HMS Sceptre was a 64-gun third-rateship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 8 June 1781 at Rotherhithe.[2] The ship was wrecked in a hurricane on 5 November 1799 in Table Bay near the Cape of Good Hope.[1]
The following year, she took part in the Battle of Cuddalore (1783), the final battle in the East Indies campaign. In the run-up to the battle Sceptre captured the Naïade, under captain Villaret, on the night of 11 April 1783.[4]Naïade was armed with eighteen to twenty 8-pounder guns and ten swivel guns, and had a crew of 160 men. The British took her into service but never commissioned her; they then sold her in August 1784.[5]
On 12 March 1795, under the command of Captain William Essington, Sceptre sailed for the Cape of Good Hope as escort to fleet of East Indiamen sailing to India and China.
Capture of eight Dutch East Indiamen off St Helena
When Sceptre arrived at St Helena she brought the news that France had invaded the Netherlands in January. Furthermore, under an order dated 9 February 1795, Royal Navy vessels and British letters of marque were to detain Dutch vessels and cargoes and bring them into British ports that they might be detained provisionally. Then on 2 June the British East India Companypacket shipSwallow arrived from the Cape of Good Hope with the news than a convoy of Dutch East Indiamen had left the Cape, sailing for the Netherlands.
On 18 May 1795, the Dutch brig Komeet, under the command of Captain-Lieutenant Mynheer Claris, and the Dutch corvette Scipio, under the command of de Jong, set out from Table Bay with a convoy of sixteen East Indiamen, for Europe. Bad weather forced eight Indiamen back to the Cape. These eight sailed again on 22 May.
The remaining eight Indiamen, which had sailed on 18 May together with their two escorts, and a private Dutch ship from the Cape, the whalerHerstilder, sailed on.[6] All but two of this group reached ports in then-neutral Norway.[7]
Essington prevailed upon Colonel Brooke, the governor of St Helena, to lend him some troops and to put the British East India Company (EIC) vessels there at the time to form a squadron to try and intercept the Dutch. Providentially, General Goddard, an East Indiaman under the command of Captain William Taylor Money, was resting at St Helena while on her way back to England. On 3 June, Sceptre, General Goddard, Manship (also an EIC ship), and Swallow set out. Five other HEIC ships set out later, of which only Busbridge met up with the squadron. On 10 June the British captured the Dutch Indiaman Hougly, which Swallow escorted into St Helena, before returning to the squadron with additional seamen. Due to bad weather, Manship and Busbridge lost contact with Essington's squadron.
In the afternoon of 14 June, Essington's squadron sighted seven sail. At 1 a.m. the next morning General Goddard sailed through the Dutch fleet, which fired on her. She did not fire back. Later that morning, after some exchange of shots between the British and Dutch vessels, the Dutch surrendered. The HEIC ships Busbridge, Captain Samuel Maitland, and Asia, Captain John Davy Foulkes, arrived on the scene and helped board the Dutch vessels. There were no casualties on either side. The British then brought their prizes into St Helena on 17 June.
On 1 July, Sceptre, General Goddard and the prizes sailed from St Helena to gather in other returning British East Indiamen. They then returned to St Helena, where George Vancouver and Discovery, which had arrived there in the meantime, joined them.[8] The entire convoy, now some 20 vessels or so strong, sailed from there in August to Shannon, where most arrived on 13 December. (Three Dutch vessels were lost. Houghly was lost on 1 September. Surcheance was lost on 5 September. Zeelelie escaped and wrecked off the Scilly Islands on 26 September.) General Goddard reached the Downs on 15 October.
Because the captures occurred before Britain had declared war on the Batavian Republic, the vessels become Droits to the Crown. Still, prize money, in the amount of two-thirds of the value of the Dutch ships amounted to £76,664 14s. Of this, £61,331 15s 2d was distributed among the officers and crew of Sceptre, General Goddard, Busbridge, Asia, and Swallow.[9]
Wrecking
HMS Sceptre sinkingA sketch of wreckage from Sceptre at Craig's Tower by Lady Anne Barnard
While under the command of Captain Valentine Edwards,[10][11]Sceptre was caught at anchor in a storm on 5 November 1799 along with seven other ships in Table Bay, near the Cape of Good Hope.[11] At 10:30am, the captain ordered the topmasts struck, and the fore and main yards lowered in order to ease the ship in the strengthening winds.[11] At midday, the ship fired a feu de joie on the occasion of the Gunpowder Plot, suggesting no apparent apprehension about the oncoming storm.[11] However within half an hour, the main anchor cable parted and despite the laying of a secondary one, this also broke.[11] At approximately 7pm, the ship was driven ashore onto a reef at Woodstock Beach at the site of the present-day Royal Cape Yacht Club and battered to pieces. One account states approximately 349 seamen and marines were killed or drowned. One officer, two midshipmen, 47 seamen, and one marine were saved from the wreck, but nine of these died on the beach.[12] The ship was wrecked a few hundred meters from the spot where a similar sized Danish warship, the Oldenborg was also wrecked in the same hurricane.[1]
On 14 December, the surviving junior officers and crew were subjected to a court martial (standard on the loss of a ship) but all were acquitted and no blame was apportioned for the loss of the ship.[13]
By contrast, the captain of Oldenborg managed to save all 446 men on board his vessel.
Earl of Abergavenny was an East Indiaman launched in 1796 that was wrecked in Weymouth Bay, England in 1805. She was one of the largest ever built. John Wordsworth was her captain during her last two successful voyages to China. He was also her captain on her fifth voyage and lost his life when she wrecked. Earl of Abergavenny was built in Northfleet, Kent to carry cargo for the British East India Company (EIC). In 1804 she was one of the vessels at the Battle of Pulo Aura, though she did not participate in the action. She sank, with great loss of life, within days of leaving Portsmouth on the outward leg of her fifth voyage.
HMS Calcutta was the East Indiaman Warley, converted to a Royal Navy 56-gun fourth rate. This ship of the line served for a time as an armed transport. She also transported convicts to Australia in a voyage that became a circumnavigation of the world. The French 74-gun Magnanime captured Calcutta in 1805. In 1809, after she ran aground during the Battle of the Basque Roads and her crew had abandoned her, a British boarding party burned her.
The Dutch corvette Scipio was launched in 1784. She convoyed Dutch East Indiamen between the Cape of Good Hope and Europe until HMS Psyche captured her at Samarang in 1807. The British Royal Navy initially referred to her as HMS Scipio, but then renamed her to HMS Samarang in 1808. She was not commissioned in the Royal Navy. She was instrumental in the capture of Amboyna and especially Pulo Ay, and participated in the invasion of Java (1811). She was sold at Bombay in 1814. She then entered mercantile service, sailing between Liverpool and India until 1827. She became an opium trader sailing between India and Canton, and was broken up near Hong Kong in August 1833.
General Goddard was an East Indiaman launched in 1782 that made six voyages to the East Indies for the Honourable East India Company. After she was sold, she made one journey to the West Indies, where the Spanish captured her in November 1799. Her most notable exploit occurred on her fifth voyage, when she participated on 15 June 1795 in the capture of seven Dutch East Indiamen.
Earl Spencer was an East Indiaman, launched in 1795 for the British East India Company (EIC). She made seven voyages for the EIC until in 1811-12 the government took her up to transport convicts to Australia in 1813. On her return voyage from Australia she sailed via China, where she carried a cargo back to England for the EIC.
Royal Charlotte was launched in 1789 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made two trips to China for the EIC and on the second of these, after the outbreak of war with France in 1793, assisted at the British capture of Pondicherry. Then, the Admiralty, desirous of quickly building up the Royal Navy, purchased a number of commercial vessels, including nine East Indiamen, to meet the need for small two-decker fourth rates to serve as convoy escorts. The Admiralty purchased Royal Charlotte in 1795 and renamed her HMS Malabar. She made a trip to the West Indies where she was the lead ship of a small squadron that captured some Dutch colonies. She foundered in 1796 while escorting a convoy in the North Atlantic.
Swallow was a teak-built packet ship that the British East India Company (EIC) launched at Bombay in 1779. She made nine trips between India and Britain for the EIC between 1782 and 1803. Her most notable exploit occurred on her seventh voyage, when she helped capture seven Dutch East Indiamen on 15 June 1795. The Royal Navy purchased her in 1804 and named her Lilly. She served in the navy until she was sold in 1811. During this time she participated in the capture of La Désirade island, and participated in a quixotic and unsuccessful attempt of General Francisco de Miranda to liberate the Province of Venezuela from Spain in 1806. Her whereabouts between 1811 and 1815 are obscure, but in 1815 J. Lyney, of London, purchased her and she sailed to the West Indies and to India as an EIC-licensed vessel until she wrecked on her way to Calcutta in 1823.
Osterley was a three-decker East Indiaman, launched in 1780, that made seven trips for the British East India Company between 1781 and 1800. She was present at two battles, and an engagement in which four Indiamen and a country ship engaged a French frigate. On her last trip a French frigate captured her in a single-ship action, but sent her on her way. Osterley eventually returned to Britain in 1800. Her subsequent fate is unknown.
Asia was launched in 1780 and made six voyages as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She participated in three actions, two against the French and one against the Dutch. She left the EIC's service in 1799 and traded between London and Lisbon until 1802 when new owners from Embden renamed her Reine Louise de Prusse and returned her to trading with the East Indies. Asia is last listed in Lloyd's Register for 1808 on the London-Batavia trade.
Alfred was launched in 1790 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made eight voyages for the EIC before she was sold. She participated in two notable incidents in which East Indiamen bluffed superior French naval forces from engaging. In January 1797, on her third voyage, in the Bali Strait Alfred and five other Indiamen sent off a French squadron of six frigates without a shot being fired. In February 1804, at Pulo Aura, during her sixth voyage she participated in a notable engagement with a French squadron. After her last voyage for the EIC Alfred served as a storeship and a hulk.
Airly Castle, was built by William Barnard at Deptford and launched in 1787. She made eight voyages as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1788 and 1808. In 1795 she participated in the capture of seven Dutch East Indiamen near St Helena. After her eight voyages she may have served briefly as a general transport before she was sold for breaking up in 1810. She was not broken up but instead served as a transport for several years.
Brunswick was launched in 1792 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made five complete voyages for the EIC before the French captured her in 1805. Shortly thereafter she wrecked at the Cape of Good Hope.
Busbridge was launched in 1782 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made seven voyages for the EIC before she was broken up. In June 1795, during her sixth voyage, she participated in the capture of eight vessels of the Dutch East India Company. She was laid up for several years on her return from her seventh voyage and sold for breaking up in 1805.
Lord Hawkesbury was launched in 1787 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made eight voyages for the EIC before she was sold in 1808 for breaking up.
Essex was launched in 1780 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). On her first voyage she was present at an inconclusive battle with the French, and later at a second inconclusive engagement with a French frigate. In 1798 she was sold to be hulked or broken up.
Valentine was launched in 1780 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), and was a transport for one military campaign. On her first voyage she was present at an inconclusive battle with the French, but did not take an active part. She was sold in 1796 for breaking up.
Manship was launched in 1785 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages as a "regular ship" for the British East India Company (EIC). In June 1795 Manship shared with several other Indiamen and the Royal Navy in the capture of eight Dutch East Indiamen off St Helena. Her owners sold her in 1801 and she then made one voyage for the EIC as an "extra ship" on a voyage charter. Her owners sold her to the British government in 1803 for use as a powder hulk.
Euphrates was launched in 1803 as an East Indiaman. Between 1803 and 1812 she made four voyages to India for the British East India Company (EIC). During these voyages she participated as a transport in two military campaigns, the capture of the Cape of Good Hope and of Mauritius. She was wrecked in 1813 towards the end of the outward leg of a fifth voyage to India.
Bombay Castle was launched in 1792 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) before she was sold in 1807 for breaking up. In addition to carrying cargo for the EIC, she transported troops in one campaign, participated in a naval action in which she helped capture a French frigate, and played a leading role in an encounter between the French Navy and a fleet of East Indiamen in which the East Indiamen succeeded in bluffing the French to withdraw.
Dorsetshire was launched in 1800 as an East Indiaman. She made nine voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). In each of her first, second, and third voyages she was involved in a notable action. The remainder of her voyages appear to have proceeded without incident. She ceased sailing for the EIC in 1823 and was broken up c.1827.
Vancouver, George (1798) A voyage of discovery to the North Pacific Ocean, and round the world: in which the coast of north-west America has been carefully examined and accurately surveyed: Undertaken by His Majesty's command, principally with a view to ascertain the existence of any navigable communication between the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, and performed in the years 1790, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794, and 1795, in the Discovery sloop of war, and armed tender Chatham, under the command of Captain George Vancouver: in three volumes. (G. G. and J. Robinson)
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