Airly Castle (or Airlie Castle, or Airley Castle), was built by William Barnard at Deptford and launched in 1787. She made eight voyages as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1788 and 1808. In 1795 she participated in the capture of seven Dutch East Indiamen near St Helena. After her eight voyages she may have served briefly as a general transport before she was sold for breaking up in 1810. She was not broken up but instead served as a transport for several years.
Captain Charles Stewart sailed from the Downs on 14 April 1788, bound for Bengal and Bencoolen. Airly Castle was at Madeira on 30 April and arrived at Diamond Harbour on 24 August. She sailed for Bencoolen, passing Culpee (an anchorage towards Calcutta, and just below Diamond Harbour), on 2 January 1789. She reached Madras on 13 January, and arrived at Bencoolen on 21 February. She was at Pring, a pepper port some 16 miles northwest of Manna Point, on the west coast of Sumatra Benkulen on 14 March. She returned to Bencoolen on 28 March and on 31 March was at Rat Island, a small island west of Bencoolen. Homeward bound, she reached St Helena on 26 June, and arrived at the Downs on 1 September.[3]
EIC voyage #2 (1791-1793)
Captain Stewart sailed from the Downs on 10 May 1791, bound for Madras and China. Airly Castle reached Madras on 20 September, and arrived at Diamond Harbour on 5 November. On 19 January 1792 she was at Cox's Island. She was at Tellicherry on 4 March and Cannanore on 12 April. She arrived at Bombay on 10 May. She then sailed for China, reaching Malacca on 6 September and arriving at Whampoa Anchorage on 18 October. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 11 December, and arrived at the Downs on 16 June 1793.[3]
The EIC inspected the East Indiamen as they arrived and on 15 October fined Stewart and eight other captains £100 each for having not stowed their cargoes in conformance with the Company's orders. The money was to go to Poplar Hospital.[lower-alpha 1]
EIC voyage #3 (1794-1795)
War with France had commenced on 1 February 1793 and Captain John Gale acquired a letter of marque on 30 November. The British government held her at Portsmouth, together with a number of other Indiamen in anticipation of using them as transports for an attack on Île de France (Mauritius). It gave up the plan and released the vessels in May 1794. It paid £1,500 for having delayed her departure by 72 days.
Airly Castle sailed from Portsmouth on 2 May, bound for Madras and Bengal.[3]Lloyd's List reported on 24 June that Marquis of Lorn, Livingston, master, had come into Lisbon in a much damaged state. She had been sailing from London to Gibraltar when she had run afoul of Airly Castle.[5][lower-alpha 2]
Airly Castle reached the Cape of Good Hope on 28 July, and arrived at Madras on 7 September. She then arrived at Diamond Harbour on 15 October. Homeward bound, she was at Saugor on 30 December, and Madras again on 3 March. She reached St Helena on 24 May. There she found General Goddard and a number of other Indiamen. Captain Gale died at St Helena and his first officer, Samuel Barnard, assumed command.[7][8]
While the Indiamen were at St Helena, the 64-gun third rateHMSSceptre, under the command of Captain William Essington, arrived with a convoy of EIC ships sailing to India and China. She brought the news that France had invaded the Netherlands in January. Furthermore, under an order dated 9 February 1795, Royal Navy vessels and British letters of marque were instructed to detain Dutch vessels and cargoes and bring them into British ports that they might be detained provisionally. Then on 2 June the packet shipSwallow arrived from the Cape of Good Hope with the news than a convoy of Dutch East Indiamen had left the Cape, sailing for the Netherlands. Essington had prevailed upon Colonel Robert Brooke, the governor of St Helena, to lend him some troops and to put the EIC vessels there at the time under his command to form a squadron to try and intercept the Dutch.
In the afternoon of 14 June, Essington's squadron sighted seven sail. The next morning General Goddard, Busbridge, and Asia, boarded the Dutch vessels. There were no casualties on either side. The British then brought their prizes into St Helena on 17 June. On 22 August the returning EIC ships and the prizes, a convoy of some 20 vessels, sailed for Shannon, where most arrived on 13 December. (Three of the Dutch prizes were lost.) Airly Castle arrived at Deptford on 27 October.
Although Airly Castle does not appear to have taken an active part in the capture of the Dutch vessels, she was part of the squadron. As a result, she did share in some of the prize money, as did Manship.[9] Captain Barnard is given as Airly Castle's commander in the prize money notice, suggesting that Gale died before the capture of the Dutch vessels.
EIC voyage #4 (1796-1798)
Captain John Esplin sailed from Portsmouth on 27 June 1796, bound for Madras. Airly Castle reached the Cape on 19 September and arrived at Madras on 9 January 1797. Homeward bound, she was at Tellicherry on 12 April and the Cape on 12 July. She reached St Helena on 11 September, and arrived at Deptford on 2 January 1798.[3]
EIC voyage #5 (1798-1799)
Capt Esplin sailed from Portsmouth on 29 April 1798, bound for China. Airly Castle was at Rio de Janeiro on 6 July. She reached 21 Nov Lintin Island on 21 November, and arrived at Whampoa on 27 November. Homeward bound, she was below the Second Bar on 25 January 1799 and at Malacca on 22 February. She reached St Helena on 17 May and arrived at Woolwich on 29 August.[3]
A fleet of East Indiamen at Sea, by Nicholas Pocock; it is believed to show the Indiamen Lord Hawkesbury, Worcester, Boddam, Fort William, Airly Castle, Lord Duncan, Ocean, Henry Addington, Carnatic, Hope, and Windham returning from China in 1802
EIC voyage #6 (1801-1802)
Captain Alexander Nash acquired a letter of marque on 18 December 1800. He sailed from Portsmouth on 31 March 1801, bound for Bombay. Airly Castle arrived at Bombay on 23 July. Lloyd's List reported on 30 March 1802 that she left Bombay on 15 November bound for Anjengo and Mahé. She was in company with several other Indiamen: Fort William, Worcester, Phoenix, Lord Hawkesbury, and Rockingham.[10] However, Airly Castle sailed to Cochin, where she arrived on 31 December. From Cochin she sailed to Anjengo, arriving there on 3 January 1802, and Quilon, where she arrived on 5 January. Homeward bound, she was again at Anjengo on 21 January, reached St Helena on 3 April, and arrived at Deptford on 21 June.[3]
EIC voyage #7 (1804-1806)
Captain John Mackintosh acquired a letter of marque on 8 June 1804. He sailed from Portsmouth on 10 July 1804, bound for Bengal and Madras. Airly Castle was at Madeira on 25 July and arrived at Kedgeree on 2 December. Homeward bound, she was at Saugor on 14 January 1805, and at Madras on 12 February. She detoured to Ganjam, which she visited on 14 March, before returning to Madras on 1 May.[3] She left Madras on 8 September, together with Baring, Duke of Montrose, Lord Hawkesbury, and Devaynes, and under escort by HMSWeymouth, herself a former Indiaman.[11]
Airly Castle reached St Helena on 3 December.[3]Airly Castle was still there on 6 April. awaiting convoy.[12]Airly Castle arrived at Deptford on 19 June 1806.[3]
EIC voyage #8 (1807-1808)
Captain William Burgess acquired a letter of marque on 13 February 1807. He sailed from Portsmouth on 18 April, bound for St Helena, Bengal, and Madras. Airly Castle reached St Helena on 13 July, and arrived at Diamond Harbour on 27 November. Homeward bound, she was at Saugor on 14 January 1808, and Madras on 16 February. She reached St Helena on 12 June, and arrived at East India Dock on 12 October.[3]
Fate
In 1809 Airly Castle was taken up as a transport. The next year she was supposedly sold for breaking up.[1] However, she continued to appear for several years as a transport, presumably for the Government, as she does not appear in Lloyd's Register or the Register of Shipping. Lloyd's List reported on 10 July 1812 that Airly Castle had arrived at Plymouth from Havana.[13] Her ultimate fate is currently obscure.
Notes
↑ There was a second announcement, on 30 July 1794 of a fine, but whether this was a restatement or a separate assessment is unclear.[4]
↑ Marquis of Lorn had been launched at Oban in 1790. At 145 tons (bm), she was less than one-fifth the size of Airly Castle.[6]
Asia was launched in 1780 and made six voyages as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She participated in three actions, two against the French and one against the Dutch. She left the EIC's service in 1799 and traded between London and Lisbon until 1802 when new owners from Embden renamed her Reine Louise de Prusse and returned her to trading with the East Indies. Asia is last listed in Lloyd's Register for 1808 on the London-Batavia trade.
Albion was an East Indiaman of the British East India Company (EIC). She made eight voyages for the EIC before she was sold to the British government in 1810 for service as a troopship. She was lost at sea in 1816.
Northumberland was launched in 1780 to serve as a regular ship of the British East India Company (EIC). She made six voyages for the EIC between 1780 and 1797. She was sold in 1797 for breaking up.
Rockingham was launched as an East Indiaman in 1785. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1786 and 1802 before she was sold for breaking up.
Lord Keith was launched in 1804 by and for Peter Everitt Mestaer. He chartered her to the East India Company (EIC) for six voyages, and she then went on to make another two voyages for the EIC. On her second voyage, and unusually for an East Indiaman, she participated in the proceeds for the recapture of a former British Royal Navy brig and possibly in a skirmish with a French ship. On her third voyage she participated in a notable action. She was broken up c.1820.
Preston was launched in 1798 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), between 1805 and 1819. In 1810 and 1811 she participated as a transport in two British military campaigns. She was sold for breaking up in 1812 but instead became a transport and a West Indiaman. She disappeared after a gale in August 1815.
William Pitt was launched in 1805 as an East Indiaman. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), between 1805 and 1819. In 1810 and 1811 she participated as a transport in two British military campaigns. She was sold for breaking up in 1820.
Busbridge was launched in 1782 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made seven voyages for the EIC before she was broken up. In June 1795, during her sixth voyage, she participated in the capture of eight vessels of the Dutch East India Company. She was laid up for several years on her return from her seventh voyage and sold for breaking up in 1805.
Sir Stephen Lushington was launched in 1796 as an East Indiaman. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). During this period she took part as a transport in two military campaigns, the cancelled attack on Manila in 1797, and the capture of Mauritius in 1810. In 1812 she became a West Indiaman, thought around 1816 she made another voyage to India. Thereafter her ownership and trade becomes ambiguous: she either traded with Spain until 1822, or with South America until 1825.
Lord Hawkesbury was launched in 1787 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made eight voyages for the EIC before she was sold in 1808 for breaking up.
Melville Castle was launched in 1786 as an East Indiaman. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She was sold in 1802 to Dutch owners and wrecked with great loss of life later that year on her first voyage for them.
Duke of Montrose was launched in 1785 as an East Indiaman. She made eight voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She then briefly became a troop transport, sailing to the West Indies. She was sold in 1811 for breaking up.
Earl of Wycombe was launched in 1786 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). In 1800 she became a general trader, trading across the Atlantic to the West Indies and Canada. She was lost without a trace c.1803.
Essex was launched in 1780 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). On her first voyage she was present at an inconclusive battle with the French, and later at a second inconclusive engagement with a French frigate. In 1798 she was sold to be hulked or broken up.
Europa was launched in 1781 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She was probably broken up in 1798.
Valentine was launched in 1780 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), and was a transport for one military campaign. On her first voyage she was present at an inconclusive battle with the French, but did not take an active part. She was sold in 1796 for breaking up.
Manship was launched in 1785 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages as a "regular ship" for the British East India Company (EIC). In June 1795 Manship shared with several other Indiamen and the Royal Navy in the capture of eight Dutch East Indiamen off St Helena. Her owners sold her in 1801 and she then made one voyage for the EIC as an "extra ship" on a voyage charter. Her owners sold her to the British government in 1803 for use as a powder hulk.
Deptford was launched in 1781 as an East Indiaman. She made six apparently uneventful voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) before she was sold in 1807 for breaking up.
Worcester was launched in 1785 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made eight voyages to India and China for the EIC and participated as a transport in two naval expeditions before she was sold in 1809 for breaking up.
London was launched in 1779 as an East Indiaman. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), between 1780 and 1798. She was sold for breaking up in 1799.
References
8 Hackman, Rowan (2001). Ships of the East India Company. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN0-905617-96-7.
Hardy, Charles (1800). A Register of Ships, Employed in the Service of the Hon. the United East India Company, from the Union of the Two Companies, in 1707, to the Year 1760: Specifying the Number of Voyages, Tonnage, Commanders, and Stations. To which is Added, from the Latter Period to the Present Time, the Managing Owners, Principal Officers, Surgeons, and Pursers; with the Dates of Their Sailing and Arrival: Also, an Appendix, Containing Many Particulars, Interesting to Those Concerned in the East India Commerce. Charles Hardy.
Proceedings Relative to Ships Tendered for the Service of the United East-India Company, from the Twenty-sixth of March, 1794, to the Sixth of January, 1795: With an Appendix.
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