Golconda was launched at Calcutta in 1815. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) from India to England in 1819. She spent the bulk of her career as a country ship, trading in the East Indies until she wrecked in September 1840 while carrying troops to Canton.
EIC voyage (1819): Captain James Edwards was at Madras on 20 April 1819. Golconda reached Simon's Bay on 6 July and Saint Helena on 10 August. She arrived at Greenhithe on 23 October.[4] At the time her owner was F. J. I. Edwards & Co.[3]
Golconda in the East India Registry and Directory:
Year
Master
Owner
Registry
1819
Alexander & Co.
Calcutta
1824
J.J. Edwards
Alexander & Co.
Calcutta
1827
R.L.Laws
Alexander & Co.
Calcutta
1828
Not listed
1829
C.C. Clarke
Framjee Cowesjee
Bombay
On 20 September 1835, Golconda sailed from Singapore for Canton in company with David Clark, Sulimany, Duke of Lancaster, Mermaid, and the Danish ship Matadore. On 16 October during bad weather north of 19°0′N117°20′E / 19.000°N 117.333°E / 19.000; 117.333, Golconda ran into Matadore and almost cut her in half. Matadore sank after Golconda was able to rescue her crew.[Note 1]Golconda was herself badly damaged and her crew had to man her pumps and jettison 700 bales (of cotton) forward where she was leaking in order to lighten her. On 20 October Golconda reached Asses Ears and Whampoa anchorage five days later.[5]
By 1840 or so, Golconda was still registered at Bombay, with Bell, master.[1]
Fate
On 20 August 1840, the 37th Madras Native Infantry Regiment sailed from Madras aboard Golconda, Minerva, Sophia, and Thetis, all bound for Canton, China. The last three arrived safely. Golconda disappeared. She was the headquarters ship for the regiment and carried its commander, Lieutenant-Colonel William Isaacs, 13 other officers, and some 350 soldiers and camp followers.[6]
Thetis last saw Golconda on 13 September. Golconda had exited the strait and was entering the China Sea. Thomas King, Rounce, master, coming from Manila, saw Golconda on 18 September at 13°4′N112°58′E / 13.067°N 112.967°E / 13.067; 112.967, "all well".[7]
Between 22 and 24 September there was a major typhoon that peaked on the 24th. On 29 September 1841 the Government ruled that all aboard Golconda had perished with an effective date of 24 September 1840.[8]
Post script
A program that aired on the BBC in 2000 described the fortuitous discovery of the wreck of Golconda on the Panagatan Cays (11°50′09″N121°17′37″E / 11.835697°N 121.293557°E / 11.835697; 121.293557), south of the Penagatan Atoll) in the Spanish East Indies. The identification was based on a belt buckle that identified the unit as one of the EIC's Madras regiments. This, and a musket butt plate with an inscribed GR (Grenadiers), identified the unit as the 37th Madras Native Infantry.[9] (A British government document refers to the unit as the 27th Madras Native Infantry.)
Notes, citations, and references
Notess
↑ Matadore, of about 500 tons (bm), was a relatively new ship, only on her second voyage. She was carrying rice, opium, and 30,000 Spanish dollars.[5]
Hackman, Rowan (2001). Ships of the East India Company. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN0-905617-96-7.
Phipps, John, (of the Master Attendant's Office, Calcutta) (1840). A Collection of Papers Relative to Ship Building in India ...: Also a Register Comprehending All the Ships ... Built in India to the Present Time ... Scott.
General Hewett, sometimes spelled General Hewart or General Hewitt, was a three-deck sailing ship launched at Calcutta in 1811. The British East India Company (EIC) purchased her to use her in the China trade. However, unlike most East Indiamen, on her first voyage from England she transported convicts from England to Australia. Thereafter, she performed five voyages for the EIC. The EIC sold her in 1830 and she then became a general merchantman. In 1864 she was sold for a hulk or to be broken up.
David Clark was launched in 1816 and may have been broken up at Batavia in 1854. She sailed one of the last voyages under charter to the British East India Company (EIC). In 1839 she carried mainly Scots assisted migrants to Australia, and was the first immigrant ship to sail from the Great Britain directly to Port Phillip. In 1842 she transported more than 300 convicts to Hobart. She was last listed in Lloyd's Register in 1854.
Neptune was a merchant ship built at Calcutta, British India in 1815. The British East India Company (EIC) chartered Neptune for one voyage. Later, she made two voyages transporting convicts from England to Australia. She was sold as a hulk in 1860.
Porcher was launched in 1799 at Calcutta. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) from Bengal to England. A French privateer captured her in 1802, which gave rise to a case in French courts about the validity of the capture given the impending Treaty of Amiens. The French courts condemned her in prize and new owners in Bordeaux named her Ville de Bordeaux. The British recaptured her in 1804. Thereafter she traded between England and India as a licensed ship. In 1809 she sailed to England where in 1810 new owners renamed her Cambridge. As Cambridge she made three voyages for the EIC as an extra ship. In 1818 she was again sold with her new owners continuing to sail her to the Far East as a licensed ship. She then made two more voyages to India for the EIC. In 1840 she was sold to an American trading house at Canton, and then to the Qing Dynasty, which purchased her for the Imperial Chinese Navy. The British Royal Navy destroyed her on 27 February 1841 during the Battle of First Bar at the onset of the First Opium War.
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.
Albion was an East Indiaman launched at Newcastle upon Tyne in 1792.
Lady Nugent was built at Bombay in 1813. She made four voyages under contract to the British East India Company (EIC). She then made two voyages transporting convicts to Australia, one to New South Wales and one to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania). She also made several voyages with emigrants to New Zealand under charter to the New Zealand Company. She foundered in May 1854 with the loss of some 400 persons, most of them soldiers that she was carrying from Madras to Rangoon.
Larkins made ten voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), all as an "extra ship", i.e. under contract. On two of these voyages she first transported convicts to Australia. She also made one convict voyage independently of the EIC. She traded extensively between England and India or China, and in this twice suffered serious but not fatal maritime mishaps. In 1853 she became a coal hulk at Albany, Western Australia, and remained there until she was broken up in 1876.
Moira, was launched at Calcutta in 1813. Between 1820 and 1834 she made four voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) under voyage charters, and transported troops to Burma in 1824. She was lost in 1844.
Boyne was launched at Calcutta in 1807. In 1809 she sailed to England. She was sold to the Danes, but by 1811 was under English ownership under the name Moffat. She then made seven voyages as a "regular ship" for the British East India Company (EIC). After the EIC exited its maritime activities in 1833–34, Moffat made four voyages transporting convicts to Australia: one voyage to Port Jackson and three to Van Diemen's Land. She also made at least one voyage carrying immigrants to South Australia, and later regularly traded between Liverpool and Bombay. She was last listed in 1856.
Fairlie was launched at Calcutta in 1810 and sailed to England. There she became a regular ship for the British East India Company (EIC). Including her voyage to England, she made four voyages for the EIC. From around 1821 on she became a Free Trader, continuing to trade with India under a license from the EIC. She also made two voyages transporting convicts to New South Wales (1834), and Tasmania (1852). She made several voyages carrying immigrants to South Australia, New South Wales, and British Guiana. She foundered in November 1865.
Orient was launched in 1814 at Calcutta. She sailed to England and from then on was based there. She traded with India into the 1830s. She participated in a naval punitive expedition in 1819, and performed four voyages for the British East India Company. From the 1840s she continued to sail widely until she was condemned in 1865 and sold for breaking up.
Aurora was launched in 1790 at Calcutta. The first 10 years of her career are currently obscure. In 1801 she made a voyage to England for the British East India Company (EIC), and then was briefly registered in England. She returned to India to continue to sail as a "country ship" until she was sold to Portuguese or Spanish owners in 1811. She returned to British ownership circa 1816 and made a second voyage for the EIC, this time from China to England. She returned to English registry and made one voyage to India under a license from the EIC. She then switched to sailing between Liverpool and Quebec and was lost in the Atlantic around 1822.
HMS Camel was launched in 1812 at Calcutta as Severn. She sailed to England where the navy purchased her for use as a troopship and transport. She had an uneventful naval career and the navy sold her in 1831. Her new owner returned her to her name of Severn. She made one voyage to Bengal and back for the British East India Company (EIC). She continued to trade with India but disappeared circa 1841.
Thetis was built at Chittagong in 1794. She made one voyage to England for the British East India Company (EIC) in 1801. She was rebuilt at Calcutta in 1817 and at Moulmein in 1838. She was still sailing out of Calcutta in 1839.
David Scott was launched at Bombay in 1801. She was a "country ship", i.e., she generally traded east of the Cape of Good Hope. Between 1802 and 1816 she made five voyages between India and the United Kingdom as an "extra ship" for the British East India Company (EIC). Thereafter she traded between Britain and India under a license from the EIC. A fire destroyed her at Mauritius on 12 June 1841.
Gilwell was launched in 1801 at Howrah, Calcutta as a "country ship", that is, she traded east of the Cape of Good Hope. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). In 1804 she was present but not engaged at the Battle of Pulo Aura. The French captured her in 1805 and 1807. She was renamed Fyzal Curreem and eventually Cashmere Merchant. As Cashmere Merchant she reappeared in 1827 in records of vessels registered at Calcutta. She was reported in 1842 as having been damaged in a typhoon at Calcutta. Last mentioned as dismasted at Mauritius prior to 13 April 1843.
Cornwall was launched at Calcutta in 1810. She participated as a transport in two military campaigns some 40 plus years apart. In between, she made four voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), carried assisted immigrants from England to Sydney, and transported convicts to Tasmania. She was wrecked at Mauritius in July 1858.
Lord Lyndoch was launched in 1814 at Calcutta. After she sailed to England she made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). Between 1831 and 1841 she made five voyages transporting convicts to Australia, three to Hobart and two to Sydney. She became a transport and suffered a maritime incident in 1844. She was last listed in 1847.
Castle Huntly was launched at Calcutta in 1812. She then made 11 voyages for the British East India Company (as an Indiaman. After the EIC ceased its shipping business in 1833, new owners continued to sail her between the United Kingdom and China until October 1845 when she was wrecked in the South China Sea.
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