Cornwallis (ship)

Last updated March 21, 2019

Several vessels have borne the name Cornwallis, for Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis:

Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis KG, PC, styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as The Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army general and official. In the United States and the United Kingdom he is best remembered as one of the leading British generals in the American War of Independence. His surrender in 1781 to a combined American and French force at the Siege of Yorktown ended significant hostilities in North America. He also served as a civil and military governor in Ireland and India; in both places he brought about significant changes, including the Act of Union in Ireland, and the Cornwallis Code and the Permanent Settlement in India.

Two have an association with British East India Company (EIC).

The East India Company (EIC), also known as the Honourable East India Company (HEIC) or the British East India Company and informally as John Company, Company Bahadur, or simply The Company, was an English and later British joint-stock company. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with Mughal India and the East Indies, and later with Qing China. The company ended up seizing control over large parts of the Indian subcontinent, colonised parts of Southeast Asia, and colonised Hong Kong after a war with Qing China.

Cornwallis (1787 ship), a snow of 170 tons (bm), was launched at Bombay Dockyard in 1787 to serve the Bengal Pilot Service. A French privateer captured her in 1796.
Cornwallis (1789 ship)'s origins are subject to a great deal of ambiguity. She was probably built at Surat. The 1789 year is an average across eight sources that range between 1788 and 1790. Reports of her size range between 653 and 719 tons (bm). What establishes the link between the reports are commonalities of masters and owners. She was a country ship, trading primarily around India and between India and China. She made two voyages to England for the EIC. She burned at Bombay in June 1841.

Cornwallis was a snow that the Honourable East India Company (EIC) had built in 1787 at Bombay Dockyard for the Bengal Pilot Service. A French privateer captured her in 1796.

In sailing, a snow, snaw or snauw is a square rigged vessel with two masts, complemented by a snow- or trysail-mast stepped immediately abaft (behind) the main mast.

Builder's Old Measurement is the method used in England from approximately 1650 to 1849 for calculating the cargo capacity of a ship. It is a volumetric measurement of cubic capacity. It estimated the tonnage of a ship based on length and maximum beam. It is expressed in "tons burden", and abbreviated "tons bm".

Other vessels:

Cornwallis (1803 ship) was a French vessel launched in 1802 that came into British hands in 1803. Under a sequence of owners she traded with the West Indies, Spain, the Cape of Good Hope, and Singapore. She is last listed in 1834.
Cornwallis (1812 ship) was launched in 1812 at Calcutta and foundered c.January 1822.
Cornwallis (1862 ship) was launched by Thomas Vernon & Sons, Liverpool, on 11 June 1862 as a steel-hulled clipper ship. She was lost at Pitcairn Island in January 1875.

Cornwallis was a French vessel launched in 1802 that came into British hands in 1803. Under a sequence of owners she traded with the West Indies, Spain, the Cape of Good Hope, and Singapore. She is last listed in 1834.

The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa.

Cornwallis was launched in 1812 at Calcutta and lost in 1822 at Île de France (Mauritius). She first appears in Lloyd's Register for 1818 with J. Charitie, master and owner, and trade London—India. The Register of Shipping for 1822 gives her master as Charitte, and her trade as London—Bengal.

Related Research Articles

Several ships have been named after Bombay :

Bellona was a three-decker merchantman launched in 1782 at Limehouse by Woolcombe for Boyd & Co. She then traded for a decade before, in 1792, commencing a series of four voyages for the British East India Company as an "extra ship", that is, on a charter contract. During the first of these voyages she transported convicts from Britain to New South Wales. French privateers captured her and the British Royal Navy recaptured her, the Royal Navy seized her once, and then finally a French privateer captured her in February 1810 and scuttled her.

Coromandel was the French prize Modeste, captured in 1793 and refitted at Chittagong, British India. She made two voyages transporting convicts to Port Jackson, the first for the British East India Company (EIC). A French privateer captured her in 1805 but she had returned to British hands before 1809. An American privateer captured her in 1814 but this time the British Royal Navy recaptured her within days. She foundered in Indian waters on 6 February 1821.

Indefatigable was a square-rigged, three-decked, three-masted merchant ship launched in 1799 at Whitby for James Atty & Co. for the West Indies trade. In 1804 she served as an armed defense ship and recaptured a merchantman that a privateer had captured. She was a transport in the 1805–1806 British invasion of the Dutch Cape colony. She twice transported convicts to Australia; on the first trip she was chartered to the British East India Company (EIC). She burned to the waterline in 1815.

A number of sailing vessels were named Alexander:

A number of ships with the name Alexander served the British East India Company (EIC) as East Indiamen:

Numerous ships with the name Phoenix, for the constellation or the mythical bird, have sailed for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1680 and 1821:

Six vessels with the name Royal George made voyages for the British East India Company, and so may be referred to as East Indiamen. The company actually owned one, four were on long-term charter, and one was a one-voyage charter. The vessels were named in honour of one or more of the British kings whose name was George.

Four vessels with the name Princess Royal have served the British East India Company (EIC).

Numerous ships have sailed under the name Antelope. Notable ones include:

Triton was launched in 1787 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made three full voyages for the EIC before the French privateer Robert Surcouf captured her in 1796 while she was on her fourth voyage. The British Royal Navy recaptured her in 1798 and the EIC chartered her for three more voyages to Britain. Her subsequent fate is unknown.

A number of ships with the name Asia served the British East India Company (EIC) as East Indiamen:

Numerous British vessels that have served the British East India Company (EIC) have borne the name Prince of Wales, after the then current Prince of Wales, the title borne by the heir-presumptive to the throne of the United Kingdom.

Porcher was launched in 1799 at Calcutta. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) from Bengal to England. A French privateer captured her in 1802, which gave rise to a case in French courts about the validity of the capture given the impending Treaty of Amiens. The French courts condemned her in prize and new owners in Bordeaux named her Ville de Bordeaux. The British recaptured her in 1804. Thereafter she traded between England and India as a licensed ship. In 1809 she sailed to England where in 1810 new owners renamed her Cambridge. As Cambridge she made three voyages for the EIC as an extra ship. In 1818 she was again sold with her new owners continuing to sail her to the Far East as a licensed ship. She then made two more voyages to India for the EIC. In 1840 she was sold to an American trading house at Canton, and then to the Qing Dynasty, which purchased her for the Imperial Chinese Navy. The British Royal Navy destroyed her on 27 February 1841 during the Battle of First Bar at the onset of the First Opium War.

Numerous vessels have borne the name Fame:

Sir William Pulteney was launched in 1803 at Calcutta as a country ship She sailed to England on a voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) and her owner sold her there. The EIC then engaged her as an "extra ship" for six voyages as an East Indiaman to India and back. She was sold in 1817.

Duckenfield was launched in 1792 on the Thames. She was primarily a West Indiaman but between 1803 and 1805 she served the Royal Navy as an armed defense ship. She was last listed in 1819.

Lord Forbes was launched at Chester in 1803 as a West Indiaman. She soon became an "armed defense ship", but by 1805 had returned to being a West Indiaman. She made two voyages as an "extra" ship for the British East India Company (EIC). She continued trading with India until 1817 when she sustained damage on her way to Bengal. There she was surveyed, condemned and sold.

Paragon was launched at Whitby in 1800. Between 1803 and 1805 she served as an armed defense ship protecting Britain's coasts and convoys. She then served as a transport on the 1805 naval expedition to capture the Cape of Good Hope. Next, she returned to mercantile service and in 1814 a French privateer captured her, but the British Royal Navy recaptured her the next day. She sailed to India in 1818 under a license from the British East India Company (EIC}, and was wrecked in March 1819 while inbound to Calcutta.

Several ships have been named Ceres for Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture:

Cornwallis (ship)

See also

Related Research Articles