HMS Indian was a Bermuda-built sloop launched in 1805. She captured several small privateers while on the West Indies and Halifax stations before the Royal Navy sold her in 1817. Her main claim to fame, however, is that she was the first command of future Rear-Admiral Charles Austen, who was also the brother of the famed novelist Jane Austen. After the Navy sold her she became a whaler for Samuel Enderby & Sons. She apparently sailed for them until the mid-1830s; she then sailed for other owners until mid-1847, for a total of nine whaling voyages since leaving naval service.
Indian was one of six Bermuda-class sloops built in Bermuda, of Bermudian cedar. Bermuda was originally settled as part of the Colony of Virginia and elevated to an Imperial fortress by the independence of those continental colonies which were to form the United States of America, becoming the headquarters, main base and dockyard of the North America Station (later the North America and West Indies Station and then the America and West Indies Station) 'til 1956. As Bermudian vessels, especially the Bermuda sloop, were highly esteemed, and Bermuda's industry was devoted to other than shipbuilding and seafaring, The Royal Navy, which established a permanent base in Bermuda in 1795, soon began buying up Bermudian vessels from trade and ordering new vessels from Bermudian builders. The Bermuda class was modified from the Dasher-class, which had been built in Bermuda in the 1790s.[1]
Naval career
Lieutenant Charles John Austen received an appointment to Indian on 10 April 1804. She was then building in Bermuda. He did not receive his promotion to Commander until 10 September,[2] and commissioned her on 10 October for the River St. Lawrence and Coast of America and North America and West Indies Station.[1] To raise a crew he put a front-page advertisement in The Bermuda Gazette on 13 April 1805, extolling her virtues.
On one of her first cruises, Indian encountered four French frigates that surrounded her. A providential sudden calm enabled her to use her sweeps to push between them and get far enough away to escape when the breeze returned.[2]
Lloyd's List reported in September 1806 that Indian had captured Nuestra Senora del Carmen and had sent her into Halifax. She had been sailing from Porto Cavalto (Puerto Cabello) to Cadiz.[3]
Baltic arrived at Bermuda on 7 February 1807. She had been sailing from Isle de France (Mauritius), when Indian captured her.[4]
In May or June Indian detained Eliza, an American vessel sailing from Cuba to Charleston, and sent her into Bermuda.[5]
Indian arrived at Bermuda on 10 October from Newfoundland. At the end of September a violent gale had dismasted her dispersed the small convoy for the West Indies that she had been escorting. After the gale had passed she saw a schooner floating upside down; Indian believed the schooner to have been of the vessels of the convoy.[6]
At daylight on 19 June 1808 Indian encountered two schooners at 38°3′N74°4′W / 38.050°N 74.067°W / 38.050; -74.067. The schooners immediately tried to escape by taking different directions. Austen chased after the larger and sent his boats after the other. Austen quickly captured Jeune Estelle, of four guns and 25 men, which struck after fire from Indian's chase guns killed one man and wounded another. She had been sailing from River St. Mary's to St. Domingo with a cargo of flour and provisions.[7][lower-alpha 2]
Lively's boats were half-a-gun-shot away from the second schooner when a breeze sprang up, enabling the schooner to escape. Austen's prisoners informed him that the second schooner was the 6-gun Exchange, with a crew of 95 men, which too was bringing provisions to St. Domingo. Austen then decided to take Jeune Estelle into Bermuda.[7] They arrived at Bermuda on 27 June.[9]
Austen received promotion to post captain in Swiftsure on 10 May 1810. Lieutenant William Bowen Mends then became acting commander, a role that he held until September.[10]
Commander Henry Jane had been appointed to Indian on 10 May to replace Austen.[11] However, he only Mends in September, with Mends returning to Swiftsure, from whence he had come.[10]
On 8 July, Indian captured the American brig Mary and Elizabeth.[lower-alpha 3]Mary Elizabeth, of 167 tons (bm), was sailing from St Ubes, Portugal, in ballast but carrying specie.[13]Mary Elizabeth, C. Crandal, master had also been carrying $2313.[14]
Earlier, an American privateer had captured William, of Bristol, J. Hare, master, off Cape Sable. Indian recaptured William on 8 July and took her into Halifax.[15]William had been carrying dry goods worth £1400.[16]
Indian and Plumper, Lieutenant James Bray, captured the privateer schooner Fair Trader on 16 July 1812 in the Bay of Fundy. Fair Trader was armed with one gun and had a 20-man crew.[17][lower-alpha 4]
A report in Lloyd's List stated that Indian had captured Fair Trader, Argus, and a third American privateer.[19]
Argus, which Indian and Plumper captured on 17 July, was a 21-ton privateer schooner out of Boston and under the command of W. Heath. She too went into New Brunswick.[20][lower-alpha 5]
The third privateer may have been Friendship, of 22 tons (bm), out of Boston, and under the command of A. Richards. Indian captured her on 19 July and took her into New Brunswick.[22][lower-alpha 6]
On 9 August Indian sailed from St. John's, New Brunswick, with a convoy of 50 sail for England.[19]Indian shared with Maidstone, Spartan, and Colibri in the proceeds for the capture four days later of the American vessel John.[lower-alpha 7] Two days later, on 15 August, Indian and number of the vessels parted company in a fog off the Newfoundland Banks.[19]
On 5 July 1813 Jane transferred to Arab.[11] Three days later Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren appointed Lieutenant Thomas Sykes to command of Indian at Quebec.[25] He assumed command of her on 11 July.[1] Sykes received promotion to the rank of commander on 9 November 1813. He transferred to Recruit on 23 February 1814.[25]
On 9 March 1814 Commander Nicholas James Cuthbert Dunn replaced Sykes.[26] Dunn brought her home and paid her off later in the year.[27]
Disposal:Indian was paid off in October 1814. She then went into ordinary. The Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy offered the "Indian sloop, of 394 tons", lying at Deptford for sale on 15 December 1814.[28] She finally sold on 24 April 1817 for £1,300 to Messrs. Enderby.[1]
Whaler
Messrs. Enderby were a whaling company and Indian made five voyages for them. Her first voyage lasted from 11 August 1817 to 9 July 1819. She had two masters, Sullivan, and then William Swain, and she brought home 800 casks of whale oil.[29] One of the crew was Samuel Swain, William's cousin, who would become her master for her fourth and fifth whaling voyages.[30]
Indian, Bermuda-built and of 399 tons (bm), appeared in Lloyd's Register for 1818 under their ownership with S. Swain as master, and trade as London-South Seas.[31] Swain was her master again in the 1819 Lloyd's Register.
However, she left on her second voyage on 18 September 1819 under Captain Silas West.[29] The 1820 Lloyd's Register gives the master's name as C. West. Between 16 March and 21 April 1821 Indian was at Sydney refitting.[29] On 29 May Indian, West, master, sailed for the fishery. On 22 July 1822 she left Bay of Islands with 1200 barrels of whale oil. By that time West had died and her masters became Meyrick or Starbuck. She arrived in Britain on 27 August 1822 with 400 casks of whale oil, plus whale jawbones and teeth.[29]
Indian left on her third voyage on 20 January 1823 under the command of Gibson, master. In June—July 1824 she was off the coast of Japan, reportedly with 450 barrels. In September she was at Timor with 600 barrels. She returned to Britain on 9 November 1825 with 500 casks of whale oil and one cask of ambergris.[29]
Lloyd's Register for 1825, gave her master's name as J. Gibson, and her burthen was given as 385 tons (bm).[32] This figure of 385 tons is the one that the database of whaling voyages uses.[29]
For Indian's fourth voyage, Samuel Swain became her master. He sailed her to the Southern Fisheries on 4 February 1826. She traveled via Indonesian waters and arrived in Sydney in July. The Australian in its "Ship News" column for 26 July reported that she was carrying 16 tons of sperm oil, but had had to put into port because her crew was mutinous. Indian left on 28 August and spent some eight months whaling.[33] She returned to England by 3 March 1828 with 700 casks of whale oil gathered in Indonesian and New Zealand waters.[29]
The third and fourth cruises averaged 28 months each. One source reports that she returned from the third cruise with a "full ship" with about 270 tuns of oil. However, this represented an average of 11 tuns a month. By contrast, the whaler Alfred, operating out of Australia, averaged 17 tuns per month. The problem for Indian was the amount of time required to sail between England and the whaling grounds.[34][lower-alpha 8]
Indian left Britain on 23 May 1828 on her fifth voyage (and last for Enderby), bound for Timor and under Swain's command. She was at Timor in January 1829 with 100 barrels, and at the Bay of Islands on 5 September with 220 tuns of sperm oil.[29] By November 1829 she was at Tongatapu with 1800 barrels.[33]Indian returned to England on 3 January 1831 with 800 casks.[29]
In 1830 Lloyd's Register gave her master as Swain, and her trade as Falmouth-South Seas.[35] However, Swain left Indian after his return to England and then commanded Vigilant for Enderbys.[33]
Indian, W. Grant, master, left Britain on 16 October 1831 on her sixth voyage. Grant may have been her owner as there is no information on any other owner. She was at Madeira on 8 November, at the Bay of Islands with 2000 barrels on 3 February 1833, and to have there with 2200 barrels in April 1834 for London. She arrived there on 27 June.[29]Lloyd's Register had Indian with Grant, master, and trade London-South Seas.[36]Lloyd's Register for 1834 listed Indian, 385 tons (bm), W. Grant, master. However, the entry had no mention of ownership and simply gave her location as London.[37] The entry continued unchanged until Indian was no longer listed in Lloyd's Register after 1838.
However, Indian continued to make voyages under new owners. For her seventh voyage, she left Britain on 4 September 1835 bound for Timor, with J. Freeman, master, and T. Ward, owner. She was reported to have been at St Helena on 16 February 1839, having left Timor on 27 December 1838. She arrived in Britain on 3 March 1839 with 200 casks.[29]
For Indian's eighth voyage, master and owner were Maugham. She left on 26 June 1839. From the Marquesas Islands she arrived in 20 days at Honolulu, where she stayed from 3 to 7 May 1840. She had 500 barrels 10 months after having left London. She was again at Honolulu between 17 October and 15 November. She now had 850 (or 880) barrels after having been out 16 months. She arrived back in Britain on 16 May 1843 with 370 casks.[29]
Indian's ninth voyage, her last recorded voyage, began on 2 September 1843 with J. Maugham, master, and T. Ward, owner. She was bound for New Zealand and was reported at the Bay of Islands on 9 January 1846 with 75 tons oil, having been out 31 months. She arrived back in Britain on 14 June 1847. She brought back 12 tanks blubber, 130 casks of sperm oil, and 54 [seal] skins.[29]
Notes
↑ All measurements are design measurements. "As built" measurements are apparently non-existent.[1]
↑ Head money for 25 men was awarded in September 1829. A first-class share was worth £29 10s8+1⁄2d; a fifth-class share, that of a seaman, was worth 2s 4+3⁄4d.[8]
↑ A first-class share was worth £169 13s 10d; a sixth-class share, that of an ordinary seaman, was worth £3 16s 1+1⁄4d.[12]
↑ Fair Trader, of Salem, was under the command of Captain J. Morgan, and normally had a crew of 25 men, some of whom may have been away in a prize at the time of her capture. During her career as a privateer she captured one sloop, one brig, and five schooners.[18]
↑ Argus, of one gun, had captured two brigs and two schooners before the British captured her. Her prizes were worth $100,000. One of them had been a 12-gun packet.[21]
↑ Friendship, of one gun and nine men, A. Rich, master, had not captured anything before she was captured.[23]
↑ A first-class share for John was worth £30 1s 11d; a sixth-class share was worth 8s 0+3⁄4d.[24]
↑ Even after one takes into account that much of the oil the colonial whalers gained still had to be shipped to England, the Australian whalers were more profitable.[34]
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.
Cyrus was a whaler launched at Salem in 1800. She performed one whaling voyage for French owners before a British letter of marque captured her in 1803. From 1804 on, she performed 17 whaling voyages for British owners in the almost half a century between 1804 and 1853. The first five were for Samuel Enderby & Sons. Between 1 August 1834 and 2 June 1848 her captain was Richard Spratly, namesake of Spratly Island and the group of islands and reefs known as the Spratly Islands. She apparently made one last voyage in 1854, but then no longer traded. She was last listed in Lloyd's Register in 1856.
HMS Lynx was a 16-gun ship-rigged sloop of the Cormorant class in the Royal Navy, launched in 1794 at Gravesend. In 1795 she was the cause of an international incident when she fired on USRC Eagle. She was at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801, and during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars took numerous prizes, mostly merchant vessels but also including some privateers. She was also at the second Battle of Copenhagen in 1807. She was sold in April 1813. She then became the whaler Recovery. She made 12 whaling voyages in the southern whale fishery, the last one ending in 1843, at which time her owner had her broken up.
HMS Charybdis was a Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by Mark Richards and John Davidson at Hythe, and launched in 1809. She captured two American prizes during the War of 1812 before she was laid up in 1815 and sold in 1819. She apparently then became the whaler Greenwich, which made three voyages for Samuel Enderby & Sons and one for Daniel Bennett & Son. She was wrecked in the Seychelles in 1833 on her fourth whaling voyage.
Seringapatam was built in 1799, of teak, as a warship for Tippu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore. However, the British stormed his citadel at Seringapatam that year and he was killed in the action. The vessel was sailed to England in the hopes that the Admiralty would buy it. The Admiralty did not, and British merchants bought her to use as a whaler. She made six voyages to the Southern Atlantic and the Pacific until 1813, on her sixth voyage, when during the War of 1812, a US frigate captured her. She served briefly as a tender to the frigate before mutineers and British prisoners recaptured her and sailed to Australia. After her return to her owners, she returned to whaling until 1846, making another nine voyages. She then sailed between London and New South Wales until 1850. In the 1850s and 1860s she sailed to Aden and Hamburg, ending her years trading between Shields and Quebec. She is no longer listed in 1870.
HMS Fawn was a Cormorant-class ship-sloop of the British Royal Navy, launched in 1807. Before she was sold in 1818 she captured one privateer and destroyed another, and participated in three campaigns. In all, her crew qualified for three clasps to the Naval General Service medal (NGSM). After the Royal Navy sold her in 1818 she became a whaler. She then made seven whaling voyages to the Pacific, and especially to the waters off New Zealand, between 1820 and 1844. She was broken up on her return from her last voyage.
Éole was an 18-gun corvette of the French Navy, launched, captured, and later commissioned in the Royal Navy in 1799 as HMS Nimrod after her capture by HMS Solebay. She was then "the finest and most handsome ship-sloop in the British navy". She was sold in 1811. Nimrod made three whaling voyages between 1811 and 1819. On her first she captured several American whalers. Nimrod was last listed in 1820.
HMS Foxhound was the French Navy's brig Basque, launched in 1809, that the British Royal Navy captured in 1809 and took into service as a 16-gun sloop. She had a relatively brief naval career in which she captured a number of merchant vessels. After the Navy sold her in 1816, she made some 10 or 11 whaling voyages between 1817 and 1848.
Butterworth was launched in 1778 in France as the highly successful 32-gun privateer Américaine, of Granville. The British Royal Navy captured her early in 1781. She first appeared in a commercial role in 1784 as America, and was renamed in 1785 as Butterworth. She served primarily as a whaler in the Greenland whale fisheries. New owners purchased her in 1789. She underwent a great repair in 1791 that increased her size by almost 20%. She is most famous for her role in the "Butterworth Squadron", which took her and two ship's tenders on an exploration, sealing, otter fur, and whaling voyage to Alaska and the Pacific Coast of North America. She and her consorts are widely credited with being the first European vessels to enter, in 1794, what is now Honolulu harbour. After her return to England in 1795, Butterworth went on three more whaling voyages to the South Pacific, then Africa, and then the South Pacific again. In 1802 she was outward bound on her fourth of these voyage, this to the South Pacific, when she was lost.
Serpent was a French navy brig of the Palinure class, launched in 1807 at Paimbeouf (Nantes) as Rivolli, but renamed. HMS Acasta captured her in 1808 in the Caribbean and the British Royal Navy took her into service there as HMS Pert but renamed her Asp. The navy disposed of her in 1814. She then made five voyages as a whaler, and wrecked in December 1828 on her sixth voyage.
Cumberland was launched in 1800 and sailed as a West Indiaman until 1807 or 1808 when she was sold to Enderbys. She then made five voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. Enderbys sold Cumberland and she proceeded to sail between England and Australia. In 1827 she sailed from Hobart and was never seen again. It later transpired that pirates had captured her off the Falkland Islands and killed her crew and passengers.
Rambler was launched in America in 1812. The British captured her in 1813 as she was returning to America from Manila. She then briefly became a West Indiaman. In 1815 she became a whaler in the Southern Fishery. She made four complete whaling voyages and was wrecked on her fifth.
Mary was launched at Liverpool in 1806. She made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. During this voyage she engaged in a notable combat action at night with two British warships. After the British slave trade ended, she traded with Haiti and Brazil, and possibly made one voyage to India under license from the British East India Company (EIC). She then became a whaler and was lost in 1825 in the Pacific on the second of two whaling voyages.
HMS Coquette was launched in 1807 and spent her naval career patrolling in the Channel and escorting convoys. In 1813 she engaged an American privateer in a notable but inconclusive single-ship action. The Navy put Coquette in ordinary in 1814 and sold her in 1817. She became a whaler and made five whaling voyages to the British southern whale fishery before she was lost in 1835 on her sixth.
Renown was launched in 1794 at New Bedford, Massachusetts. She made four voyages from Nantucket as a whaler. In 1813, while she was on her fifth American whaling voyage, she became the first American whaler that British whalers captured in the South Seas. She was sold in London and under the name Adam became first a London-based transport and then a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She made four whaling voyages and was wrecked in 1825 at the outset of her fifth British whaling voyage.
Norfolk was built in France in 1784 under a different name. The British captured her c. 1800 and she made some voyages as a West Indiaman. She also made a cruise as a privateer. Between 1803 and 1808 she served the Royal Navy as an armed defense and hired armed ship on the Leith Station. She spent her time escorting convoys in the North Sea and captured one French privateer. After her naval service, between 1808 and 1814 Norfolk was a London-based transport. From 1814 to 1820 she made four voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She was last listed in 1823.
Royal George was launched in 1803 as a brig for the Revenue Service. The Royal Navy purchased her in 1806 and renamed her HMS Bustard. She served on active duty between 1808 and 1815, distinguishing herself in operations in the Mediterranean. She then sailed to the West Indies. The Royal Navy sold her in 1815 and she became the whaler Royal George. She made three whaling voyages and was lost in 1825 on her fourth.
Sir Andrew Hammond was launched at Bermuda in 1800. She spent almost a dozen years as a West Indiaman. From 1812 on she was a whaler. On her first whaling voyage she sailed to the Pacific where the United States Navy captured her. She then served briefly in the United States Navy before the British Royal Navy recaptured her. She returned to whaling and made a further eight whaling voyages. She was lost in 1841 on her tenth whaling voyage.
HMS Esk was a Cyrus-class ship-sloop launched at Ipswich in 1813. During the War of 1812 she captured one United States privateer, and fought an inconclusive action with another. Between 1825 and 1827 Esk was part of the West Africa Squadron, engaged in suppressing the trans-Atlantic slave trade, during which period she captured a number of slave ships. A prize she had taken also engaged in a notable single ship action. The Royal Navy sold Esk in 1829. Green, Wigram, and Green purchased her and between 1829 and 1845 she made four voyages in the British southern whale fishery as the whaler Matilda.
HMS Lyra was a Cherokee-class brig-sloop launched at Deptford in 1808 for the Royal Navy. In 1809 she was one of the vessels that participated in the Battle of Basque Roads. Thereafter, she captured numerous small prizes. Between 1812 and 1814 she served off the Spanish coast. In 1816 Lyra sailed to China as escort to a diplomatic mission. The Navy sold her in 1818. She then became a whaler. Between 1819 and 1833 she made five voyages in the southern whale fishery. She was last listed in 1833.
References
Chatwin, Dale (1989). THE VIGILANT JOURNAL: A British whaling ship voyage in Indonesian waters and the Pacific, 1831–33. Australian National University; thesis.
Emmons, George Foster (1853). The navy of the United States, from the commencement, 1775 to 1853; with a brief history of each vessel's service and fate ... Comp. by Lieut. George F. Emmons ... under the authority of the Navy Dept. To which is added a list of private armed vessels, fitted out under the American flag ... also a list of the revenue and coast survey vessels, and principal ocean steamers, belonging to citizens of the United States in 1850. Washington: Gideon & Co.
Mawer, Granville (1999). Ahab's Trade: The Saga of South Seas Whaling. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN0-312-22809-0.
Mends, Bowen Stilton (1899). Life of Admiral Sir William Robert Mends, G. C. B.: late director of transports. J. Murray.
Vice-Admiralty Court, Halifax (1911). American vessels captured by the British during the revolution and war of 1812. Salem, Mass.: Essex Institute.
Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793-1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN978-1-86176-246-7.
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.
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
