Bridgewater was launched in 1785 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC), which engaged her for six voyages. She then made two more as an "extra ship", that is, under voyage charters, and was lost at sea in 1805 while homeward bound from Bombay on her eighth voyage.
EIC voyage #1 (1786-1787): Captain William Parker sailed from Portsmouth on 14 April 1786, bound for China. Bridgewater arrived at Whampoa Anchorage on 11 September. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 1 January 1787.[2] She sailed via the Sunda Strait, where she saw Ranger, which too was returning to England from China.[6]
Bridgewater reached St Helena on 10 May and arrived at Long Reach on 29 June.[2]
EIC voyage #2 (1788-1789): Captain Parker sailed from The Downs on 11 April 1788, bound for Madras and China. Bridgewater reached Madras on 19 August. She then visited Masulipatam on 13 September, before returning to Madras on 4 October. She reached Batavia on 18 November, and arrived at Whampoa on 4 February 1789. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 2 March, was at Macao on 21 March, and reached St Helena on 28 June.[2] She arrived back in England on 1 September.[3]
EIC voyage #3 (1791-1793): Captain Gregory Moffat Lewin sailed from Portsmouth on 25 May 1791, bound for Madras, Bengal, and China. Bridgewater reached Madras on 9 October and arrived at Diamond Harbour on 23 November. On 5 December she passed Saugor, and by 11 January 1792 was at Vizagapatam. She stopped at Madras on 22 January and Nagore on 7 February. She returned to Madras on 16 February, and reached Bombay on 29 March. On 29 May she was again at Madras. Finally bound for China, she reached Penang on 14 July and Malacca on 1 September, before arriving at Whampoa on 19 September.[2] Captain Lewin died two days before Bridgewater left for England.[7] Her chief mate was Robert Reay. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 12 November, reached St Helena on 19 February 1793, and arrived at Long Reach on 22 April.[2]
EIC voyage #4 (1794-1795): Capt William Parker acquired a letter of marque on 6 January 1794.[5]
The British government held Bridgewater at Portsmouth, together with several 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 £1,479 3s 4d for having delayed her departure by 71 days.
Captain Parker sailed from Portsmouth on 2 May 1794, bound for Bombay and China. Bridgewater reached Bombay on 4 September and arrived at Whampoa on 26 February 1795. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 22 April and was in Macao on 22 May. She reached Batavia on 5 August and St Helena on 16 October, and arrived at Northfleet on 26 December.[2]
EIC voyage #5 (1796-1797): Captain John Skottowe acquired a letter of marque on 20 April 1796. He sailed from Portsmouth on 17 May 1796, bound for Madras and Bengal. Bridgewater reached Madras on 10 September and arrived at Diamond Harbour on 21 October. Homeward bound, she passed Saugor on 2 January 1797. She was at Colombo on 2 February and Trincomalee on 25 March. She reached the [{Cape of Good Hope on 12 July and St Helena on 11 September, and arrived at Gravesend on 18 December.[2]
EIC voyage #6 (1798-1799): Captain Skottowe sailed from Portsmouth on 29 April 1798, bound for China. She reached Rio de Janeiro on 6 July, and arrived at Whampoa on 3 December. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 22 January 1799, reached Malacca on 22 February and St Helena on 17 May, and arrived at Long Reach on 31 July.[2]
EIC voyage #7 (1800–1801): Captain George Lukin acquired a letter of marque on 9 December 1800.[5] Messrs Princip & Saunders had tendered her to the EIC to bring back rice from Bengal. She was one of 28 vessels that sailed on that mission between December 1800 and February 1801.[8]
Lukin sailed from The Downs on 24 January 1801, bound for Madras. Bridgewater reached Madras on 21 May and left on 14 August. On 10 October she was reported sailing 'towards England'.[9] She arrived back in England on 4 January 1802.[3]
EIC voyage #8 (1802–Loss): Captain E. H. Palmer sailed from England on 1 August 1802, bound for Botany Bay and China. Bridgewater arrived at Port Jackson on 12 May 1803, having brought provisions. She left on 10 August, bound for China.[10] She left in company with HMSPorpoise and Cato.
On 17 August the three ships got caught near a sandbank, 157 north and 51 miles east of Sandy Cape. With shrinking leeway, both Cato and Porpoise grounded. Both ships beat on the sharp coral, with the result that they sank quickly.[11]Bridgewater sailed on and later reported both ships lost with no survivors. Almost all the crew and passengers of Cato and Porpoise were able to land on a sandbank as both ships broke up; the survivors were later rescued.[11]
Fate
Bridgewater sailed from Bombay for England in 1805 and disappeared without a trace. She was believed to have foundered with all hands.
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.
King George was launched in 1784 and made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1785 and 1798. She also participated in the invasion of St Lucia. In 1798 her owners sold her and she became a West Indiaman. An accident in 1800 at Jamaica destroyed her.
Airly 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.
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.
Lord Macartney was launched in 1782 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC0 before she was sold in 1798. She then traded across the Atlantic to North America and was last listed in 1811.
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.
Carnatic was launched in 1787. She made six voyages as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She was sold for breaking up in 1802.
Contractor was launched in 1779 as an East Indiaman. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She made one voyage as a transport for a military expedition before her owners sold her in 1800 for use as a transport.
Dublin was launched in 1784 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), to India and China. On her last voyage for the EIC she recaptured a country ship. Her owners sold Dublin in 1800 and she became a West Indiaman, but apparently was lost on her first voyage.
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.
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.
True Briton was launched in 1790 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She was lost without a trace in 1809 during her eighth voyage.
Minerva was launched as an East Indiaman in 1786. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), and one carrying rice from Bengal for the British government. She is last listed in 1805 but with stale data from 1802.
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.
Duke of Buccleugh was an East Indiaman launched in 1788. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) before she was sold in 1802.
Walpole was launched on the Thames in 1779. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). On the sixth voyage, on her way to China, her captain discovered an island that he named Walpole Island. She was sold for breaking up in 1799.
Thetis was launched on the river Thames in 1786 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company between 1787 and 1800, She was then sold and spent a handful of years as a West Indiaman. She was broken up in 1806.
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.
Warren Hastings was launched in 1781 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made six voyages for the EIC before being sold in 1797 for breaking up.
References
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.
Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650–1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN0-948864-30-3.
House of Commons, Parliament, Great Britain (1814). Minutes of the Evidence Taken Before the Select Committee on Petitions Relating to East-India-Built Shipping. H.M. Stationery Office.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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