King George was launched in 1784 and made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1785 and 1798. She also participated in the invasion of St Lucia. In 1798 her owners sold her and she became a West Indiaman. An accident in 1800 at Jamaica destroyed her.
EIC voyage #1 (1785-1786): Captain Jonathan Court sailed from the Downs on 11 February 1785, bound for Bombay and Bengal. King George reached Johanna on 28 May and Bombay on 17 June. She arrived at Diamond Creek on 18 August. Homeward bound, she reached St Helena on 8 April 1786 and arrived at the Downs on 17 June.[3]
EIC voyage #2 (1786-1787): Captain George Millet (or Millett), sailed from the Downs on 21 November 1786 bound for Bombay and China. King George reached Cochin on 23 April 1787 and Bombay on 6 May. She arrived at Whampoa Anchorage on 9 September. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 4 January, reached st Helena on 5 April, and arrived at the Downs on 22 June.[3]
EIC voyage #3 (1789-1790): Captain John Sherwood sailed from the Downs on 14 April 1789, bound for China. King George arrived at Whampoa Anchorage on 30 August. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 24 November, reached St Helena on 24 February 1790, and arrived at the downs on 28 April.[3]
EIC voyage #4 (1792-1793): Captain Richard Colnett sailed from the Downs on 2 May 1792, bound for Madras and Bengal. King George reached Madras on 17 September and arrive at Diamond Harbour on 7 October. Homeward bound, she was at "Broken Ground" on 19 February 1793, Madras on 19 April, and St Helena on 31 July. She arrived at the Downs on 27 September.[3] Shortly before she returned, the EIC acquired a letter of marque on 2 September 1793 for Colnett.[2]
EIC voyage #5 (1794-1795): The British government held King George at Portsmouth, together with a number of other Indiamen in anticipation of using them as transports for an attack on Île de France (Mauritius). It gave up the plan and released the vessels in May 1794. It paid £458 8s 8d for having delayed her departure by 22 days.
Captain Colnett sailed from Portsmouth on 2 May, bound for China. King George reached Anger on 7 September and arrived at Whampoa Anchorage on 6 October. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 5 January 1795, reached St Helena on 14 April, and arrived at the Downs on 23 July.[3]
West Indies Expedition: On 20 October 1795 the Admiralty chartered King George as a troopship for Admiral Hugh Cloberry Christian's expedition to the West Indies. Her captain was John Fam Timins, who had acquired a letter of marque on 12 September 1795.[2] She sailed for the West Indies on 9 December,[4] but bad weather delayed the start of the expedition and the vessels had to put back to England.[5] After numerous false starts aborted by weather issues, the fleet sailed on 26 April to invade St Lucia, with troops under Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby. St Lucia surrendered to the British on 25 May.[6] The British went on to capture Saint Vincent and Grenada.[lower-alpha 1]
EIC voyage #6 (1797-1798): Captain Colnett sailed from Portsmouth on 6 April 1797, bound for Madras and Bengal. King George arrived at Madras on 27 July. Homeward bound, perhaps from Bengal, she arrived at the Cape of Good Hope on 24 December.[3]
While King George was at the Cape, officers and crew went ashore. While Colnett was on shore, his second mate, Mr. Reid assaulted him. A subsequent court-martial on HMSStately sentenced Reid to two years in the Marshalsea prison. Because Colnett had a letter of marque, King George was a "Private man-of-war", and the Navy's Articles of War applied at sea. Had Reid struck Colnett aboard King George, the charge would have been mutiny, for which the penalty would have been death.[7]
From the Cape King George reached St Helena on 3 February 1798 and Cork on 24 June. She arrived at the Downs on 7 July.[3]
West Indiaman: In 1798 her owners sold King George and her new owners employed her in trade with Jamaica. She underwent a good repair that year.[1] She appears in Lloyd's Register with Cundall, master, and Blight & Co., owners.[8] The Register of Shipping for 1800 shows J. Cundall as master and owner, and her trade still as London—Jamaica.[1]
Fate
King George sailed from Jamaica on 7 July 1800 in a convoy for London. She had a cargo of 400 pipes of Madeira wine and was also carrying a number of invalided soldiers. She ran aground on Pedro Point, Jamaica, before she had even cleared the island. As she fired guns to signal her distress, the fire communicated itself to her magazine. She blew up, killing the majority of those on board.[9]Lloyd's List reported that her master was Eilbeck, and that her people were saved.[10]
Rockingham was launched as an East Indiaman in 1785. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1786 and 1802 before she was sold for breaking up.
Bridgewater was launched in 1785 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC), which engaged her for six voyages. She then made two more as an "extra ship", that is, under voyage charters, and was lost at sea in 1805 while homeward bound from Bombay on her eighth voyage.
Britannia was launched by the Bombay Dockyard in 1772, and was rebuilt in 1778. The British East India Company (EIC) apparently acquired her in 1775. Between 1779 she made eleven complete voyages as an East Indiaman for the EIC. She also participated in three naval campaigns, during the first of which she was deployed as a cruiser off Sumatra. There she engaged and captured a French ship. In the other two she served as a transport. She set out for her twelfth EIC voyage but was lost in 1805 during the third naval campaign.
Ceres was launched in 1797 as an East Indiaman. She made nine voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), before she was hulked in 1816.
Lord Macartney was launched in 1782 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC0 before she was sold in 1798. She then traded across the Atlantic to North America and was last listed in 1811.
Melville Castle was launched in 1786 as an East Indiaman. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She was sold in 1802 to Dutch owners and wrecked with great loss of life later that year on her first voyage for them.
Carnatic was launched in 1787. She made six voyages as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She was sold for breaking up in 1802.
Contractor was launched in 1779 as an East Indiaman. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She made one voyage as a transport for a military expedition before her owners sold her in 1800 for use as a transport.
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.
Duke of Montrose was launched in 1785 as an East Indiaman. She made eight voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She then briefly became a troop transport, sailing to the West Indies. She was sold in 1811 for breaking up.
Earl of Wycombe was launched in 1786 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). In 1800 she became a general trader, trading across the Atlantic to the West Indies and Canada. She was lost without a trace c.1803.
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.
Europa was launched in 1781 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She was probably broken up in 1798.
True Briton was launched in 1790 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She was lost without a trace in 1809 during her eighth voyage.
Worcester was launched in 1785 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made eight voyages to India and China for the EIC and participated as a transport in two naval expeditions before she was sold in 1809 for breaking up.
Walpole was launched on the Thames in 1779. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). On the sixth voyage, on her way to China, her captain discovered an island that he named Walpole Island. She was sold for breaking up in 1799.
Thames was launched on the Thames in 1796 as an East Indiaman. She made eight voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She was sold for breaking up in 1816.
Thetis was launched on the river Thames in 1786 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company between 1787 and 1800, She then was sold and spent a handful of years as a West Indiaman. She was broken up in 1806.
London was launched in 1779 as an East Indiaman. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), between 1780 and 1798. She was sold for breaking up in 1799.
Marquis of Lansdown was launched in 1787 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages as an "extra" ship for the British East India Company (EIC) before the EIC declared her worn out. Her owners sold her in 1800 and she became a West Indiaman. The French captured her in 1805 when they captured Dominica.
References
Grocott, Terence (1997). Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary & Napoleonic Eras. London: Chatham. ISBN1861760302.
Hackman, Rowan (2001). Ships of the East India Company. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN0-905617-96-7.
Parkinson, C. Northcote (2013) [1966]. Trade in Eastern Seas 1793—1813. Routledge. ISBN9780714613482.
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