Capture and postscript
The French privateer Clarisse captured Armenia on 5 July 1800 and sent her into Mauritius. [6] Clarisse was armed with 16 guns and had a crew of 180 men under the command of Captain François-Thomas Le Même. Armenia encountered Clarisse at 7°30′S79°30′E / 7.500°S 79.500°E / -7.500; 79.500 ; after a five-hour chase Clarisse caught up with Armenia and combat ensued. Captain Meik resisted, but after about 40 minutes of exchanging fire he stuck. Armenia had lost her Third Officer killed and six men wounded, one of whom died later; Clarisse appeared to have had three men killed. [7] Another report has Clarisse's casualties as seven killed and 20 wounded.
Le Même took Captain Meik (or Meek), his second officer, and the crew on board the privateer. The four passengers, one of them a woman, and the wounded remained on Armenia and reached Mauritius on 17 July, where the French government provided good care. [lower-alpha 2] The passengers were then able to return to India in about a month later. [7]
Meik and his crew were apparently left on the Seychelles. On 29 October Meik, his crew, and two midshipmen and 15 men from HMS Adamant and HMS Lancaster were put in a small boat of 35 tons bound to Colombo. [lower-alpha 3] On 9 November, at about midnight, the boat ran into rocks in the Maldives. Five of the navy men, three of Armenia's crew, and five Frenchmen died in an attempt to reach shore on a makeshift raft. The survivors took two Maldivian boats and set sail again. Meik arrived at Cochin on 4 December. Mr. Maddox, a midshipman from Lancaster, died of sickness on the passage. At the time of Meek's letter (6 January 1801) reporting his trials, the second boat, which also had some navy personnel aboard, had not been heard from. [10]
On 20 July 1801, the members of the Bengal Phoenix Insurance Society presented Captain Meik with an elegant, engraved sword worth 1600 sicca rupees. [11] [lower-alpha 4] Then on 24 September, the Calcutta Insurance Company voted a donation of £150 to the mother of Armenia's Second Officer, £100 to the Steward, who distinguished himself in the action, and 500 sicca rupees to establish an annuity fund for the two seamen who suffered in the action. [13]
Robert Surcouf was a French privateer and slave trader who operated in the Indian Ocean between 1789 and 1801, and again from 1807 to 1808, capturing over 40 prizes. He later amassed a large fortune as a ship-owner, from privateering, commercial activities, the illegal slave trade, and as a landowner.
Jean-François Hodoul was a sea captain, corsair, and later merchant and plantation owner in Île de France.
Sibylle was a 38-gun Hébé-class frigate of the French Navy. She was launched in 1791 at the dockyards in Toulon and placed in service in 1792. After the 50-gun fourth rate HMS Romney captured her in 1794, the British took her into service as HMS Sybille. She served in the Royal Navy until disposed of in 1833. While in British service Sybille participated in three notable single ship actions, in each case capturing a French vessel. On anti-slavery duties off West Africa from July 1827 to June 1830, Sybille captured numerous slavers and freed some 3,500 slaves. She was finally sold in 1833 in Portsmouth.
HMS Malabar was a 56-gun fourth rate of the Royal Navy. She had previously been the East Indiaman Cuvera, launched at Calcutta in 1798. She made one voyage to London for the British East India Company and on her return to India served as a transport and troopship to support General Baird's expedition to Egypt to help General Ralph Abercromby expel the French there. The Navy bought her in 1804 and converted her to a storeship in 1806. After being renamed HMS Coromandel she became a convict ship and made a trip carrying convicts to Van Diemen's Land and New South Wales in 1819. She spent the last 25 years of her career as a receiving ship for convicts in Bermuda before being broken up in 1853.
Friendship was a three-decker merchantman, launched in 1793. She made three voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). During her first voyage, in 1796, a French privateer captured her, but the Royal Navy recaptured her. On the second, in 1799, she transported convicts from Ireland to Australia. She made a second voyage transporting convicts in 1817-18. On her way back she was broken up in 1819 at Mauritius after having been found unseaworthy.
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.
Bellone was a French privateer frigate that cruised under Jacques François Perroud and achieved fame with the capture of large East Indiaman Lord Nelson on 14 August 1803. HMS Powerful captured her during the action of 9 July 1806. The British Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Bellona. Later, the Navy renamed her HMS Blanche. She was broken up in 1814.
Triton was launched in 1787 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made three full voyages for the EIC before the French privateer Robert Surcouf captured her in 1796 while she was on her fourth voyage. The British Royal Navy recaptured her in 1798 and the EIC chartered her for three more voyages to Britain. Her subsequent fate is unknown.
Mornington was a British merchant vessel built of teak and launched in 1799 at Calcutta. She made three voyages under charter to the British East India Company (EIC). On the third French privateers twice captured her and Royal Navy vessels twice recaptured her. A fire destroyed her in 1815.
Cornwallis was a snow that the Honourable East India Company (EIC) had built in 1787 at Bombay Dockyard for the Bengal Pilot Service. A French privateer captured her in 1796.
Harrington was launched at Calcutta in 1796 for the Bengal Pilot Service. A French privateer captured her on 9 November 1797 at Balasore Roads. She returned to British ownership and Calcutta registry c. 1800. She undertook sealing expeditions, captured two Spanish vessels off South America, and was seized by convicts in Port Jackson, before being wrecked in March 1809.
Adèle was a French privateer brig commissioned in 1800 that the British Royal Navy captured later that year. The British East India Company's government in India purchased her in 1801 for service as an armed brig in the Bay of Bengal and along the Coromandel Coast. In 1804 she sailed to Britain where the Admiralty purchased her for use as a fire ship, and named her HMS Firebrand. She was wrecked in 1804.
Gloire was a ship launched at Bayonne in 1799 as an armed merchantman. She became a privateer in the Indian Ocean that the British captured in 1801 in a notable single-ship action and named HMS Trincomalee, but then sold in 1803. The French recaptured her in 1803 and recommissioned her as the privateer Émilien, but the British recaptured her in 1807 and recommissioned her as HMS Emilien, before selling her in 1808.
Malartic, was a French privateer ship, famous for her exploits while under the command of Captain Jean-Marie Dutertre. The British captured her in 1800, ending her brief, but productive privateering career.
Britannia was launched in 1794 at Northfleet. She made two voyages as an "extra ship" for the British East India Company (EIC). On her second voyage a French privateer captured her, but the British Royal Navy recaptured her shortly thereafter. She then became a West Indiaman and was lost c.1801.
Diamond was launched in 1798 at Quebec. French privateers captured her three times, the third time retaining her. In between she carried slaves. Her third capture occurred while she was on a whaling voyage. Her last voyage took her from Île de France to Bordeaux where she was decommissioned in January 1809.
Numerous French privateers have borne the name Vengeur ("Avenger"):
Highland Chief was launched at Calcutta in 1798. She made two voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) before a French privateer captured her in 1802 south of the Bay of Bengal.
Eliza Ann was launched at Calcutta in 1795. She sailed to England where she was admitted to the Registry. In all, she made five voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), during one of which she participated in a notable action and during the last of which she captured a French privateer. She herself was lost in 1807.
Gabriel was launched at Calcutta in 1794 to serve as a "country ship", trading in the East Indies. Even so, she made at least two voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She wrecked in 1801 during the expedition to the Red Sea.
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