HCS Coote

Capture of Aden on a 1939 stamp marking the centenary
History
East India Company
Operator	East India Company
Launched	1827 [1]
Fate	Wrecked in 1845, later sank during attempted salvage
General characteristics
Type	Sloop of war
Tons burthen	420 [2] [1] (bm)
Decks	One
Armament	18 cannons [2] [1]

HCS Coote was a 18-gun sloop-of-war of the Bombay Marine and Indian Navy. ^[3] She was launched at the Bombay Dockyard in 1827. ^[4] Though the East India Company (EIC) built Coote, her size and armament were equivalent to the retired Cruizer-class brig-sloops. Coote participated in the 1839 Aden Expedition along with HCS Mahi and the frigate HMS Volage and the brig HMS Cruizer of the Royal Navy. ^[5]

Fate

Coote was lost on 1 December 1845. She had left Bombay on 22 November, and wrecked at Calicut, on the Malabar Coast, on what became known as Coote Reef ( 11°14′00″N75°46′00″E / 11.23333°N 75.76667°E / 11.23333; 75.76667 ). ^[a] Her officers and crew abandoned her as unsalvageable on 3 December. Her captain, Lieutenant J.S. Grieve, his officers, and crew all survived. All her guns, and a great deal of her stores and ammunition were saved. ^{[7] [8]} The EIC was able, eventually, to get her off the rocks. The company decided to sell the hull at Calicut rather than attempt to tow it to Bombay. A Calicut resident bought the hull for 10,000 rupees, but as she was being towed on shore where her leaks might be repaired, she sank into mud and appeared a total loss. ^[9]

Notes

1. One source gives the year of loss as 1846. ^[6] Two sources give the date of loss as 1 December 1855, ^[1] or simply as 1855. ^[4]

Citations

1. Wadia (1986), p. 342.
2. Phipps (1840), pp. 165 & 169.
3. Low (1877), p. 18.
4. Hackman (2001), p. 328.
5. Clowes, pg. 277-279
6. Colledge & Warlow (2006), p.89.
7. Allen's Indian mail and register of intelligence for British and foreign India: 1846, pp.48 & 75.
8. Bengal Catholic Herald (3 January 1846), Vol. 10, Issue 1, p.1.
9. Allen's Indian mail and register of intelligence for British and foreign India: 1846, p.341.

References

• Clowes, W. Laird; et al. (1897–1903). The Royal Navy: A history from the earliest times to the present. Vol. 4. Boston / London: Little, Brown and Co. / S. Low, Marston and Co.
• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN   978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC   67375475.
• Hackman, Rowan (2001). Ships of the East India Company. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN   0-905617-96-7.
• Low, Charles Rathbone (1877). History of the Indian Navy: (1613-1863). R. Bentley and son.
• Phipps, John (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.
• Wadia, R. A. (1986) [1957]. The Bombay Dockyard and the Wadia Master Builders. Bombay.