| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Four Sisters [1] |
| Builder | Rangoon |
| Launched | 1815 [1] |
| Renamed | Frances Charlotte |
| Fate | Lost 1816 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Ship |
| Tons burthen | 670, [1] or 672 [2] (bm) |
| Propulsion | Sail |
Frances Charlotte was launched at Rangoon in 1815 as Four Sisters. She was renamed and as Frances Charlotte was lost in 1816 on Preparis in the Bay of Bengal.
In 1816, the British Army left Java. Some 400 men of the 78th Highlanders regiment, together with their wives and children, embarked on Princess Charlotte on 18 September 1816 but a day later she hit a sunken rock. It was only with great difficulty that she returned to Batavia Roads. Her passengers transferred to Frances Charlotte, Captain Acres, which sailed for Calcutta on 29 September. [3] [4]
On 5 November 1816, Frances Charlotte hit a sunken reef some 12 miles off Preparis. The ship's boats could only take about 150 people at a time, and a number of men remained marooned on the wreck and a nearby rock. [3] [4]
On 9 November the merchant ship Po, Captain Knox, on her way to Penang from Madras, came by. She rescued 27 men (or 40) from the wreck, but then left after having lost a boat in a second attempt to bring of survivors, and with the weather worsening. Two men died in that attempt, and Po left behind her first mate. [3] [4] [5]
On 10 November, the merchant ship Prince Blucher, Captain Weathrall, was sailing in the vicinity when she spied wreckage. Weathrall investigated and when he saw a signal fire stopped to render assistance. Between 11 and 14 November, Prince Blucher was able to rescue some 316 men, women, and children. She was able to rescue 110 of the 119 men that had remained on the rock after Po left, the remained having died. [3] [4]
The weather and damage to Prince Blucher prevented her from rescuing another 90 Europeans and 40 lascars who remained on the island. After nine days Prince Blucher arrived at Bengal. [3] [4]
The Government of Bengal then sent two cruisers that rescued the remaining survivors of the wreck. [3] The last survivors had been marooned for some 36 days. By the time they were rescued, the survivors had run out of food and were too weak even to gather the few shellfish on the rocks at low tide. Some of the survivors died from privation shortly after finally being rescued, and some died from gorging themselves after having starved. [3] [4]
By one report, 14 soldiers and two lascars had died in the loss of Frances Charlotte. [5]
At Calcutta, Weathrall and his men received great praise for their efforts. The Governor-General, on behalf of the government of Bengal, awarded Weathrall 5000 sicca rupees for plate. It also awarded money to his officers and crew. The merchants of Calcutta awarded Weathrall with an engraved silver plate. [3]
Citations
References
| Shipwrecks |
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|---|---|
| Other incidents |
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Alexander was a merchant vessel launched at Bombay in 1803. She was shipwrecked in 1815 while on passage from Bombay to London two miles (3 km) from the Isle of Portland on the Dorset coast in the English Channel. Only five of the ship's 140 crew and passengers survived the disaster.
Campbell Macquarie was a ship that Joseph Underwood, a Sydney merchant, purchased at Calcutta in 1810. She appears, with Richard Siddins, master, in a list of vessels registered at Calcutta in 1811. She was wrecked near Macquarie Island in 1812.
Morning Star was launched at Calcutta, India, in 1813. She was wrecked on a coral reef south of Forbes Island, north Queensland in July 1814.
Betsey was a ship that was launched at Chittagong in 1803. She was abandoned off the coast of New Zealand in 1815.
Frederick was a sailing ship built in 1807 at Batavia. She made four voyages to Australia and was wrecked at Cape Flinders on Stanley Island, Queensland, Australia in 1818.
Preparis Island is an island which is part of the Yangon Region of Myanmar. Together, with the other Andaman Islands, it marks the boundary between the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The island has a population of 50 and a total area of 8.1 km2 (3.1 sq mi).
Royal Charlotte was a three-masted merchant ship launched in 1819. Royal Charlotte carried convicts to Australia in 1825. On her way home to India via Batavia she wrecked on 11 June, but with minimal loss of life.
Bengal Merchant was a sailing ship built of teak in Bengal and launched there on 26 May 1812. Between 1812 and 1829, Bengal Merchant was in private trade as a licensed ship. She served the East India Company (EIC) in 1813 and from 1830 till 1834. She also twice transported convicts from Britain to Australia before she was hulked in 1856.
Eliza was a merchant ship built in Calcutta, British India, in 1811. She made two voyages transporting convicts from Calcutta to Australia but wrecked in 1815 on her way home from her second voyage.
Gaillardon was a merchant ship built in Calcutta, British India in 1833. She made three voyages transporting convicts from India to Australia and was wrecked upon the Coromandel Coast in 1840.
Mornington was a British merchant vessel built of teak and launched in 1799 at Calcutta. She made three voyages under charter to the British East India Company (EIC). On the third French privateers twice captured her and Royal Navy vessels twice recaptured her. A fire destroyed her in 1815.
Bhavani was a ship launched at Calcutta in 1797. She was under the command of Captain John Carse when she was wrecked on 12 November 1799 on the coast of France 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Boulogne-sur-Mer in a gale during a voyage from Calcutta to London. On 6 December 1799, Lloyds List reported that "The Bhavanie, Carse, from Bengal to London, is lost near Boulogne." The War of the Second Coalition was raging at the time, and the French took her officers and crew prisoner.
Claudine was launched at Calcutta in 1811. She made two voyages transporting convicts, one to Van Diemen's Land in 1821 and one to New South Wales in 1829. In between, she made one voyage under charter to the British East India Company (EIC). Her captain deliberately grounded her in November 1840 to survive a storm, but she was able to return to service. She was broken up in 1849.
Charlotte was built at the Bombay Dockyard in 1803. She spent most of her career as a country ship, trading between India and China. The French captured her in 1804 but she returned to British hands. She was wrecked in 1851.
Suffolk was launched in 1803 at Calcutta and at some point prior to 1810 was renamed General Wellesley. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) but an American privateer captured her in December 1814 on the outbound leg of her second EIC voyage. In January 1815 she stranded on the Charleston Bar and became a total loss.
Prince Blucher was launched at Chittagong in 1815. She made one voyage for the British East India Company. She participated in two and possibly three rescues, one particularly notable, and was wrecked in 1821. Condemned, she was laid up and later broken up in 1824.
Radnor was launched on 9 September 1813 at Sulkea, Calcutta. She then sailed to England.
Mangalore was a country ship, probably launched in 1811 in India. She made one voyage from Calcutta to Port Jackson and was lost in 1812 off Sumatra while on a second voyage from Calcutta to Port Jackson.
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.
Marchioness Wellesley was launched at Calcutta in 1805. She initially sailed as a country ship, i.e., trading east of the Cape of Good Hope. She participated in the 1811 British military expedition to Java. In 1815 she sailed to England and then sailed between England and India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). She was broken up in 1821 or 1824.
