Plan of the Earl Talbot (1796), which the Royal Navy purchased on the stocks and launched as HMS Agincourt (1796). The Earl Talbot of 1797 was of the same size as its predecessor and almost surely used the same plans | |
History | |
---|---|
Great Britain | |
Name | Earl Talbot |
Namesake | Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 2nd Earl Talbot |
Owner | William Moffatt [1] |
Builder | Perry, Blackwall |
Laid down | 1796 |
Launched | 12 January 1797 [1] |
Fate | Wrecked October 1800 |
General characteristics [2] | |
Tons burthen | 1200 (rated), [3] or 1428, [4] or 142810⁄94, [1] or 1478 [4] (bm) |
Length |
|
Beam | 43 ft 3 in (13.2 m) |
Depth of hold | 17 ft 6 in (5.3 m) |
Propulsion | Sail |
Complement | |
Armament |
Earl Talbot was launched in 1797 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made one complete voyage to Madras and China between 1797 and 1798. She was lost in October 1800 on her second voyage for the EIC.
She had been the follow on replacement of an earlier vessel commissioned by the EIC from the Blackwall yard, Mr. Perry; which had been requisitioned on the stocks by the Admiralty in 1796, [5] and launched on 23 July 1796 as HMS Agincourt. [6]
EIC Voyage #1 (1797-1798): Captain Jeremiah Dawkins received a letter of marque on 28 January 1797. (He had been captain of the predecessor Earl Talbot, which had been sold in 1793 for breaking up.) He sailed from Portsmouth on 18 March, bound for Madras and China. Earl Talbot reached Madras on 18 March. [2] Dawkins died on 10 July. His replacement was his First Mate, John Dale. [7] [8]
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 her after she had spent some 59 days waiting (for which it paid £1598 in demurrage).
Earl Talbot reached Penang on 5 September, and Malacca on 15 October, and arrived at Whampoa anchorage on 19 December. [2] Homeward bound, Earl Talbot crossed the Second Bar on 1 March 1798, reached St Helena on 5 August, and arrived in the Downs on 18 October. [2]
EIC Voyage #2 (1800-loss): Captain John Hamilton Dempster received a letter of marque on 11 December 1799. [4] He sailed from Portsmouth on 7 January 1800, bound for Bombay and China. [2] She left Bombay on 17 August. [9] On 2 October she and several other Indiamen were sighted at the Anambas Islands. [10]
Later that month Earl Talbot struck on the Perates, in the South China Sea some 300 miles to the southeast of Hong Kong, during a gale. [lower-alpha 1] She foundered with the loss of all her passengers and crew, who numbered some 150 persons. [9] Houghton was sailing from China to Bombay when she sighted the wreckage. Houghton reported the loss at Bombay. The EIC sent HCS Intrepid and Comet from Bombay to search for the cause of Earl Talbot's loss and to pick up any possible survivors. [1] However, both disappeared without a trace and were presumed to have foundered at sea. [11] The EIC put the value of the cargo it had lost on Earl Talbot at £2,603. [3]
Queen was launched in 1785 and served the British East India Company as an East Indiaman. She had made four voyages to India and China for the Company and was on the initial leg of her fifth voyage when a fire on 9 July 1800 destroyed her at St. Salvador.
Hindostan was an East Indiaman of the East India Company. She was a large vessel of 1,463 tons (bm), launched in 1796 to replace a previous Hindostan that the Royal Navy had bought and turned into a Fourth Rate ship of the line. Her owner was Robert Williams, M.P., who had been the owner of the previous Hindostan.
Royal Admiral was an East Indiaman, launched in 1777 on the River Thames. She made eight trips for the East India Company (EIC) before she was sold. She then continued to trade. She made two trips carrying convicts from England to Australia, one as an East Indiaman in 1791, and a second in 1800. On this second voyage as a convict transport she was present at a notable naval action.
Barwell was a merchantman launched in 1782. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She then left the EIC's service but continued to sail. She made one voyage transporting convicts in 1797 from England to Australia. She was last listed in 1807.
Ocean was an East Indiaman launched in 1788 that made four trips for the British Honourable East India Company between February 1789 and February 1797, when she was wrecked on the island of Kalatea in the East Indies.
Ganges was a large, three-decker East Indiaman, launched in 1797. She made three complete voyages between Britain and China for the British East India Company. On her third she participated in the singular Battle of Pulo Auro. She sank on the homeward leg of her fourth voyage, but with no loss of life.
Caledonian was launched on the Thames River in 1797. Between 1798 and 1803 she made two voyages to China and India as an "extra ship", i.e., under charter to the British East India Company (EIC). She sustained severe damage on the first. She burnt accidentally in 1804.
King George was launched in 1784 and made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1785 and 1798. She also participated in the invasion of St Lucia. In 1798 her owners sold her and she became a West Indiaman. An accident in 1800 at Jamaica destroyed her.
Earl Talbot was launched as an East Indiaman in 1778. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1779 and 1793. She was sold for breaking up in 1793.
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.
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.
Melville Castle was launched in 1786 as an East Indiaman. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She was sold in 1802 to Dutch owners and wrecked with great loss of life later that year on her first voyage for them.
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.
Dublin was launched in 1784 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), to India and China. On her last voyage for the EIC she recaptured a country ship. Her owners sold Dublin in 1800 and she became a West Indiaman, but apparently was lost on her first voyage.
Earl of Wycombe was launched in 1786 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). In 1800 she became a general trader, trading across the Atlantic to the West Indies and Canada. She was lost without a trace c.1803.
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.
Berrington was launched in 1783. She made six voyages as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She then became a West Indiaman before again making a voyage under the auspices of the EIC to bring rice from Bengal to England for the British government. She returned to Indian waters and was last listed in 1807.
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.
Sovereign was launched at Rotherhithe in 1800 as a West Indiaman. The British East India Company (EIC) then took her up as an "extra" ship on several contracts; in all she made seven voyages as an East Indiaman for the EIC. After she left the EIC's service in 1817 she continued to trade with India, but under a license from the EIC. She was broken up in 1822.
Thetis was launched on the river Thames in 1786 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company between 1787 and 1800, She was then sold and spent a handful of years as a West Indiaman. She was broken up in 1806.
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