Calcutta (1794 ship)

Last updated

History
British-Red-Ensign-1707.svgGreat Britain
NameCalcutta
Namesake Calcutta
Launched1794, Calcutta
Captured17 December 1799, and recaptured the same day
FateWrecked 8 September 1801
General characteristics
Tons burthen760, [1] or 768, [2] or 76890⁄94 [3] bm)
Armament8 × 12-pounder guns "of the New Construction" [2]
Notes
  • Three decks; teak-built [2]
  • Hackman appears to have confused this Calcutta with another vessel, at least with respect to launch date and place and date of loss.

Calcutta was launched in 1794 on the Hooghly River. Between 1797 and 1799 she sailed to England on a voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). In 1799 the French Navy captured her, and the Royal Navy recaptured her. She was lost in 1801 in the Red Sea, sailing in support of the British Government's expedition to Egypt.

Contents

Career

On 18 May 1797 Calcutta, Captain John Hassey, master, was at Calcutta. She left Bengal on 20 July. She reached Madras on 29 August, and Penang on 17 September. She was back at Madras on 11 December, and Calcutta on 29 January 1798. Bound for England, she was at Kedgeree on 8 December. She sailed from Bengal on 20 January 1799, reached St Helena on 2 April, and arrived at the Downs. Lloyd's List reported that Calcutta, Haggy, master, had arrived at Gravesend on 28 October. [4]

Calcutta was admitted to the Registry of Great Britain on 29 August 1799. [5] She appeared in the 1799 volume of Lloyd's Register (LR). [2]

YearMasterOwnerTradeSource
1799J.HaggeyCaptain & Co.London–IndiaLR

On 1 November 1799, Calcutta sailed from Deal for India. Before she departed she undergone outfitting at a cost of £3,879 7s 9d. [6] On 20 November she sailed from Portsmouth for Bengal.

On 11 January 1800, Calcutta was at Plymouth. She had been on her way to India from London when she was taken, and retaken. [7]

On 1 December 1799 HMS Aimable and Glenmore encountered the French frigate Sirène, Citoyen Reignaud, captain, and French corvette Bergère, which were sailing to France from Cayenne. Bergère was carrying Victor Hugues as a passenger. The French vessels had with them the East Indiaman Calcutta, which they had captured the same morning; René Lemarant de Kerdaniel was captain of the prize crew on Calcutta. Glenmore recaptured Calcutta while Aimable engaged Sirène and Bergère. A 35-minute action ensued before the two French vessels departed. Sirène had as prisoners Captain Haggy, Calcutta's master, her first and second mates, and 50 of her lascars and seamen. Calcutta arrived in Plymouth on 12 January 1800. [8] [9] On 18 January 50 lascars were landed from Calcutta and taken to China House, which served as a hospital. The lascars were sick and suffering from the cold. [10] Kerdaniel spent four months on a hulk in Chatham, before being sent back to France on parole.

As of 1 January 1801, Calcutta of 700 tons, appeared on a list of "ships belonging to Calcutta" with M'Donald, master, Haggey & M'Donald, owners. [11]

After her return to India, the British government used Calcutta as a transport to support General Sir David Baird's expedition to the Red Sea, which in turn had the objective of supporting General Sir Ralph Abercrombie at the battle of Alexandria.

Calcutta does not appear in the list of transport vessels for the British expedition to the Red Sea (1801). Nor does her loss appear in Lloyd's List . However she does appear in a book of dispatches by Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington. There he lists six vessels that sailed on 31 March 1801 for the expedition. Of the six vessels – Calcutta, Eliza, Gabriel, Minerva, Pearl, and Ruby – all but Calcutta appear in the list of transport vessels. [12]

Calcutta, M'Donald sailed from Bombay to the Red Sea on 10 May 1801.

Loss

One source reports that Calcutta was wrecked on 8 September 1801, together with Gabriel, in the 1801 British military expedition to the Red Sea. [1]

Citations

  1. 1 2 Phipps (1840), p. 97.
  2. 1 2 3 4 LR (1799), Seq.no.C602.
  3. ↑ Hackman (2001), p. 226.
  4. ↑ British Library: '"Calcutta (3).
  5. ↑ House of Commons (1814), p. 627.
  6. ↑ House of Commons (1814), p. 613.
  7. ↑ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4015. 14 January 1800. hdl:2027/uc1.c3049070.
  8. ↑ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4015. 14 January 1800. hdl:2027/uc1.c3049070.
  9. ↑ Naval Chronicle, Vol. 3, p.79.
  10. ↑ Naval Chronicle, Vol. 3, p.150.
  11. ↑ Mathison & Mason (1802), p. 70.
  12. ↑ Wellesley (1840), p. 277.

Related Research Articles

French frigate <i>Sirène</i> (1795)

The Sirène was a 40-gun Coquille class frigate of the French Navy. She took part in a number of campaigns and actions before she was badly damaged in a battle on 22 March 1808. Refloated after being beached to avoid capture, she was hulked. Sirène was broken up in 1825.

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.

HMS Weymouth was a 44-gun fifth rate of the Royal Navy. She was previously the merchantman Wellesley, built in Calcutta in 1796. She successfully defended herself against a French frigate, and made two voyages to Britain as an East Indiaman for the East India Company. The Admiralty purchased her in May 1804; she then became a storeship in 1806. On her last voyage for the Royal Navy, in 1820, she carried settlers to South Africa. She was then laid up in ordinary. In 1828, she was converted to a prison ship and sailed to Bermuda where she served as a prison hulk until 1865 when she was sold for breaking up.

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 first of these her non-European crew suffered a high mortality rate on the voyage back to India. On the third French privateers twice captured her and Royal Navy vessels twice recaptured her.She was a transport for the British invasion of Java in 1811. A fire destroyed her in 1815.

Earl Spencer was built in Brazil. She entered Lloyd's Register in 1799 as foreign built, with later editions specifying "Brazil". She made two seal-hunting voyages to South Georgia between 1799 and 1802, being wrecked there on the second.

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.

Ruby was launched at Calcutta, probably in 1800 but possibly in 1797. She participated in the expedition to the Red Sea and made one voyage for the British East India Company. Although she took on British Registry, she probably sailed only in Indian waters and to Australia. She made one voyage in 1811 transporting three convicts to Port Jackson, and then transferring 80 convicts from there to Van Diemen's Land. She was probably lost in 1813, but possibly in 1818 or 1820.

Suffolk was launched in 1803 at Calcutta and at some point prior to 1810 was renamed General Wellesley. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) but an American privateer captured her in December 1814 on the outbound leg of her second EIC voyage. In January 1815 she stranded on the Charleston Bar and became a total loss.

Exeter was launched at Calcutta in 1793. She made three voyages from Calcutta to England for the British East India Company (EIC). On the way home from england on the second of these voyages she suffered a high mortality rate from disease among her non-European crew. She was lost in August 1806 in a hurricane while returning to London from Jamaica.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Upton Castle was launched at Bombay in 1793. She spent her career as a "country ship", that is trading in the Far East. She made some voyages to England, including at least one, in 1809, under charter to the British East India Company (EIC). She also participated in two military campaigns as a transport. The French Navy captured her in 1804, but she returned to British hands before 1809. A fire in 1817 destroyed her.

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.

HMS Glenmore was an Amazon-class frigate launched in 1796. She was sold in 1814.

Shah Ardaseer was built at Bombay, probably in 1786. English transliterations of her name show her as Shah or Shaw + Adaseer, or Ardaseer, or Ardasier, or Adasier, or Ardasheer, or Ardeseer, or Ardesir. A fire on 13 September 1809 at Bombay burnt her. She then may have been recovered, repaired, and enlarged to become the hulk HMS Arrogant, which was moved to Trincomalee in 1822 and sold there in 1842.

Marchioness Wellesley was launched at Calcutta in 1805. She initially sailed as a country ship, i.e., trading east of the Cape of Good Hope. She participated in the 1811 British military expedition to Java. In 1815 she sailed to England and then sailed between England and India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). She was broken up in 1821 or 1824.

French frigate <i>Aimable</i> (1776)

Aimable was an Alcmène-class 26-gun frigate of the French Navy.

The French brig Gironde was launched at Rochefort in 1793 as a Dédaigneuse-class gun-brig of the French Navy. In 1797 she was struck from the lists and sold. She became a privateer operating out of Bordeaux. The British Royal Navy captured her in 1800 but never commissioned her; it sold her in 1801.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.