Hinchinbrooke (1780 ship)

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History
Bandera de Espana 1760-1785.svg Spain
NameSan Carlos
Captured7 January 1780
British-Red-Ensign-1707.svgGreat Britain
NameHinchinbrooke
OwnerRobert Williams
Acquired1780 by purchase of a prize
FateWrecked 10 April 1785
General characteristics [1]
Tons burthen528, [1] or 5285394 [2] (bm)
Length
  • Overall: 115 ft 10 in (35.3 m)
  • Keel: 91 ft 3 in (27.8 m) (keel)
Beam33 ft 0 in (10.1 m)
Depth of hold13 ft 6 in (4.1 m)
Complement200 (San Carlos)
Armament32 guns (San Carlos)

Hinchinbrooke (or Hinchinbrook) was the Spanish ship San Carlos that Admiral Rodney's squadron captured on 8 January 1780. She was sold as a prize and in 1781 commenced a voyage as an "extra" ship of the British East India Company. During the voyage a French squadron captured her at the Battle of Porto Praya, but the British Royal Navy recaptured her within a day or so. She was lost in the Hooghly River in 1783 on her return voyage to Britain.

Contents

San Carlos: On 8 January 1800 a squadron under the command of Admiral Rodney encountered a convoy of 22 Spanish vessels some 76 leagues ENE of Cape Finisterre.

Background

The convoy consisted of seven vessels and ships of war belonging to the Guipuzcoan Company of Caracas, and 15 merchantmen. One of the Company vessels was San Carlos, under the command of Captain Don Firmin Urtizberea. Rodney's squadron captured the entire Spanish convoy. [3]

EIC voyage and loss:San Carlos arrived in the River Thames on 27 April 1780. There she was condemned in prize. [2]

Robert Williams purchased San Carlos and renamed her Hinchinbrooke. He chartered her for a voyage to Bengal for the EIC, but first she underwent fitting and measuring by Barnard. [2] [1]

Captain Arthur Maxwell sailed from Portsmouth for Madras and Bengal on 13 March 1781. [1]

On 16 April 1781 a French squadron under the Bailli de Suffren attacked a British squadron under Commodore George Johnstone anchored at Porto Praya (now Praia) in the Cape Verde Islands to take on water. Both squadrons were en route to the Cape of Good Hope, the British to take it from the Dutch, the French aiming to help defend it and French possessions in the Indian Ocean. The encounter was unexpected so neither fleet was prepared to do battle. The French ship Artésien captured Hinchinbrooke, but when the French withdrew from the inconclusive battle the prize crew abandoned her and the British recaptured her. Hinchinbrooke sailed on to Bengal.

Loss:Hinchinbrooke was wrecked on 10 April 1785 on the Long Sand, River Hooghly, as she was returning to Calcutta for repairs prior to resuming her return voyage to Britain. [2] [1] She had reached the mouth of the Bengal river when she encountered a violent storm. As she was returning to Kedgeree to refit she wrecked and three crew members drowned. The value of her cargo, which could not be saved, was reported as three (or six or seven) Lakhs, presumably of rupees. [4] [5]

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<i>Northumberland</i> (1780 EIC ship)

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<i>Essex</i> (1780 EIC ship)

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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.

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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 until the Royal Navy recaptured her at the end of 1810. She became a country ship, trading east of the Cape of Good Hope, and was lost in the Red Sea in 1812.

United Kingdom was an East Indiaman launched in 1801. She made three voyages to India for the British East India Company (EIC). The French Navy captured her in 1809 during her fourth voyage and the Royal Navy recaptured her in 1810. She became a country ship trading east of the Cape of Good Hope and was wrecked near the Cape in 1815.

Tartar was built in France in 1778, almost surely under another name. She was taken in prize and appears under British ownership in 1780. After a short career as a privateer, she made a voyage between 1781 and 1783 as an extra East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She then became a whaler in the northern whale fishery. After whaling she traded with the Baltic and then served as a London-based transport. She was probably lost in 1799, and was last listed in 1801. If Tartar is the vessel lost in 1799, in 1796 French warships captured her, but the Royal Navy quickly recaptured her.

Indus was launched in 1803 at Newcastle on Tyne. In 1804 the British East India Company (EIC) hired her for six voyages to India as an "extra ship". She completed the last of these six voyages in 1814. Thereafter she continued to trade with India, but privately, sailing under a licence from the EIC. She was last listed in 1823.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 British Library: Hinchinbrooke.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Hackman (2001), p. 128.
  3. "No. 12056". The London Gazette . 8 February 1780. p. 1.
  4. The New Annual Register, Or General Repository of History ..., Volume 6 (1785), p.73.
  5. Lady's Magazine Or Entertaining Companion for the Fair Sex ..., Volume 16, p.558.

Bibliography