EIC voyage #1 (1797–1798): Captain George Stevens sailed from Portsmouth on 6 April 1797, bound for Madras and China. Ceres reached Madras on 27 July.[2] The British government briefly hired her to use her as transport for an attack on Manila. A peace treaty with Spain forestalled the attack and the government released Ceres after she had spent some 59 days waiting, for which it paid £1598 in demurrage.
Homeward bound, Ceres crossed the Second Bar on 28 February 1798, reached St Helena on 5 August, and arrived at Long Reach on 22 October.[2]
EIC voyage #2 (1800–1801): Captain Stevens sailed from Portsmouth on 17 March 1800, bound for Madras and China. Ceres reached Madras on 13 July and Penang on 27 August, and arrived at Whampoa on 30 October. Homeward bound, Ceres crossed the Second Bar on 14 December, reached St Helena on 15 April 1801, and arrived at Long Reach on 17 June.[2]
EIC voyage #3 (1802–1803): Captain William Dunsford sailed from The Downs on 4 March 1802, bound for China. Ceres arrived at Whampoa on 30 July. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 23 October, reached St Helena on 15 February 1803, and arrived at Long Reach on 26 April.[2]
The fleet arrived at Rio de Janeiro around 14–18 August; Ceres arrived on 17 August.[2] The fleet left Rio on 1 September and later passed the Cape of Good Hope. To avoid French ships reported to be in the Indian Ocean, the fleet sailed towards Western Australia, rather than to the Straits of Malacca.
Ceres arrived at Whampoa on 13 January 1805. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 14 February, reached Malacca on 21 March and St Helena on 30 June, and arrived at Long Reach on 15 September.[2]
EIC voyage #5 (1806–1807): Captain Dunsford sailed from Portsmouth on 4 March 1806, bound for Bombay and China. Ceres reached Bombay on 20 June, Penang on 4 September, and Whampoa on 3 December. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 13 December, reached Penang on 20 January 1807 and St Helena on 17 April, and arrived at Long Reach on 5 July.[2]
EIC voyage #6 (1808–1809): Captain Dunsford sailed from Portsmouth on 5 March 1808, bound for Madras and China. Ceres reached the Cape of Good Hope on 31 May, Madras on 3 August, Penang on 21 August, Malacca on 5 September, and Whampoa on 4 October. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 2 February 1809, reached Lintin on 2 March, Malacca on 22 March, Penang on 31 March and St Helena on 7 July. She arrived at Greenhithe on 14 September.[2]
EIC voyage #7 (1811–1812): Captain Hugh Scott acquired a letter of marque on 25 February 1811. He sailed from Portsmouth on 8 April 1811, bound for China. Ceres reached the Cape on 13 July and Penang on 30 August; she arrived at Whampoa on 22 October. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 18 December, reached St Helena on 21 March 1812, and arrived at Long Reach on 15 May.[2]
EIC voyage #8 (1812–1814): Captain Scott sailed from Portsmouth on 24 December 1812, bound for China via St Helena and Bencoolen. Ceres stopped at St Helena, Bencoolen, Penang, Malacca, Whampoa, and St Helena, and arrived back at Long Reach on 10 August 1804.[2]
EIC voyage #9 (1815–1816): Captain Scott sailed from The Downs on 3 April 1815, bound for St Helena and China. Ceres reached St Helena on 28 May, Penang on 22 August, Malacca on 9 September, and Whampoa on 13 October. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 30 November, reached St Helena on 25 March 1812, and arrived at Long Reach on 14 May.[2]
When Ceres arrived back at London she discharged her crew, including her Chinese sailors hired in Canton. Princess Amelia repatriated 29 to Canton, together with 351 others, leaving the Downs on 20 July 1816.[6]
Fate
In 1816 her owners sold Ceres for use as a hulk.[1]
Notes
↑ The fleet also had the objective to improve the charting of Bass Strait.[5]
Warley, launched in 1796, was one of the British East India Company's (EIC), larger and more famous East Indiamen. She made nine voyages to the East between 1796 and 1816, most direct to China. In 1804 she participated in the Battle of Pulo Aura. In 1816, the company sold her for breaking up.
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.
Perseverance was launched in 1801 as an East Indiaman. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), before she was sold in 1819 for breaking up.
Alfred was launched in 1790 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made eight voyages for the EIC before she was sold. She participated in two notable incidents in which East Indiamen bluffed superior French naval forces from engaging. In January 1797, on her third voyage, in the Bali Strait Alfred and five other Indiamen sent off a French squadron of six frigates without a shot being fired. In February 1804, at Pulo Aura, during her sixth voyage she participated in a notable engagement with a French squadron. After her last voyage for the EIC Alfred served as a storeship and a hulk.
Henry Addington was launched in 1800 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made seven voyages for the EIC before she was sold in 1815 for breaking up. She was one of the vessels at the Battle of Pulo Aura in 1804.
Wexford was launched in 1802 as an East Indiaman in the service of the British East India Company (EIC). She made seven voyages to India, Persia, and China for the EIC, on the first of which she participated in the battle of Pulo Aura. Her last voyage ended in 1817 and she was broken up c. 1819.
Hope was launched in 1797 on the Thames River. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) before she was sold for breaking up in 1816. She was one of the East Indiamen at the battle of Pulo Aura.
Alnwick Castle was launched in 1801 as an East Indiaman. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company before her owners sold her in 1816 for breaking up.
Taunton Castle was launched on the River Thames in 1790 as an East Indiaman. She made nine voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) before she was broken up in 1813. In 1797, on her third trip, she was one of a fleet of six East Indiamen that bluffed a squadron of six French frigates into fleeing.
Bridgewater was launched in 1812 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made eight voyages to India and China for the EIC. A hurricane dismasted her as she was homeward bound on her ninth voyage. She was surveyed at Calcutta in 1830, condemned, and sold for breaking up in 1831.
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.
Dorsetshire was launched in 1800 as an East Indiaman. She made nine voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). In each of her first, second, and third voyages she was involved in a notable action. The remainder of her voyages appear to have proceeded without incident. She ceased sailing for the EIC in 1823 and was broken up c.1827.
Atlas was launched at Kingston upon Hull in 1812 as an East Indiaman. She made nine voyages to India or China for the British East India Company (EIC) before she was sold in 1831 for breaking up.
Walmer Castle was launched in 1796 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made nine voyages for the EIC before she was sold in 1815 to sail as a troopship and supply ship for the British Army. She was broken up in 1821.
Thames was launched on the Thames in 1796 as an East Indiaman. She made eight voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She was sold for breaking up in 1816.
Essex was launched on 7 February 1803 by Perry, Blackwell as an East Indiaman. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) until on 20 August 1821 her register was cancelled as she had been demolished.
David Scott was launched on the Thames in 1801 as an East Indiaman. Between 1801 and 1816 she made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She was sold in 1816 for hulking.
Cirencester was launched in 1795 at Rotherhithe. Between 1795 and 1813 she made eight voyages as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She was sold in 1813 for a hulk.
Marquis of Huntly was launched at Rotherhithe in 1811. She made 11 voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1812 and 1834, when she was broken up.
Princess Amelia was launched in 1808 on the Thames East Indiaman. She made ten voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). The first six were as a "regular" ship; the next four represented single voyages contracted for by the EIC. On several of these voyages Princess Amelia brought to England Chinese sailors, or carried them back to China after they had become stranded in London at the end of EIC vessels' arrival back in England. On her fifth voyage Princess Amelia repatriated 380 Chinese sailors. She was broken up in 1827.
References
Hackman, Rowan (2001). Ships of the East India Company. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN0-905617-96-7.
Van Dyke, Paul A. (2017). "A ship full of Chinese passengers: Princess Amelia's voyage from London to China in 1816–17". In Swope, Kenneth M.; Andrade, Tonio (eds.). Early Modern East Asia: War, Commerce, and Cultural Exchange. Routledge.
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