Scoresby's first command came in 1791 when he took over from Captain Chrispin Bean of the ship the 'Henrietta'. Its was a bad first season for the Whale Fishery, 4 out of 7 ships came home with empty holds, one ship was lost and the 2 remaining ships came home with 1 'fish' each.
After this Scoresby took full control of 'Henrietta' selecting the whole crew and came home from the second voyage with 18 whales. This was a record catch for the Whitby ship and Scoresby was fast becoming the most successful of Whitby's whaling captains.
