Gallivat

Last updated
Mahratta grabs and gallivats attacking the sloop Aurora of the Bombay Marine. The boat in the foreground is a gallivat. Mahratta pirates attacking the sloop 'Aurora', of the Bombay Marine, 1812; beginning of the action.jpg
Mahratta grabs and gallivats attacking the sloop Aurora of the Bombay Marine. The boat in the foreground is a gallivat.

The gallivat (or galivat, or gallevat, or gallowet, or gallouet) was a small, armed boat, with sails and oars, used on the Malabar Coast in the 18th and 19th centuries. The word may derive from Portuguese "galeota" or alternatively, from the Maratha "gal hat" ship. Hobson-Jobson has an extensive discussion of the origins of the term and its usage. [1]

Contents

The gallivat typically had one or two masts with a lateen sail, and some 20 benches for oarsmen, one on each side. They were generally under 70 tons (bm) in size, and had a prow much like that of a grab.

One of the ablest admirals of the 18th Century Maratha Navy, Kanhoji Angre (a.k.a. Angria), made great use of gallivats. Generally, each of his grabs would have an attendant gallivat, both to tow it in calms and to carry extra men. [2]

On December 27, 1735 Angre attacked the East Indiaman Derby off Suvarnadurg. He deployed nine galleys, five grabs, and fifteen gallivats. Derby eventually struck her colours after having seven men killed and five wounded. Angre kept the surviving crew prisoners for 11 months until the Governor of Bombay ransomed them. [3]

A painted scroll depicting different grabs, gallivats, and other types of vessels of the Marathan Navy, including some captured English ships. Maratha ships scroll.jpg
A painted scroll depicting different grabs, gallivats, and other types of vessels of the Marathan Navy, including some captured English ships.

In 1754, a listing of Sidhi vessels seized by the EIC and held at Surat in 1759 gives the names of seven gallivats. The largest, Manzul, had a length of 44 feet, a breadth of 17 feet, and a hold depth of 4 feet. The length and breadth measurements translate into a burthen (bm) of 52 ton. The smallest gallivat, Ram Chand, had a length of 29 feet, a breadth, of 13 feet, a hold depth of 4 feet, yielding a burthen of 19 tons. [4]

A gallivat that the EIC captured in 1775 measured 84 feet in length, and 24 feet in breadth, which yields a burthen of 213 tons. She had a single, forward-raked mast, and 24 oars, and carried ten 6-pounder guns. [5] This would seem to be at the upper end of the size for a galivat, and represent a vessel more in the range of sizes for a grab.

Gallivats of the Bombay Marine

The British East India Company made some use of gallivats, particularly for the Bombay Marine, which was the British East India Company's (EIC) navy.

1754

NameTons (bm)ComplementArmament
Shark38481 × 3-pounder + 6 × 2-pounder guns
Dolphin37481 × 3-pounder + 6 × 2-pounder guns
Swift15271 × 1-pounder + 4 × ½-pounder guns
2 new and 5 planned20311 × 2-pounder + 4 × 1-pounder guns

The largest gallivat, Shark(e), had a crew of six Europeans, six "Christian topasses", 20 lascars, and 16 soldiers. The smallest gallivat, Swift, had a crew of two Europeans, 14 lascars, and 11 soldiers. Her smallest guns (½-pounders) were possibly swivel guns. [6] The soldiers were frequently from the Bombay Marine Battalion. [Note 1]

In 1759, the Bombay Marine had 13 gallivats, six at Bombay and seven at Surat. [Note 2] Each had a crew consisting of two Europeans, some two to six Christian topasses (Luso-Asians), and 14 to 20 lascars. They carried from five to seven guns of various sizes. [7]

1766

NameArmament
Fly1 × 2-pounder + 4 × 1-pounder guns
Wolf8 × 3-pounder guns
Beagle8 × 3-pounder guns
Passard1 × 6-pounder + 4 × 4-pounder guns
Swift1 × 4-pounder + 4 × 1-pounder guns

In 1773 the Bombay Dockyard built Hawke, a gallivat, for the Bengal Pilot service. [8] By 1802 the Bombay Marine had no gallivats in service.

Notes

  1. For an example of the service of sepoys of the Marine Battalion see: HCS Aurora.
  2. The six at Bombay were: Dolphin, Sharke, Tyger, Munsury, Yacobkhany, and Swift. The seven at Surat were: Squirrel, Kaither Bux, Nasary, Lively's Prize, Kaither Madut, Munsury, Fly, and Swallow. [7]

Citations

  1. Yule & Burnell (1886), pp. 361–3.
  2. Sutton (2010), p. 49.
  3. Hackman (2001), p. 85.
  4. Barendse (2009), p. 392.
  5. United Service Magazine, Vol. 140, (1876), p.307.
  6. Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Vol. 26, Part 3, p. 220. (Government Central Press, 1894).
  7. 1 2 Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Vol. 26, Part 3, p. 224. (Government Central Press, 1894).
  8. Hackman (2001), p. 339.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kanhoji Angre</span> Maratha Navy chief

Kanhoji Angre, also known as Conajee Angria or Sarkhel Angré was a chief of the Maratha Navy in present-day India. Kanhoji became known for attacking and capturing European merchant ships and collecting jakat, seen by Europeans traders and colonists as ransoming of their crews. British, Dutch and Portuguese ships often fell victims to these raids. Despite attempts by the Portuguese and British to put an end to his privateering activities, Angre continued to capture and collect jakat from European merchant ships until his death in 1729. Kanhoji's naval prowess in capturing dozens of European trading ships and avoiding capture has led to many historians to appraise Kanhoji as the most skilled Indian navy chief in the maritime history of India.

<i>Bombay</i> (ship) List of ships with the same or similar names

Several ships have been named after Bombay :

<i>Doddington</i> (East Indiaman) British sailing ship

Doddington was an East Indiaman of the British East India Company (EIC). She made two trips for the EIC to Bombay, China, and Mokha. On her third trip she was sailing to India to remain there when she was wrecked on 17 July 1755 at Bird Island in Algoa Bay, near present-day Port Elizabeth. The ship was carrying a hoard of gold belonging to Clive of India, which modern treasure hunters looted. The controversy over these depredations resulted in changes to international maritime treaties to better protect underwater cultural heritage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anchuthengu Fort</span> Building in India

The fort was the East India Company's first permanent post on the Malabar Coast. In November 1693, John Brabourne was sent by the British East India Company (EIC) to Attingal, where he obtained from Rani Ashure a grant of a site for a fort on the sandy spit of Anchuthengu, together with the monopoly of the pepper trade of Attingal. The EIC commenced construction in January 1696.

At least seven ships with the name Kent served the Honourable East India Company as an East Indiaman between 1680 and 1825:

At least six ships with the name Queen served the Honourable East India Company between 1701 and 1839. Most were 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:

Armenia was a merchant vessel launched at Calcutta in 1796. Captain Thomas Meek, was her only captain. In 1799 the East India Company (EIC) took her up for a voyage to Britain. A French privateer captured her on her return voyage to India.

HCS <i>Aurora</i> (1809)

H[onourable]C[ompany's]S[hip] Aurora was a sloop-of-war launched in 1809 at Bombay for the Bombay Marine, the naval arm of the British East India Company (EIC), to protect the trade in the Indian Ocean from pirates. The French captured her in late September 1810, only to have the British recapture her in early December. She returned to the service of the Bombay Marine, assisting the British Government and the Royal Navy in various campaigns in the East Indies and the Persian Gulf. She was still listed on the rolls of the Bombay Marine on 1 January 1828.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grab (ship)</span>

A grab was a type of ship common on the Malabar Coast in the 18th and 19th centuries. The name derives from "ghurāb" or "ghorāb", Arabic for raven, which in turn came into Marathi and Konkani as "gurab". The ghurāb was originally a galley, but the type evolved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Vijaydurg</span>

The Battle of Vijaydurg was fought between Tulaji Angre, the Admiral of the Maratha Navy and the combined forces of the East India Company and the Maratha Confederacy led by Peshwa Balaji Bajirao in early 1756.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maratha Navy</span> Combined naval force of Maratha Empire

The Maratha Navy was the naval wing of the armed forces of the Maratha Empire, which existed from around mid-17th century to mid-18th century in the Indian subcontinent.

Arran was launched at Calcutta in 1799. In 1800, she sailed to Britain for the British East India Company (EIC). On her return voyage, she suffered a major outbreak of illness while between England and the Cape. She then traded between England and India and around India until she was lost in June 1809 while sailing to Basra from Bengal.

Sullimany, was built at Demaun between 1795 and 1799, registered in Bombay after 1803, and was still sailing c.1840. She was originally a country ship. A French privateer captured her in 1799, but an East Indiaman fortuitously recaptured her shortly thereafter. She also served as a transport in two British military campaigns.

HMS <i>North Star</i> (1810) British ship

HMS North Star was a ship launched in 1810 and spent much of her naval career on the Jamaica Station. The Navy sold her in 1817 and she became the merchantman Columbo. Columbo sailed between Britain and India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC) until she was damaged in 1822 while returning from Ceylon. She was condemned at Point de Galle and sold there for breaking up.

Earl Fitzwilliam was launched in 1786 at Deptford. She made four voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She made four complete voyages for the EIC, three to India and one to India and China. She caught fire on 23 February 1799 on her fifth voyage while she was in the River Ganges.

<i>Surat Castle</i> (1788 ship) Trade Vessel based out of India in the late 1700s

Surat Castle was launched at Surat in 1788 as a country ship, that is, a vessel that traded around and from India, staying east of the Cape of Good Hope. She originally was intended for the cotton trade with China. From 1796 to 1817 she made nine voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She then made one more voyage under a license from the EIC. She made one more voyage to India, this time under a licence from the EIC and then disappeared from easily accessible online sources after her sale in 1819.

The H[onourable] C[ompany's] S[hip] Sylph was a schooner launched in 1806 at the Bombay Dockyard for the Bombay Marine, the naval arm of the British East India Company (EIC). The EIC sold her circa 1826 and she became a merchant brig. There is no mention of her in accessible online sources after 1828.

<i>Asia</i> (1797 ship)

Asia was built at Bombay Dockyard in 1797. She made at least two voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) before the British Royal Navy purchased her in 1805 in the East Indies. The Royal Navy renamed her HMS Sir Francis Drake and used her as a frigate. She served in the Java campaign of 1811. When she returned to England in 1813 she was refitted as a storeship. Later, she became the flagship, at Newfoundland, for the governors of Newfoundland. The Admiralty sold her in 1825. New owners renamed her Asia and she sailed between Britain and London until 1831 when Portuguese interests purchased her. She then became the frigate Dona Maria II for the Liberal forces that were attempting to install the rightful queen, Dona Maria II, to the throne of Portugal, and overthrow Dom Miguel, who had usurped the throne. In early 1849 conflict developed between the Portuguese government in Macau and the Chinese government over who could collect taxes and tariffs at Macao. Dona Maria II sailed to Macao as part of a small squadron. An internal explosion destroyed her in the harbour on 29 October.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">INS Angre</span> Indian navy establishment

INS Angre is a "stone frigate" of the Indian Navy in Mumbai. It is the shore-based logistics and administrative support establishment of the Western Naval Command. It is also the base depot ship of the Command and is the seat of the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command. The establishment is named after the Maratha Navy Admiral Kanhoji Angre.

References