The wrecks of Britannia and Admiral Gardner, East Indiamen, on the Goodwin Sands, 24 January 1809
Britannia was launched in 1806 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company. She made only one voyage for the company before a gale wrecked her in January 1809.
Captain Jonathan Birch received a letter of marque on 3 November 1806. He sailed Britannia from Portsmouth on 26 February 1807, bound for Bombay and China. He returned from that voyage on 1 July 1808.[3]
Birch and Britannia were in the Downs on 24 January 1809, prior to setting out on a second voyage to the east, this time to Madras and China.[3]
The next day, 25 January, a howling gale tore her from her moorings off Deal, Kent, and she wrecked on the Goodwin Sands off the South Foreland.[5] Seven of her crew drowned.[6] The EIC valued her cargo at £57,091;[7] the total loss, vessel plus cargo, was £117,820.[8]
The gale also wrecked the Indiaman Admiral Gardner and the brig Apollo. Only one man of Apollo's crew of 20 survived.[9] Boatmen from Deal were able to rescue almost the entire crew from Admiral Gardner. A few days later, Lloyd's List reported that all three wrecked vessels had gone to pieces.[10]
Hindostan was an East Indiaman of the East India Company. She was a large vessel of 1,463 tons (bm), launched in 1796 to replace a previous Hindostan that the Royal Navy had bought and turned into a Fourth Rate ship of the line. Her owner was Robert Williams, M.P., who had been the owner of the previous Hindostan.
William Pitt was a three-decker sailing ship, built in Liverpool in 1803. She made three complete voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), and on the first of these she transported convicts to New South Wales. In December 1813 she was lost in a gale to the east of Algoa Bay while homeward bound from her fourth voyage.
Ocean was an East Indiaman, launched in 1800, that made four trips for the Honourable East India Company. She is most famous for her participation, in 1804, in the battle of Pulo Aura. She foundered in 1811 while on her fifth trip.
Cabalva was an East Indiaman, launched in 1811. She made three voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) before she was wrecked in 1818 on the outbound leg of her fourth voyage.
Nutwell was launched at Great Yarmouth in 1800. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC), bringing back rice from Bengal at the behest of the British government. On her return she became a West Indiaman, trading with Jamaica, until the 1806 Great Coastal hurricane overturned her.
Admiral Gardner was launched in 1797 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made five voyages for the EIC, during the fourth of which she participated in an inconclusive single-ship action with a French privateer. Admiral Gardner was wrecked in January 1809. The wreck is a Protected Wreck managed by Historic England. She was named after Admiral Alan Gardner.
Streatham was launched in 1805 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made seven voyages for the EIC. On her second voyage the French captured her, but the British Royal Navy recaptured her some months later. She was broken up in 1821.
Europe was launched in 1803 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made six voyages for the EIC. On her third voyage the French captured her, but the British Royal Navy recaptured her some months later. In 1817 her owners sold her for a hulk but new owners continued to sail her between London and India. She is last listed in 1824.
Jane, Duchess of Gordon was launched in 1805 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made one complete voyage for the EIC and then foundered while homeward bound on the second.
Brunswick was launched in 1792 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made five complete voyages for the EIC before the French captured her in 1805. Shortly thereafter she wrecked at the Cape of Good Hope.
Huddart was launched in 1803 as an East Indiaman. She made eight voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), between 1803 and 1818. In 1810-1811 she participated as a transport in two British military campaigns. In 1818 new owners deployed her in sailing to Canada. She was wrecked there in 1821.
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.
Euphrates was launched in 1803 as an East Indiaman. Between 1803 and 1812 she made four voyages to India for the British East India Company (EIC). During these voyages she participated as a transport in two military campaigns, the capture of the Cape of Good Hope and of Mauritius. She was wrecked in 1813 towards the end of the outward leg of a fifth voyage to India.
Glory was an East Indiaman launched in 1802. She made two complete voyages as an "extra ship" for the British East India Company (EIC) before she disappeared in November 1808 while homeward bound from her third voyage. On her second voyage she participated in the British expedition to capture the Cape of Good Hope.
Travers was launched in 1800 as an East Indiaman. She made four complete voyages as an "extra ship" for the British East India Company (EIC). She was wrecked near the end of the outward-bound leg of her fifth voyage.
Lady Jane Dundas was launched in 1800 as an East Indiaman. She made four voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) and was lost in 1809 on the homeward-bound leg of her fifth voyage. She and three other Indiamen parted from the homeward-bound convoy during a gale on 18 March 1809 and were never seen again.
Harriet was a two-decker East Indiaman launched in 1802. She made five complete voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), as an "extra ship" i.e., under charter, and accidentally burnt as she was preparing to return to England from her sixth voyage.
Charlton was launched in 1798 in Liverpool as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made five voyages to India for the EIC. A French naval squadron captured her in 1809 on her sixth voyage and she became a prison ship a Mauritius until the Royal Navy recaptured her at the end of 1810. She became a country ship, trading east of the Cape of Good Hope, and was lost in the Red Sea in 1812.
United Kingdom was an East Indiaman launched in 1801. She made three voyages to India for the British East India Company (EIC). The French Navy captured her in 1809 during her fourth voyage and the Royal Navy recaptured her in 1810. She became a country ship trading east of the Cape of Good Hope and was wrecked near the Cape in 1815.
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