| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | Ganges |
| Namesake | Ganges |
| Builder | Hurry & Co., Newcastle-upon-Tyne (equally Shields, [1] and Howdon Pans [2] [3] ) |
| Launched | 1799 |
| Captured | Late 1805 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 458 [2] [4] (bm) |
| Armament |
|
Ganges was launched in 1799 at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) bringing rice from Bengal for the British government. She then became a West Indiaman until the French navy captured her in 1805.
Ganges appeared in the Register of Shipping (RS) for 1800 with F.Brown, master, Hurry & Co., owners, and trade Newcastle–London. [2]
EIC voyage (1800–02): Messrs. Prinsep and Saunders tendered Ganges to the EIC to bring back rice from Bengal for the British Government. She was one of 28 vessels that sailed on that mission between December 1800 and February 1801. [6]
On 30 December 1800 Captain Forster Brown sailed Ganges from the Downs bound for Bengal. She arrived at Calcutta on 25 May 1801. She left Bengal on 13 September and reached St Helena on 1 January 1802. She arrived at the Downs on 1 March. [7] [lower-alpha 1]
The RS for 1802 showed Ganges still with F.Brown, master, and Hurry & Co., owners, but with trade London–Bengal. [8]
On her return Ganges became a West Indiaman. Lloyd's Register (LR) for 1803 showed her with W.O.Carr, master, Hurry & Co., owners, and trade London–Dominica. [1]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1804 | W.Carr P.Scatton | F.Hurry Brickwood | London–Dominica London–St Kitts | RS |
| 1806 | J.Rand | Boddington | London–St Kitts | RS [5] |
Lloyd's List (LL) for 7 January 1806 reported that Ganges, Rand, master, was one of several vessels that the "Rochfort Squadron" had captured and sent into Teneriffe prior to November 1805. [9] RS for 1806 carries the annotation "Captured" by Ganges's name. [5]
Fortuitously, a flotilla from Rochefort captured a whaler named Ganges around 15 December 1805, or early in 1806.
Tyne was launched in 1807 in Rotherhithe. She spent the first part of her career as a West Indiaman. However, in 1810–1811 she made a voyage to India for the British East India Company (EIC) as an "extra" ship, i.e., under charter. Then in 1818 she made a voyage to Port Jackson, New South Wales transporting convicts. Thereafter, with a change of owners, she traded with the Far East under a license issued by the EIC. A fire destroyed her in 1828.
Georgiana was launched in 1791. She served as a merchantman, packet ship for the British East India Company (EIC), a whaler, a warship of the navy of the United States of America, and a merchant vessel again. She was sold after being condemned in 1818 as leaky.
Betsy was launched at Lancaster in 1793 as a West Indiaman. In 1801 she made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) to bring back rice at the behest of the British government. On her return she became a Baltic trader. She was lost in 1803.
Nutwell was launched at Great Yarmouth in 1800. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC), bringing back rice from Bengal at the behest of the British government. On her return she became a West Indiaman, trading with Jamaica, until the 1806 Great Coastal hurricane overturned her.
Herculean was launched in 1799 at Shields. She made two voyages as an "extra ship", under charter to the British East India Company (EIC). She then became a West Indiaman and foundered in 1806.
Hind or Hinde was launched at Hull in 1800. After a voyage to Russia she made one voyage for the British East India Company. She then became a West Indiaman. She was wrecked in April 1815.
Retreat was launched in 1801 and briefly sailed as a West Indiaman between London and Jamaica. She then made five voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) as an "extra ship", that is, under charter. She was broken up in 1814.
Brunswick was launched at Newcastle in 1795. She made one voyage as an "extra ship", i.e., under charter, to the British East India Company (EIC). She then traded generally until she foundered in 1809.
Suffolk was launched in 1800. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). She grounded in 1802 but was refloated. She then made a voyage to the Cape of Good Hope. On her return she became a West Indiaman. A Spanish privateer captured her in 1805.
Mercury apparently was launched in 1786 at Topsham, but her career prior to 1790 is obscure. She initially traded with Virginia and then with the "Straits". In 1794-1795 she made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). On her return she became a West Indiaman. She was lost in 1802.
Sir Stephen Lushington was launched in 1796 as an East Indiaman. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). During this period she took part as a transport in two military campaigns, the cancelled attack on Manila in 1797, and the capture of Mauritius in 1810. In 1812 she became a West Indiaman, thought around 1816 she made another voyage to India. Thereafter her ownership and trade becomes ambiguous: she either traded with Spain until 1822, or with South America until 1825.
Loyalist was launched in 1793. Between 1796 and 1803 she made four voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She then sailed as a West Indiaman until she was condemned in 1809 as unseaworthy.
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.
Ceres was launched at Kolkata in August 1793 as Lutchmy and renamed in 1794. She sailed to England in 1798 and became a West Indiaman. She was condemned at Barbados in 1806. New owners returned her to service, first as a West Indiaman and then as an East Indiaman. She was damaged at Mauritius in 1818 and although she was listed until 1824, it is not clear that she sailed again after the damage she sustained in Mauritius.
Ceres was launched in France in 1784. The British captured her circa 1800 and sold her as a prize. Once under British ownership she sailed to the Mediterranean, but in 1801 she started sailing in the slave trade. She made four voyages as a slave ship, gathering slaves in West Africa and delivering them to the West Indies. After the abolition of the British slave trade in 1807 she became a West Indiaman, and then an East Indiaman. She was last listed in 1822.
During the Age of Sail many merchant ships were named Ganges, after the Ganges river in India.
Boyne was built in 1822 in Newcastle upon Tyne as a West Indiaman. In 1824–1825 she made one voyage to Bengal for the British East India Company (EIC)). She next made one voyage to Bombay under a license from the EIC. She then returned to the West Indies trade. Her crew abandoned her on 18 August 1830 in a sinking state as she was sailing from Jamaica to London.
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.
Tigris was launched in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1802. She made six voyages between 1803 and 1815 as an "extra ship" for the British East India Company (EIC). After her stint as an East Indiaman, Tigris became a West Indiaman. She was wrecked in December 1823.
Indus was launched in 1803 at Newcastle on Tyne. In 1804 the British East India Company (EIC) hired her for six voyages to India as an "extra ship". She completed the last of these six voyages in 1814. Thereafter she continued to trade with India, but privately, sailing under a licence from the EIC. She was last listed in 1823.