| History | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name: | Highland Chief |
| Owner: | |
| Launched: | 10 February 1798 [1] |
| Fate: | Captured 1802 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen: | 46264⁄94 [3] or 463, [1] or 500, [2] or 550 [4] (bm) |
| Propulsion: | Sail |
| Armament: | 8 × 6-pounder guns [5] |
| Notes: | Three decks; teak-built |
Highland Chief was launched at Calcutta in 1798. She made two voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) before a French privateer captured her in 1802 south of the Bay of Bengal.
EIC voyage #1 (1799): Captain Thomas Scott sailed from Bengal on 16 January 1799. Highland Chief reached St Helena on 10 April. [6] She was part of a convoy of some 18 ships that left St Helena on 9 May under escort by HMS Raisonnable. [7] Highland Chief arrived at the Downs on 13 July. [6]
She was admitted to British Registry on 14 August 1799. [3] Highland Chief appears in Lloyd's Register in 1799 with Scott, master. Lennox & Co., owner, and trade London—India. [5] On 17 October Captain William Greenway (or Greenaway) sailed from Falmouth for Bengal. The 14-gun brig HMS Falcon was to escort the merchantmen. [8]
EIC voyage #2 (1800–1801): Captain William Greenway left Bengal on 11 December 1800, bound for England. Highland Chief reached St Helena on 24 February 1801. [6] She was part of a small convoy under escort by Buffalo that also included Minerva, Varuna, and Friendship. [9]
In May during a fog off the Lizard a frigate ran into Highland Chief. Both vessels sustained substantial damage. [10] Highland Chief arrived on 23 May at Plymouth "in distress". [11] Then on 7 June the hired armed lugger Valiant escorted Highland Chief and a convoy to the River Thames. [12] Highland Chief finally arrived in the Downs on 10 June, [6] and Gravesend two days later. [13]
Highland Chief, Captain Greenaway, sailed from Gravesend on 23 September, bound for India. [14] She sailed via Madeira and Rio de Janeiro, and arrived at the Cape of Good Hope on 16 December. [15]
On 13 August 1802 Lloyd's List reported that a small privateer had captured Highland Chief as she was on her way to Bengal and that her captain had been killed when the privateers boarded her. The privateer sent Highland Chief into Île de France. [16] Then on 26 December Lloyd's List reported that Porcher, Tay, and Highland Chief had been taken into Île de France and condemned there as prizes of war. [17]
On 5 February 1802 Highland Chief encountered the French privateer Subtilite (or Subtile), of five guns and 116 men under the command of Captain Pineau at 2°12′S93°36′E / 2.200°S 93.600°E . [Note 1] Subtile was flying American colours and seemed unarmed; Greenway thought that it might be the American brig Roebuck, which they had seen several times since leaving the Cape. As the vessel got close, the British realized that it was armed, much more heavily crewed than it had initially appeared to be, and was hostile. An engagement ensued of about half an hour. At the outset, Highland Chief's Portuguese and lascar crewmen fled below, leaving only 21 English crew to continue the fight. After the exchange of four or five broadsides Subtile came alongside and 95 Frenchmen came on board, capturing her. [19]
Highland Chief had already struck when one of the Frenchmen in the rigging fired a Blunderbuss at Captain Greenway, who was standing on the poop deck, killing him. In addition to the loss of Captain Greenway, several crew had been wounded by cutlasses during the boarding. The French had lost eight men dead and 19 wounded. [19]
Next day Subtile captured Roebuck, firing on her despite the fact that she was flying American colours and hence was a neutral vessel. The French plundered Roebuck, transferring both that plunder and Highland Chief's guns and some other items to Subtile. After about 30 hours Pineau dispatched Highland Chief to Mauritius. He put all his prisoners aboard Roebuck, put some extra water and provisions aboard her, and sent her on to India. She arrived at Vizagaptam around 5 March. [19]
In June 1802, Earl Cornwallis sailed to Île de France having on board a number of French prisoners, who had been detained in Bengal. The prisoners were under the charge of Mr. Campbell, who the Bengal Government had also charged with negotiating with the Governor of Île de France for the release of Tay, Highland Chief, and Porcher. The vessels and their cargoes were estimated to be worth £100,000. [20] That the preliminaries had been signed was known at the time of capture to both the captain of Porcher and the captain of Bellone, the privateer that had captured her and Tay. Even so, the French prize court upheld the seizures.
Porcher eventually returned to British ownership following a recapture. It is not currently clear what subsequently happened to Highland Chief or Tay. [Note 2]
Notes
Citations
References
Earl Cornwallis was a three-decker East Indiaman launched in 1783 on the Thames. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). Then in 1800 transported convicts from England to New South Wales. By 1809 she was no longer listed.
Experiment was launched in 1798 at Stockton-on-Tees, England. Between late 1800 and 1802 she made a voyage to India for the British East India Company (EIC). In 1803 she transported convicts to Port Jackson. In 1805, on her way home the French captured her, but the British recaptured her. In 1808 she became a West Indiaman. Still, in 1818 or so she sailed out to India. Experiment was condemned at Batavia in 1818 and sold there in 1819 for breaking up.
Princess Royal, launched in 1786, was an East Indiaman. She made two complete trips to India for the British East India Company (EIC) and was on her third trip, this one to China, when French privateers or warships captured her on 27 September 1793. The French Navy took her into service in the Indian Ocean as a 34-gun frigate under the name Duguay Trouin. The Royal Navy recaptured her and she returned to British merchant service. In 1797 she performed one more voyage for the EIC. She received a letter of marque in July 1798 but was captured in October 1799 off the coast of Sumatra.
Mornington was a British merchant vessel built of teak and launched in 1799 at Calcutta. She made three voyages under charter to the British East India Company (EIC). On the third French privateers twice captured her and Royal Navy vessels twice recaptured her. A fire destroyed her in 1815.
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.
The British East India Company (EIC) had Whim built for use as a fast dispatch vessel. She was sold in 1802 and became a whaler that a French privateer captured and released, and then a merchant vessel. She is no longer listed after 1822.
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.
Houghton was launched in 1782 and made six voyages as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). In 1794 she was part of an EIC squadron that had some success against French privateers and naval vessels in the Sunda Strait, and then in 1796 she participated as a transport in the British capture of St Lucia. She was sold in 1799 and her owner took her out to India to work in the tea trade between India and China. She foundered in 1803.
Nonsuch was launched at Calcutta in 1781 as the first large vessel built there. She was designed to serve as either a merchantman or a man-of-war. She spent the first 12 years of her career as a merchant vessel, carrying opium to China amongst other cargoes. After the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1793 her owner frequently hired her out as an armed ship to the British East India Company (EIC). She participated in an engagement with a French naval squadron and recaptured an East Indiaman. She also made two voyages for the EIC. After the Peace of Amiens in 1802 the EIC paid her off; as she was being hauled into a dockyard for repairs she was damaged and the decision was taken to break her up.
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.
Pursuit was launched at Whitby in 1795. She made two voyages for the British East India Company and then traded with the West Indies. She repelled one attack by a French privateer that caused severe casualties, but eventually an American privateer captured her in August 1812.
Kingsmill was a French vessel launched in 1793 under a different name, captured in 1798, and sold to British owners who renamed her. She then became a slave ship, making three voyages from Africa to the West Indies. A French privateer captured her in 1804, but she returned to her owners in 1804. In 1807 she became a West Indiaman. In 1814 she became the first ship to trade with India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC) after the EIC lost its monopoly on British trade with India. She was badly damaged in 1821 and subsequently disappears from the registers.
Admiral Gardner was launched in 1797 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made five voyages for the EIC, during the fourth of which she participated in an inconclusive single-ship action with a French privateer. Admiral Gardner was wrecked in January 1809.
Eliza Ann was launched at Calcutta in 1795. She sailed to England where she was admitted to the Registry. In all, she made five voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), during one of which she participated in a notable action and during the last of which she captured a French privateer. She herself was lost in 1807.
Anna was launched at Calcutta in 1793. She was often called Bengal Anna to distinguish her from BombayAnna. Bengal Anna made three voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She was lost on the coast of Chittagong c.1811, after participating in a military expedition.
Suffolk was launched in 1800. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). She grounded in 1802 but was refloated. She then made a voyage to the Cape of Good Hope. On her return she became a West Indiaman. A Spanish privateer captured her in 1805.
Dublin was launched in 1784 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), to India and China. On her last voyage for the EIC she recaptured a country ship. Her owners sold Dublin in 1800 and she became a West Indiaman, but apparently was lost on her first voyage.
Manship was launched in 1785 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages as a "regular ship" for the British East India Company (EIC). 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. In June 1795 Manship shared with several other Indiamen and the Royal Navy in the capture of eight Dutch East Indiamen off St Helena.
Cornwall was launched in 1794 as a West Indiaman. In a little more than three years later she had left on the first of three whaling voyages to the Southern Whale Fishery. On her first whaling voyage she captured a Spanish ship and fought off a French privateer. After her third whaling voyage Cornwall returned to the West Indies trade. Around 1817 new owners sent her to India where a Parsi merchant purchased her. She traded in the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean, and also participated as a transport in a naval expedition to the Persian Gulf. She was last listed in 1824.
Charlton was launched in 1798 in Liverpool as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made five voyages to India for the EIC. A French naval squadron captured her in 1809 on her sixth voyage and she became a prison ship a Mauritius util the Royal Navy recaptured her at the end of 1810. She became a country ship, trading east of the Cape of Good Hope, but was lost in the Red Sea in 1812.