| History | |
|---|---|
 Dutch East India Company | |
| Name | Constantia |
| Builder | Delfshaven |
| Launched | 1782 |
| Captured | 15 August 1795 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 440 Last (load) (880 tons) |
| Length | 140 Voet (Foot) |
Constantia was launched in 1782 at the Delft Shipyard as an East Indiaman for the Delft Chamber of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). The British Royal Navy captured her in 1795 when the British occupied Malacca.
1st VOC voyage (1784–1785): Captain Adriaan van Katersveld sailed from Goeree on 14 September 1784, bound for Batavia. Consantia arrived at the Cape of Good Hope on 23 December, and left on 16 January 1785. She arrived at Batavia on 21 April. [1]
2nd VOC voyage (1786): Captain Adriaan van Katersveld sailed from Bengal on 22 January 1786 with cargo for the Delft and Rotterdam Chambers of the VOC. Constantia arrived at the Cape on 3 April, and left on 11 May. She arrived at Goeree on 20 July. [2]
3rd VOC voyage (1787): Captain Jan Hendrik van der Linden sailed from Goeree on 16 May 1787, bound for Batavia. Constantia arrived at the Cape on 29 August, and left on 12 October. She arrived at Batavia on 18 December. [3]
4th VOC voyage (1790–1791): Captain Johan Gallo sailed from Batavia on 28 October 11790, bound for Goeree with cargo for the Delft Chamber. Constantia arrived at the Cape on 25 January 1791, and left on 20 February. She arrived at Goeree on 20 May. [4]
5th VOC voyage (1793–1794): Captain Andries Laurens Kanters sailed from Goeree on 8 July 1793, bound for Batavia. Constantia arrived at the Cape on 22 November, and left on 8 December. She arrived at Batavia on 18 February 1794. [5]
The Dutch government at Malacca arranged with the British government to turn Malacca over to the British rather than the having the Batavian Government, allies of the French, take possession. The British sent an expedition from Bengal that arrived off Malacca on 15 August 1795. HMS Resistance arrived on the 17th, and the operation began that morning.
Constantia had been run into the mud between the fleet and the Fort. Resistance fired a few shots in her direction; Constancia fired two shots in return, and then struck. Lieutenant Thomas Pitt (acting), of Resistance, led the boarding party. [lower-alpha 1] Midshipman Nesbit Willoughby commanded a second boat that accompanied Pitt.
The British troops landed, took possession of the Fort, and the Dutch signed Articles of Capitulation. [6]
One European sailor aboard Constantia had been shot dead before she struck. [7] On 21 January 1796, Constantia's captain, commander, and sublieutenant, together with 17 European sailors and 24 Madurese soldiers left Malacca on the privately owned vessel Arnolda, E. Campadonica, master, bound for Java. [8]
The Eendracht was an early 17th century Dutch wooden-hulled 700 tonne East Indiaman, launched in 1615 in the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Its Dutch name means "concord", "unity" or "union", and was a common name given to Dutch ships of the period, from the motto of the Republic: Concordia res parvae crescunt . The ship was captained by Dirk Hartog when he made the second recorded landfall by a European on Australian soil, in 1616.
Ridderschap van Holland was a large retourschip, the largest class of merchantmen built by the Dutch East India Company to trade with the East Indies. In 1694 the ship sailed for Batavia on her fifth voyage, but was never heard from again. She is now thought to have been shipwrecked off the west coast of Australia.
Vianen was a 17th-century Dutch East Indies Company sailing ship, used to transport cargo between Europe and the Indies. She was shipwrecked but refloated on her first voyage, and shipwrecked and sunk on her second. Built at Amsterdam in 1626, she had a gross tonnage of 400.
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.
Batavia was built at Topsham, England in 1802. At first she traded independently with the East Indies, but then she made three voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). Lastly, she made one voyage in 1818 transporting convicts to Australia. She was broken up in 1819.
Walter Boyd was the East Indiaman Oosthuizen of the Dutch East India Company. Oosthuizen was launched in 1789 and made one voyage to the Far East. She was on her second voyage in 1794 when the British seized her. In 1795 British interests purchased her and named her Walter Boyd. She made one voyage for the British East India Company. She then became a West Indiaman. On her last voyage, in 1801, Walter Boyd captured a Spanish schooner but then foundered on the way back to London from Martinique.
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.
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 an East Indiaman that made eight voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) between her launching in 1803 and her sale for breaking up in 1819.
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.
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.
Essex was launched in 1780 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). On her first voyage she was present at an inconclusive battle with the French, and later at a second inconclusive engagement with a French frigate. In 1798 she was sold to be hulked or broken up.
Haasje was built at Amsterdam in 1788 as a packet for the Dutch East India Company (VOC). She made three or probably four voyages between Texel and Batavia. A British whaler captured her in August 1797 as she was on a secret mission from Batavia to arm Dutch farmers in the Cape Colony to stir up difficulties for the British. She sailed to Britain and a French privateer captured her shortly before she arrived. She was quickly recaptured. She became a merchantman sailing between London and Dartmouth, and then London and Africa. She was last listed in 1806.
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.
The Leeuwin was a 400-ton jacht of the Dutch East India Company that travelled to the East Indies twice starting 3 April 1653. It wrecked near Macassar on 24 December 1664.
Candia was a ship of the Dutch East India Company which only once traveled for Asia in 1790 and never returned to the Netherlands.
Horssen was an East Indiaman operated by the Delft chamber of the Dutch East India Company. She was launched in 1784 and made the voyage to the Far East in 1786. She then had sailed for several nearby ports in Asia, when she finally set out for the successful return voyage in 1791, carrying aboard the prisoner Mary Bryant to Cape Town. After arriving in Europe in 1792 she was put out of service.
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.
William Pitt was launched on the River Thames in 1785 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). During her fourth she served as an ad hoc warship in a naval campaign during which she saw action. Thereafter she served as a transport, including one voyage in 1801-1802 transporting rice from Bengal to Britain. She was sold for breaking up in 1809.
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.