Comet was launched in 1800 on the Thames. In 1801 she made a voyage under charter to the British East India Company (EIC). On her second voyage, in 1803, the French captured her. Still, in 1804 her previous owners were able to reacquire her. She then made another voyage for the EIC. On her return she first served as a troopship and then in the West Indies trade. She apparently was lost in 1815 or 1816.
Comet's first voyage, under the command of Captain J. Mooring, was to Surinam.[3] (Mooring or Moring had come from Duckenfield Hall, another St Barbe ship.) St Barbe then chartered Comet to the EIC, which first had Wells inspect and measure her.
Comet arrived at Calcutta on 9 February 1802. Homeward bound, she was at Diamond Harbour on 7 May, before returning to Calcutta on 23 May.[2]Comet had grounded in the Bengal River and had to put back for repairs.[6] Again homeward bound, she was at Diamond Harbour on 7 July, and Kedgeree on 2 August. She reached St Helena on 8 November, and arrived at Long Reach on 5 January 1803.[2]
Prior to Comet's ill-fated, second voyage for the EIC, Captain James Moring received a letter of marque on 20 May 1803.[4] (He had been first officer under Larkin on Comet's first voyage.[7]) He sailed from Portsmouth on 21 June 1803, bound for St Helena and Bengal. On 1 July the French captured Comet 160-190 leagues north of Madeira.[2][8] The French squadron, which consisted of five ships of the line and some frigates, had been returning to France from San Domingo. They took Comet into Ferrol.[9]
The French liberated their English prisoners promptly. By September Moring was in English hands, revealing what he had seen at Ferrol.[10]
A year later Comet too was back in English hands. The French had sold Comet at A Coruña (across the bay from Ferrol), to an American company in London. The Americans then sent her in August in ballast to England. While she was on her way, HMSNorthumberland, flagship to Admiral Alexander Cochrane, detained her and sent her into Plymouth, where she arrived on 2–3 September 1804.[11]
Lloyd's Register for 1805 shows Comet, "Mooring", master, and St Barbe, owner, with trade London—India.[12] Captain James Moring received a letter of marque on 15 March 1805. Comet left Cork on 31 August, bound for Madras and Bengal. She was at Madeira on 29 September.[2]
Comet was one of the EIC vessels that were part of the expedition under General Sir David Baird and Admiral Sir Home Riggs Popham that would in 1806 capture the Dutch Cape Colony. They would carry supplies and troops to the Cape, and then continue on their voyages.
At 3:30a.m. on 1 November, near Rocas Atoll at 3°51′27″N33°48′57″W / 3.85750°N 33.81583°W / 3.85750; -33.81583, HMSLeda sighted breakers and fired a gun, the signal to tack, herself barely missing the danger. King George was unable to tack and wrecked. As Britannia was on the point of tacking she ran afoul of Streatham and lost her bowsprit and foretopmast. She then drifted on to the atoll where she lost her rudder and bilged.[13] In the morning Leda was able to rescue the survivors from King George and Comet, Europe, and Varuna sent their boats and were able to rescue about 400 people from Britannia, including Brisk, his crew, and recruits for the EIC's armies.[13]
Comet reached Madras on 22 April.[2] At Madras, the captains of the eight East Indiamen in the convoy joined together to present Captain George Byng, of Belliqueux, a piece of silver plate worth £100 as a token of appreciation for his conduct while they were under his orders. Byng wrote his thank you letter to them on 24 April.[14]
Comet reached Masulipatnam on 5 June and arrived at Calcutta on 17 June. Homeward bound, Comet was at Culpee on 18 August, Saugor on 24 September, Madras again on 10 October, Trincomalee on 18 October, the Cape on 30 December, and St Helena on 23 January 1807. She arrived at Blackwall on 15 April.[2]
Comet apparently served as a troopship before her owners placed her in the West Indies trade. Captain George Higton received a letter of marque for Comet on 22 February 1808,[4] but there is no sign in online resources that he actually took command. Captain James McDonald received a letter of marque on 7 February 1809,[4] but the supplemental pages to Lloyd's Register for 1808 already list him as master.
Fate
Year
Master
Owner
Trade
Source
1815
J.Wilson
Dawson & Co.
London—Gibraltar
Lloyd's Register
1815
Burnell
T&J Dawson
London—St Croix
Register of Shipping
1816
Wilson
Dawson & Co.
London—Jamaica
Lloyd's Register
One source states that Comet was lost at sea in 1816.[1]Lloyd's List has no mention of the loss of a Comet in 1816. It does list two as being lost in 1815. On 7 July 1815 it reported that Comet, Wilson, master, had been lost on 29 June on West Hoyle sandbank as she was sailing from Dublin to Chester. The crew was saved.[15]
Northampton, was a three-decker merchant ship launched in 1801 upon the River Thames, England. She made eight voyages to India as an extra (chartered) ship for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1801 and 1819. During the same period she made one separate trip transporting convicts from Britain to New South Wales, followed by a voyage for the EIC from China back to England. In 1820 she carried settlers to South Africa. She is last listed in Lloyd's Register in 1822.
Experiment was launched in 1802 and was immediately taken up by the British East India Company (EIC), as an "extra ship" on a multi-voyage charter. She made three voyages for the EIC and disappeared without a trace while homeward bound on her fourth voyage in the same storm that claimed two other East Indiamen.
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.
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.
Hugh Inglis was launched in 1799 as an East Indiaman. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), between 1800 and 1817. In 1810 and 1811 she participated as a transport in two British military campaigns. She was sold for breaking up in 1817.
William Pitt was launched in 1805 as an East Indiaman. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), between 1805 and 1819. In 1810 and 1811 she participated as a transport in two British military campaigns. She was sold for breaking up in 1820.
Union was launched at Calcutta in 1801. She sailed to England and then made five voyages as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC), between 1805 and 1814. She was wrecked in late 1815 or early 1816.
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.
City of London was launched in 1800 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1800 and 1814 when she was taken up as a troopship for one voyage. She made one more voyage to India under a license from the EIC and then was broken up circa 1817.
Sir Stephen Lushington was launched in 1796 as an East Indiaman. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). During this period she took part as a transport in two military campaigns, the cancelled attack on Manila in 1797, and the capture of Mauritius in 1810. In 1812 she became a West Indiaman, thought around 1816 she made another voyage to India. Thereafter her ownership and trade becomes ambiguous: she either traded with Spain until 1822, or with South America until 1825.
Manship was launched in 1785 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages as a "regular ship" for the British East India Company (EIC). In June 1795 Manship shared with several other Indiamen and the Royal Navy in the capture of eight Dutch East Indiamen off St Helena. Her owners sold her in 1801 and she then made one voyage for the EIC as an "extra ship" on a voyage charter. Her owners sold her to the British government in 1803 for use as a powder hulk.
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.
Skelton Castle was an East Indiaman launched in 1800. She made three complete voyages to India for the British East India Company (EIC). She disappeared without a trace in December 1806 while on the outward-bound leg of her fourth voyage.
Sarah Christiana was launched in 1798. She made one voyage as an "extra ship" for the British East India Company (EIC). She then made a voyage to Jamaica. On her return, the EIC engaged her for four more voyages as an East Indiaman. In 1810 she was sold and became a West Indiaman. She was wrecked broken up in 1828.
Calcutta was launched in 1798 as an East Indiaman. She made four voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), and disappeared while homeward bound from Bengal on her fifth voyage.
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.
Carmarthen was launched in 1802 as an East Indiaman. She made eight round voyages as an "extra" ship for the British East India Company (EIC). On her first voyage she participated in an experiment in bringing variolation to India and other British possessions to combat smallpox. After leaving the EIC's employment, she took one more voyage to India, sailing under a licence from the EIC. She was last listed in 1820.
References
Grocott, Terence (1997). Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary & Napoleonic Eras. London: Chatham. ISBN1861760302.
Hackman, Rowan (2001). Ships of the East India Company. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN0-905617-96-7.
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