History | |
---|---|
Name | Amelia |
Operator | East India Company |
Fate | Captured |
General characteristics | |
Tons burthen | 1,000 or 1,400 |
Amelia was a ship of 1,000 or 1,400 tons (bm), built at Demaun. [1] In 1796 the British East India Company (EIC) engaged her in India to carry rice from Bengal to Britain for the account of the British government, which was importing grain to address high prices for wheat in Britain following a poor harvest.
As Amelia approached Britain a French squadron captured her. By some reports the capture took place in the Bay of Biscay. [1] However, Lloyd's List reported that a squadron of French frigates had captured an East Indiaman, "supposed to be the Amelia, from Bengal", with a cargo of rice and sugar. The capture apparently took place off the Western Isles, and the captors sent their prize into Corunna. [2] The next issue of Lloyd's List confirmed that Amelia had been sent into Corunna, and identified her master as "Crawford". [3] Her master was Coutts Crawford. [4] [lower-alpha 1]
The EIC charged the loss of the cargo to "his Majesty's Government". [6]
Reportedly, a Bombay house later purchased Amelia and sold her to the Portuguese at Macao. [1]
Experiment was launched in 1798 at Stockton-on-Tees, England. Between late 1800 and 1802 she made a voyage to India for the British East India Company (EIC). In 1803 she transported convicts to Port Jackson. In 1805, on her way home the French captured her, but the British recaptured her. In 1808 she became a West Indiaman. Still, in 1818 or so she sailed out to India. Experiment was condemned at Batavia in 1818 and sold there in 1819 for breaking up.
Porcher was launched in 1799 at Calcutta. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) from Bengal to England. A French privateer captured her in 1802, which gave rise to a case in French courts about the validity of the capture given the impending Treaty of Amiens. The French courts condemned her in prize and new owners in Bordeaux named her Ville de Bordeaux. The British recaptured her in 1804. Thereafter she traded between England and India as a licensed ship. In 1809 she sailed to England where in 1810 new owners renamed her Cambridge. As Cambridge she made three voyages for the EIC as an extra ship. In 1818 she was again sold with her new owners continuing to sail her to the Far East as a licensed ship. She then made two more voyages to India for the EIC. In 1840 she was sold to an American trading house at Canton, and then to the Qing Dynasty, which purchased her for the Imperial Chinese Navy. The British Royal Navy destroyed her on 27 February 1841 during the Battle of First Bar at the onset of the First Opium War.
Malabar was the Nieuwland, launched in 1794 for the Dutch East India Company. The British seized her in 1795 and new owners renamed her Malabar. She made two complete voyages under charter to the British East India Company before she burnt at Madras in 1801 in an accident.
Nonsuch was launched at Calcutta in 1781 as the first large vessel built there. She was designed to serve as either a merchantman or a man-of-war. She spent the first 12 years of her career as a merchant vessel, carrying opium to China amongst other cargoes. After the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1793 her owner frequently hired her out as an armed ship to the British East India Company (EIC). She participated in an engagement with a French naval squadron and recaptured an East Indiaman. She also made two voyages for the EIC. After the Peace of Amiens in 1802 the EIC paid her off; as she was being hauled into a dockyard for repairs she was damaged and the decision was taken to break her up.
Tuscan was built at Hull in 1793. She reportedly made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). A French privateer captured her in 1798, but she returned to British hands c.1805. She was wrecked at Memel in November 1823.
Arran was launched at Calcutta in 1799. In 1800 she sailed to Britain for the British East India Company (EIC). On her return voyage she suffered a major outbreak of illness while between England and the Cape. She then traded between England and India and around India until she was lost in June 1809 while sailing to Basra from Bengal.
Anna was launched at Calcutta in 1793. She was often called Bengal Anna to distinguish her from BombayAnna. Bengal Anna made three voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She was lost on the coast of Chittagong c.1811, after participating in a military expedition.
Indian Trader was launched in 1791. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). She was on her second voyage when a French privateer captured her. The British recaptured her and she returned to merchant service, sailing to the Americas. She was lost c. 1830.
Lucy Maria or Lucy and Maria was launched at Calcutta in 1801. She made one voyage to England carrying rice from Bengal on behalf of the British East India Company (EIC). She was seized at Amboyna in 1804 and then sailed as the Dutch ship Victoria. The British recaptured her in 1806 and new owners renamed her Troubridge and later renamed her Lucy Maria. As Troubridge she served as a transport for two invasions, that of Mauritius in 1810 and Java in 1811. She was broken up in 1821.
Chichester was built in India in 1793 or before. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) carrying rice to Britain for the British government. She also was chartered for a naval campaign that was cancelled. She may have wrecked in 1815 at the mouth of the Hooghly River.
Suffolk was launched in 1800. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). She grounded in 1802 but was refloated. She then made a voyage to the Cape of Good Hope. On her return she became a West Indiaman. A Spanish privateer captured her in 1805.
Syren was a snow that the Bombay Dockyard built in 1770 for the EIC. The EIC used her as a packet ship. She made two voyages to England for the EIC before it sold her in 1778.
Auspicious was built in 1797. The British East India Company (EIC), chartered her for a voyage to Bengal and back. At Calcutta a fire almost destroyed her. She was rebuilt there some years later. She served as a transport vessel in the British government's expedition to the Red Sea in 1801. She then sailed to England, again under charter to the EIC. In 1811 she sailed to Bengal to remain. She was sold in 1821 either to Malabars or Arabs.
Varuna was launched at Calcutta in 1796. She made four voyages as an "extra ship" for the British East India Company (EIC), and then spent two years as a troopship. She returned to India in 1806. She was lost in 1811, probably in a typhoon.
Britannia was launched by the Bombay Dockyard in 1772, and was rebuilt in 1778. The British East India Company (EIC) apparently acquired her in 1775. Between 1779 she made eleven complete voyages as an East Indiaman for the EIC. She also participated in three naval campaigns, during the first of which she was deployed as a cruiser off Sumatra. There she engaged and captured a French ship. In the other two she served as a transport. She set out for her twelfth EIC voyage but was lost in 1805 during the third naval campaign.
Loyalist was launched in 1793. Between 1796 and 1803 she made four voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She then sailed as a West Indiaman until she was condemned in 1809 as unseaworthy.
Skelton Castle was an East Indiaman launched in 1800. She made three complete voyages to India for the British East India Company (EIC). She disappeared without a trace in December 1806 while on the outward-bound leg of her fourth voyage.
Calcutta was launched in 1798 as an East Indiaman. She made four voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), and disappeared while homeward bound from Bengal on her fifth voyage.
Ganges was launched in 1799 at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) bringing rice from Bengal for the British government. She then became a West Indiaman until the French navy captured her in 1805.
Three Sisters was launched in 1788 as a West Indiaman. In 1795 she made one voyage to Bengal for the British East India Company (EIC). She then returned to the West Indies trade and was lost in February 1799 on her way to Barbados from London.
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