Fate
Duchess of Rutland was one of a convoy of some 30 merchant vessels that left Malta on 4 January 1805, bound for England. The convoy escorts were HMS Acheron and Arrow. [4]
Between 19 and 22 January, bad weather off the coast of Spain caused the convoy to separate into two parts, one with Arrow and the other with Acheron. During the night of 29 January the brig Union apparently foundered with all hands during a squall. [4]
On 3 February 1805 the convoy encountered the French frigates Hortense and Incorruptible. Captain Richard Budd Vincent of Arrow signaled to Duchess of Rutland, the most capable, though minimally so, of the merchant vessels, to join the action, a signal Duchess of Rutland ignored. [4]
Arrow and Acheron were able to save the majority of the vessels of the convoy by their resistance before they were compelled to strike. Arrow sank almost immediately after surrendering, and Acheron was so badly damaged that the French burnt her. [4]
The French also captured three ships of the convoy; the rest of the convoy escaped. One of the merchantmen captured was Dutchess of Rutland, whose master failed to destroy her convoy signals and instructions; fortunately the French had to return to port to effect repairs and did not take advantage of the opportunity this represented. The French scuttled the three merchant vessels they had captured. [5]
Lloyd's List reported that the frigate Incorruptible had captured and burnt the transport Duchess of Rutland, Postgate, master, which had been sailing from Malta to London. Her crew had been taken into Cartagena, Spain. [6]
HMS Argo was a 44-gun fifth-rate Roebuck-class ship of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1781 from Howdon Dock. The French captured her in 1783, but 36 hours later the British recaptured her. She then distinguished herself in the French Revolutionary Wars by capturing several prizes, though she did not participate in any major actions. She also served in the Napoleonic Wars. She was sold in 1816.
Incorruptible was a 40-gun Romaine-class frigate of the French Navy.
Hortense was a 40-gun Hortense-class frigate and lead vessel of her class of the French Navy.
Sir Arthur Farquhar KCH, CB, RSO was an officer of the British Royal Navy. He served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
HMS Arrow was a sloop-of-war in the Royal Navy that the Admiralty purchased in 1796. during the French Revolutionary Wars she participated in many actions, including one that resulted in her crew qualifying for the Naval General Service Medal. On 3 February 1805 she and Acheron were escorting a convoy from Malta to England when they encountered two French frigates. Arrow and Acheron were able to save the majority of the vessels of the convoy by their resistance before they were compelled to strike. Arrow sank almost immediately after surrendering, and Acheron was so badly damaged that the French burnt her.
London Packet was a merchant vessel launched on the Thames in 1791. She served the Royal Navy as a hired armed ship from 31 March 1793, to at least 30 September 1800, and despite some records, apparently for a year or more beyond that. She then returned to sailing as a merchant man until an American privateer captured her in May 1814.
HMS Acheron was the mercantile New Grove, launched at Whitby in 1799, that the Admiralty purchased in 1803 and fitted as a bomb-vessel. She served in the Mediterranean for about a year. On 3 February 1805 she and Arrow were escorting a convoy from Malta to England when they encountered two French frigates. Arrow and Acheron were able to save the majority of the vessels of the convoy by their resistance before they were compelled to strike. Arrow sank almost immediately after surrendering, and Acheron was so badly damaged that the French burnt her. However, the British vessels' self- sacrifice enabled almost all the vessels of the convoy to escape.
Alligator was launched in 1793 at London. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). She then became a general trader crossing the Atlantic. She was wrecked in 1820.
Achilles was a merchant vessel launched at Sunderland in 1781, probably under another name. She traded widely, particularly to the West Indies. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). She was also the victor in 1799 in a sanguinary single-ship action against a French privateer. She herself fell victim in 1801 to a French privateer.
Hannah was launched at Whitby in 1793. Her owner in 1796 transferred her registry from Whitby to London. She traded with the Baltic, between London and Liverpool, and then the Baltic again. A Spanish privateer captured her in 1805.
Blenheim may have been launched in 1776 in Philadelphia as Britannia. By 1777 she was the Massachusetts-based privateer American Tartar and had taken several prizes. She had also participated in an inconclusive single-ship action with a British merchantman. The British Royal Navy captured American Tartar late in 1777 and she became HMS Hinchinbrook. The Royal Navy sold her in 1783 and she became the West Indiaman Blenheim. In 1785-86 she became a Greenland whaler and she continued in that trade until two French frigates captured and burnt her in 1806.
Duchess of Portland was launched at Bristol in 1783. She was primarily a West Indiaman. However, she made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people, and two as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She then became a transport. The US Navy captured her in 1812. She was in ballast and her captors burnt her.
Providence was launched in 1790 at South Shields. She initially traded with Saint Petersburg but then in 1804 the British Royal Navy hired her. She remained in Royal Navy service until towards the end of 1812. She returned to trading as a transport, coaster, and to the Baltic. She disappears from the registers between 1835 and 1850. She was wrecked in 1869 and broken up in 1870.
Several ships have been named John:
Duchess of Rutland was launched in 1786 in Dublin. She carried passengers between England and Ireland. In 1793 she apparently transferred to Liverpool and sailed from there as a West Indiaman. She was on a voyage to Barbados when a French privateer captured her in 1797.
Several ships have been named Duchess of Rutland for one of the Duchesses of Rutland.
Tartar was launched in France in 1802, or Spain in 1805, almost certainly under another name. In 1806 she sailed under the flag of the United Kingdom on a voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. On her return she started trading between Liverpool and Brazil and Africa. A French frigate captured her in 1813, but then released her. She was wrecked early in 1815.
Ellis was a French prize, captured in 1797, possibly built that year also. Liverpool merchants purchased her. She made five complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade carrying enslaved people from West Africa to the British West Indies. She was lost at sea on 23 April 1806 on her sixth voyage before she could take on any captives.
Sappho was launched in France circa 1803, probably under another name, and captured in 1804. She became a West Indiaman and then privateer that the French Navy recaptured and destroyed in March 1808.
Laurel's origins are ambiguous. She first appeared in online British sources in 1802. She made three voyages from Liverpool to Africa. On the first she apparently was on a trading voyage. The second was a complete voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. During this voyage she was involved in two sanguinary engagements with French vessels, the second of which resulted in the death of her master. She set out in 1805 on a second voyage to transport enslaved people, but a French squadron captured her before she had embarked any captives.
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