HMS Duchess of York (1801)

Last updated

History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
NameDutchess of York
Namesake Duchess of York
BuilderHudson & Bacon, Calcutta [1]
Launched1801
FateSold
Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
NameDuchess of York
OwnerCampbell & Hook [2]
AcquiredBy purchase
FateWrecked 18 February 1811
General characteristics
Tons burthen192, [2] or 198 [1] (bm)
PropulsionSail
Complement25 [2]
Armament14 guns [2]

Duchess of York was built in 1801 at Calcutta, British India, for the Royal Navy. [1] She served in support of the expedition to the Red Sea (1801-1802) and apparently then was sold for the mercantile trade. She traded in the East Indies, and made some voyages to Port Jackson, New South Wales. Duchess of York was wrecked along the coastline of Madagascar in 1811. [1]

Contents

Royal Navy

Duchess of York, described as a "schooner", a generic term for a smaller vessel, was built for the Navy. [1] Some statements of expenses for the Red Sea expedition in 1801-2 make clear that the "Duchess of York schooner" was one of "his majesty's ships". [3]

In 1802 she was in the Red Sea, supporting General Baird's expedition to Egypt to help General Ralph Abercromby expel the French there. On 14 June the transport Calcutta wrecked on the Egyptian coast. She was carrying 331 men of the 80th Regiment of Foot and 79 native Indian followers. Romney arrived the next day, as did two transports. Only Romney was able to get her boats out but they were able to rescue and deliver to the shore all but seven men who had died in an early attempt to reach shore. Captain Sir Home Riggs Popham, in Romney, left Duchess of York to salvage anything that could be salvaged and then sailed to Suez from whence he dispatched Wilhelmina to pick up the troops on the 15th and carry them back to India. [4]

At some point the Navy sold Duchess of York. Apparently her career was so brief and limited to the Indian Ocean that no records of her service reached the Admiralty.

Mercantile career

Duchess of York, Austin Forest, master, arrived at Port Jackson on 4 April 1807 from Bengal. She was primarily carrying merchandise, including an ample supply of rice; she also transported two military convicts. [5]

New South Wales government records show her returning to Port Jackson on 26 October with 65 tons of sandalwood from "Feejee". [6] She left on 24 November for "Feejees" (Fiji). [7] She left in ballast, but with 40 men aboard. [6] She returned again with sandalwood in January 1808. [8]

On 30 March Forrest sailed for "Feejee" again and from there intended to sail to China via an eastern route in order to sell his sandalwood there. He was unable to reach China because of unfavourable winds and so instead sailed there via the Straits of Malacca. She then was so long returning to Bengal that she was feared lost. On his way he stopped at Bencoolen and sailed from there for China on 2 July. [8]

After some 20 months, Duchess of York arrived at Calcutta on 29 July 1808. She was four months out of Sandel Island, which was also known as Sandalwood Island. [9]

Loss

Duchess of York arrived at Tamatave, Madagascar, on 17 February 1811 with a detachment of soldiers of the 22nd Regiment of Foot as the British were desirous of occupying the area as it was a source of provisions and cattle for Île de France, which they were about to attack. Duchess of York was in company with the brig HMS Eclipse. They landed their troops, and Duchess of York took off the French garrison. The next day the troops of the 22nd Foot and of the Bourbon rifle corps, having taken Tamatave, also took Foule Point, the last French settlements on the east coast of Madagascar. [10] However, a sudden wind parted Duchess of York from her anchor. She was seen going down in deep water and observers believed that she had struck a rock. All aboard were lost. [11]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Phipps (1840), p. 99.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Bladen (1898), pp. 271–2.
  3. ↑ The Asiatic Annual Register, Or, a View of the History of ... (1805), Vol. 7, pp.124 & 163.
  4. ↑ The Asiatic Annual Register; Or, A View of the History of Hindustan,: And of the Politics, Commerce, and Literature of Asia, ... (1803), pp.152-3.
  5. ↑ "NRS 1155: Musters and other papers relating to convict ships". State Archives of NSW. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  6. 1 2 Bladen (1898), pp. 404–5.
  7. ↑ "Arrival of Vessels at Port Jackson, and their Departure". Australian Town and Country Journal, Saturday 3 January 1891, p.16. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  8. 1 2 Asiatic annual register or a view of the history of Hindustan ..., Vol. 10, pp.84-5.
  9. ↑ Lockerby, Im Thurn & Ferdinand (1922), pp. 197–99, Vol. 52.
  10. ↑ Norie, p. 271.
  11. ↑ The Literary Panorama, Being A Compendium Of National Papers And Parliamentary Reports, Illustrative Of The History, Statistics, And Commerce Of The Empire; A Universal Epitome Of Interesting And Amusing Intelligence From All Quarters Of The Globe; A Review Of Books, And Magazine Of Varieties Forming An Annual Registers (1812), p.511.

Related Research Articles

Mersey was a ship launched at Chittagong in 1801 and wrecked in the Torres Strait, Australia, about mid-June 1804. She was the first merchantman lost in the Strait.

Union was constructed at Barnstable, Massachusetts, later purchased by Edmund Fanning, who refitted and registered the vessel in New York under ownership of Fanning & Coles shipping company partnership.

HMS <i>Eclipse</i> (1807) Brig-sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Eclipse was a Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by John King at Dover and launched in 1807. She served off Portugal and then in the Indian Ocean at the capture of the Île de France. Shortly thereafter she captured Tamatave. She was sold for mercantile service in 1815. She traded with India until 1823. Then between 1823 and 1845 she made seven voyages as a whaler.

HMS Malabar was a 56-gun fourth rate of the Royal Navy. She had previously been the East Indiaman Cuvera, launched at Calcutta in 1798. She made one voyage to London for the British East India Company and on her return to India served as a transport and troopship to support General Baird's expedition to Egypt to help General Ralph Abercromby expel the French there. The Navy bought her in 1804 and converted her to a storeship in 1806. After being renamed HMS Coromandel she became a convict ship and made a trip carrying convicts to Van Diemen's Land and New South Wales in 1819. She spent the last 25 years of her career as a receiving ship for convicts in Bermuda before being broken up in 1853.

Atlantic was launched in 1783. She made one voyage from England to Australia in 1791 carrying convicts. Later, she made one voyage for the East India Company (EIC). Subsequently she sailed to Smyrna, Surinam, and Gibraltar, before she disappeared from records in 1810.

Warren Hastings was built in 1789 at Calcutta, India. Her registry was transferred to Great Britain in 1796. In 1805 she was sold and her new owners renamed her Speke. She made three voyages transporting convicts from Britain to New South Wales. After her first convict voyage she engaged in whaling.

Betsey, was launched in 1801 at Calcutta, India. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) as Betsey. Around 1814 she sailed to England and was sold to English owners who renamed her Marquis of Wellington. As Marquis of Wellington she made a second voyage for the EIC after transporting convicts to New South Wales. She was returning to England in 1818 when she was wrecked near Margate.

Northampton, was a three-decker merchant ship launched in 1801 upon the River Thames, England. She made eight voyages to India as an extra (chartered) ship for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1801 and 1819. During the same period she made one separate trip transporting convicts from Britain to New South Wales, followed by a voyage for the EIC from China back to England. In 1820 she carried settlers to South Africa. She is last listed in Lloyd's Register in 1822.

Harrington was a British vessel launched at Calcutta in 1796 for the Bengal Pilot Service. A French privateer captured her on 9 November 1797 at Balasore Roads. She returned to British ownership and Calcutta registry c. 1800. She undertook sealing expeditions, captured two Spanish vessels off South America, and was seized by convicts in Port Jackson, before being wrecked in March 1809.

Frederick and Maria was launched in 1810 at Chittagong as the country ship Harriett Shakespeare, and quickly renamed. She visited Port Jackson in 1811, and otherwise traded in the Far East. She was reported to have disappeared in a hurricane in 1817. However, the report was in error and she continued to trade with India. Her last voyage appears to have occurred in 1819, though she is listed for some years after that.

Two vessels that have served the British Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Duchess of York or Dutchess of York, in honour of the Duchess of York:

Althea was launched at Calcutta in 1801. She made one voyage to Britain for the British East India Company. The French captured her in the Indian Ocean in 1804 and then kept her at Île de France where she served as a prison ship. When the British captured Île de France in 1810 they recovered Althea. She then resumed her mercantile career until she wrecked in 1812.

Lucy Maria or Lucy and Maria was launched at Calcutta in 1801. She made one voyage to England carrying rice from Bengal on behalf of the British East India Company (EIC). She was seized at Amboyna in 1804 and then sailed as the Dutch ship Victoria. The British recaptured her in 1806 and new owners renamed her Troubridge and later renamed her Lucy Maria. As Troubridge she served as a transport for two invasions, that of Mauritius in 1810 and Java in 1811. She was broken up in 1821.

Calder was a brig launched in 1821 at Calcutta. A new owner in 1822 sailed her to Australia and she then traded in the Pacific until in 1825 she sailed to Chile and was wrecked at Valparaiso. There a new owner salvaged her and returned her to sailing under the name Indefatigable. On Indefatigable's first voyage the Chilean members of her crew mutinied, killing her captain. The mutineers sailed to Guam where the authorities took Indefatigable in prize. She was later lost in a typhoon in the China Sea.

Varuna was launched at Calcutta in 1796. She made four voyages as an "extra ship" for the British East India Company (EIC), and then spent two years as a troopship. She returned to India in 1806. She was lost in 1811, probably in a typhoon.

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.

Star was built in Calcutta in 1800. Between 1803 and 1811 she made three seal hunting voyages. From 1812 she sailed as a merchantman until she was wrecked on 18 December 1829 on a voyage to Jamaica.

Atalanta was launched in Holland in 1795, perhaps under another name. She was captured in 1798, and thereafter traded generally as a British merchantman. She was brig-rigged. Between 1801 and 1804 she made two voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people, and may have been temporarily captured during the second. She then became a West Indiaman. Next, between 1808 and 1814, she made two voyages as a whaler in Australian and New Zealand waters. After the whaling voyages she traded more widely, especially to the Baltic. She was last listed in 1833.

City of Edinburgh was a Spanish vessel, built in France, that a British frigate brought into the Cape of Good Hope in 1807 as a prize. There investors purchased her to trade with the penal colony of Port Jackson. She foundered in 1812 near the Azores while en route from Lima to Cadiz.

Mangles was built in Calcutta in 1803 and immediately sailed for England. Including that voyage, she made a total of six voyages as an "extra ship" for the British East India Company (EIC). Between her first as second voyages for the EIC a French privateer captured her. Mangles also made nine voyages transporting convicts to Australia: eight voyages to Port Jackson, one to Hobart Town, and one in which she delivered some convicts to Port Jackson but carried most of her charges to Norfolk Island. She was last listed in 1844.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.