Alexander (1812 ship)

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History
Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
BuilderMichael Smith at Howrah, Calcutta
Launched1812
FateLost 1835, [1] or 1837
General characteristics
Tons burthen4928894, [2] or 534 [1] (bm)

Alexander was a country ship (i.e., she traded east of the Cape of Good Hope) launched in 1812. She was lost in 1835.

Contents

Career

Although Alexander appears in a compendium of vessels that traded between the United Kingdom and India under a license from the British East India Company, [2] there is no record of such a voyage or voyages in Lloyd's Register . She did appear in various issues of the East-India register and directory.

YearMasterOwner
1819B.RogerSayed Saduck
1824Robert DickieJ.Gilmore & Co.
1827W.ClarkJ.Gilmore & Co.
1828J.J.DenhamRustumjee
1829NANA

Fate

Alexander was lost in the China Sea in 1835. [1] Another source reports that a country ship named Alexander was lost in 1837 while sailing from China to Singapore. [3]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 Phipps (1840), p. 104.
  2. 1 2 Hackman (2001), p. 249.
  3. The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle for 1837, a Journal of Papers on Subjects Connected with Maritime Affairs, p.276.

Related Research Articles

Zenobia was a merchant ship launched in 1815 at Calcutta, India. She traded with India under license from the British East India Company (EIC), and made one voyage for the EIC. She then became a Free Trader. In 1852 the P&O company purchased Zenobia to use her as a coal hulk. She was broken up in 1871.

A number of vessels have been named Alexander:

Dunvegan Castle was a merchant ship built at Chittagong in 1819. She made two voyages transporting convicts from England and Ireland to Australia. She also transported troops at least twice, once to Burma (1824) and once to Spain (1835). She was lost in 1837.

City of Edinburgh was a merchant ship built at Bengal in 1813. She transferred to British registry and sailed between Britain and India. She made two voyages transporting convicts from Ireland to Australia. Later, she made a whaling voyage to New Zealand. She was wrecked in 1840.

Alfred was launched at Chittagong in 1818 and in 1820 her owners transferred her registry to Great Britain. She then traded around India and between Britain and India under a license from the EIC. Between 1827 and 1828 made a voyage to China for the British East India Company (EIC) as an "extra ship", i.e., under charter. In 1845 she was condemned but new owners restored her and named her Deutschland. She was last listed in 1857.

Experiment was built at Calcutta in 1800, and was lost in 1807. In between, she made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC).

Cornwallis was built probably at Surat around 1789, or possibly Demaun in 1790. Her name was originally Britannia, but it was changed to Cornwallis shortly before her completion. She served for some years in India as a country ship, before transferring her registry to Britain in 1797. She then served in private trade between Britain and India until 1809 or so when she transferred her registry back to Bombay. Thereafter she served as a country ship, though in both 1810 and again in 1817 she performed a voyage to Britain for the British East India Company. Thereafter she apparently continued to serve as a country ship with homeport of Bombay. She burnt there in June 1841 as she was about to take a cargo of cotton to China.

Milford was built at Bombay in 1786 for Pestonjee Bomanjee and John Tasker. She was a country ship that traded around India and between India and China, though she also traded with England. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). She was lost at Calcutta in August 1829.

Moira, was launched at Calcutta in 1813. Between 1820 and 1834 she made four voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) under voyage charters, and transported troops to Burma in 1824. She was lost in 1844.

Thetis was launched at Chittagong in 1813. At some point she was renamed Countess of Loudoun for Flora Mure-Campbell, Marchioness of Hastings, Countess of Loudoun. She wrecked in early November 1816 off Palawan.

Susan was launched at Calcutta in 1813. She initially traded in the East Indies as a country ship, and with Britain under license from the British East India Company (EIC). Between 1829 and 1831 she made two voyages for the EIC. Then between 1834 and 1836 she made four voyages transporting convicts, two to New South Wales, and two to Tasmania. She foundered in 1846 as she was sailing between London and the Cape of Good Hope.

Aurora was built at Chittagong in 1816. She made one voyage transporting convicts to New South Wales in 1833, and a second transporting convicts to Tasmania in 1835. In 1839 she carried immigrants to New Zealand for the New Zealand Company. She was wrecked in 1840.

HMS Camel was launched in 1812 at Calcutta as Severn. She sailed to England where the navy purchased her for use as a troopship and transport. She had an uneventful naval career and the navy sold her in 1831. Her new owner returned her to her name of Severn. She made one voyage to Bengal and back for the British East India Company (EIC). She continued to trade with India but disappeared circa 1841.

<i>Java</i> (1811 ship)

Java was a merchant ship launched at Calcutta, British East India, in 1811. She made one voyage under charter to the British East India Company (EIC). She served in the migrant trade between Great Britain and Australia and in Far East trade. She became a coal hulk at Gibraltar circa 1859. She survived until World War II.

Hercules was built at Calcutta in 1814. She acquired British registry and traded between Britain and India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC), before returning to Calcutta registry. She then traded opium between India and China, and became an opium receiving ship for Jardine Matheson. In 1839 she was one of the vessels that surrendered her store of opium to be burned at the behest of Chinese officials at Canton. This incident was one of the proximate causes of the First Opium War (1839–1842). Her owners apparently sold her to American owners in 1839.

Reliance was launched at Coringa in 1815. She sailed east of the Cape of Good Hope until c.1827 when she sailed to England and assumed British registry. Once in Britain she sailed back and forth to Bengal under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). She also twice transported military convicts to New South Wales from Bengal. In 1832 Bennett sent Reliance on a whaling voyage to the Pacific. After she returned she sailed on a second whaling voyage, but this time to the Indian Ocean where she wrecked at the end of 1836.

Ganges was launched at Calcutta in 1806. In 1807 or 1809 a French privateer captured her. The British Royal Navy recaptured her the next year. She assumed British Registry in 1812, but had traded out of London since late 1810 or early 1811. By 1820 she was trading between London and Bengal. She was last listed in 1846.

Victory was launched at Chittagong in 1816. Between April 1817 and 1821 she was under French ownership, but then returned to Calcutta registry. She was condemned at Manila in March 1837.

<i>Mellish</i> (1819 ship)

Mellish was launched in 1819 at Kidderpore, Calcutta as Chicheley Plowden but renamed within the year and sold for a "free trader", i.e, a ship trading between England and India sailing under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). She then made two voyages transporting convicts, the first to New South Wales, and one to Van Diemen's Land (VDL). She next made two voyages as a South Seas whaler between 1831 and 1838. She was wrecked on 5 October 1844.

Mediterranean was launched in 1810 in Lowestoft or Great Yarmouth. Initially she sailed to the Mediterranean. Between 1819 and 1823 she made two voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She then traded with India, sailing under a licence from the British East India Company (EIC). She may have shifted to India, before returning to British registry in 1835–1837 while performing a third whaling voyage. She then disappeared from online records.

References