 18 April 1818 and arrived at Lerwik on 30 April. By 1 June it was on the eastern side of
Davis Strait. The expedition followed the coast of
Baffin Bay without making any new discoveries. On 24 June the expedition was at when it became trapped in ice, and
Alexandria grounded. The expedition only got free with the assistance of four nearby whalers. In late July Ross named Melville Bay and Melville Monument for Viscount Melville, who had given Ross his first commission. In mid-November
Isabella and
Alexander were reported to have arrived in
Brassa Sound, Lerwick. Neither had lost any crew nor had any ill. The expedition did not find any passage to north west, but it did result in whalers knowing that they could work their way out of Davis Strait along the west side, and that there were whales in the fjords and inlets along the way. On 6 January 1820
Isabella, Brady, master, was driven ashore at
Spurn Point. A
lifeboat rescued the crew, but it was feared that she would be wrecked. She was on a voyage from
Miramichi Bay to
Hull, Yorkshire.
Isabella was later refloated and taken in to Hull. On 16 July
Isabella, Todd, master, was sailing from Hull to Quebec when she ran ashore on a reef of rocks near Lopness. She was gotten off with apparently trifling damage and proceeded on her voyage. ==Whaler==