Nutwell (1800 ship)

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History
British-Red-Ensign-1707.svgGreat Britain
NameNutwell
Namesake Nutwell
Owner
  • 1800:Heathfield & Co., London [1]
  • 1805:Pycroft [2]
BuilderJacob Preston, Great Yarmouth [1]
Launched21 July 1800 [1]
FateFoundered 21 August 1806
General characteristics
Tons burthen378, [3] or 426, [4] or 4264594, [1] or 427 [5] (bm)
PropulsionSail
Complement
Armament
  • 1800:20 × 12-pounder guns [4]
  • 1801:14 × 9-pounder carronades [6]
  • 1803:12 × 24-pounder guns [4]

Nutwell was launched at Great Yarmouth in 1800. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC), bringing back rice from Bengal at the behest of the British government. On her return she became a West Indiaman, trading with Jamaica, until the 1806 Great Coastal hurricane overturned her.

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Career

EIC voyage (1801-1802): On 5 December 1800 Captain John Cristal acquired a letter of marque. [4] Messrs. Princep and Saunders had tendered Nutwell, John Cristal, master, to the EIC to bring back rice from Bengal. She was one of 28 vessels that sailed on that mission between December 1800 and February 1801. [3]

Cristal sailed from Portsmouth on 9 February 1801, bound for St Helena and Bengal. Nutwell reached the Cape of Good Hope on 20 April and Madras on 5 July, and arrived at Calcutta on 18 July. Christall drowned on 15 August. [7] His replacement was Captain John Carse. Homeward bound, Nutwell was at Saugor on 24 September and reached the Cape on 22 December. [8] Lloyd's List reported that Nutwell, Carse, master, had put into the Cape leaky. [9] Nutwell left St Helena on 31 January 1802, in company with Sir John Borlase Warren. [10] Nutwell arrived at the Downs on 25 March. [8]

Nutwell first appears in the Register of Shipping in 1801 with J. Christol, master, Heathfield, owner, and trade London—Bengal. [6]

On 15 December 1803 Captain John Dods (or Dodds) acquired a letter of marque. Lloyd's Register for 1803 shows that L. Dodd replaced Popplewell as master. Her trade was London—Jamaica. [5]

Lloyd's Register for 1805 showed Nutwell with Thatcher, master, and Pycroft, owner. Her trade was still London—Jamaica. [2]

Fate

One report had Nutwell foundering in a gale on 21 August 1806. [11] She had sprung a leak in a heavy gale whilst on passage from Jamaica for London and was upset. An American schooner took the crew off the wreck on the 27th. [12]

Nutwell was one of 13 vessels of the Jamaica Fleet that were sunk in the August 1806 Great Coastal hurricane. Of the 109 vessels, by October five vessels of the 109 in the convoy were still unaccounted for, though only the 13 were known to have sunk. The seventy crew on the vessels known to have been lost were drowned, including all 29 men on Nutwell. [13] (Other vessels lost include Exeter and Herculean.)

Citations

Related Research Articles

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.

Comet was launched in 1800 on the Thames. In 1801 she made a voyage under charter to the British East India Company (EIC). On her second voyage, in 1803, the French captured her. Still, in 1804 her previous owners were able to reacquire her. She then made another voyage for the EIC. On her return she first served as a troopship and then in the West Indies trade. She apparently was lost in 1815 or 1816.

Exeter was launched at Calcutta in 1793. She made three voyages from Calcutta to England for the British East India Company (EIC). On the way home from england on the second of these voyages she suffered a high mortality rate from disease among her non-European crew. She was lost in August 1806 in a hurricane while returning to London from Jamaica.

Betsy was launched at Lancaster in 1793 as a West Indiaman. In 1801 she made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) to bring back rice at the behest of the British government. On her return she became a Baltic trader. She was lost in 1803.

Queen was launched at Quebec in 1795. She made three voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) and then became a West Indiaman, trading between London and West Indies. She was last listed in 1813.

Earl St Vincent was launched in 1798 at Gatcombe, on the Severn. She initially traded between Bristol and Jamaica. She then made one voyage as an "extra ship", i.e., under voyage charter, for the British East India Company (EIC). On her return she again traded with the West Indies until she was captured in 1806.

Herculean was launched in 1799 at Shields. She made two voyages as an "extra ship", under charter to the British East India Company (EIC). She then became a West Indiaman and foundered in 1806.

<i>Indian Trader</i> (1791 ship)

Indian Trader was launched in 1791. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). She was on her second voyage when a French privateer captured her. The British recaptured her and she returned to merchant service, sailing to the Americas. She was lost c. 1830.

Sir John Borlase Warren, was launched in 1800. She traded with the West Indies after having made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). A French privateer captured her in 1808 though she was immediately recaptured. Her crew abandoned her in 1812 but she was recovered. She foundered in 1815.

Coverdale was launched at Whitby in 1795. She made two voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She then became a West Indiaman. She foundered in 1806 on her way back to England from Jamaica.

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.

Eliza was built in Spain in 1794 under another name and taken as a prize circa 1800. She then made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). On her return she made one voyage to Timor as a whaler. She next became a West Indiaman. In 1810 she apparently was sold to Portuguese interests and who continued to sail her under the name Courier de Londres. She is last listed in 1814.

William Dent was launched in 1800 and then made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). On her return she became a West Indiaman. She disappeared in January 1813.

Varuna was launched at Calcutta in 1796. She made four voyages as an "extra ship" for the British East India Company (EIC), and then spent two years as a troopship. She returned to India in 1806. She was lost in 1811, probably in a typhoon.

John and James was built in France in 1791 under another name and taken in prize in 1796. New owners renamed her and initially sailed her as a West Indiaman. She then made a voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). Next, she became a slave ship, making three voyages between West Africa and the West Indies. Finally, she became a whaler, but was lost in 1806 to a mutinous crew.

Mercury apparently was launched in 1786 at Topsham, but her career prior to 1790 is obscure. She initially traded with Virginia and then with the "Straits". In 1794-1795 she made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). On her return she became a West Indiaman. She was lost in 1802.

Loyalist was launched in 1793. Between 1796 and 1803 she made four voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She then sailed as a West Indiaman until she was condemned in 1809 as unseaworthy.

Lord Forbes was launched at Chester in 1803 as a West Indiaman. She soon became an "armed defense ship", but by 1805 had returned to being a West Indiaman. She made two voyages as an "extra" ship for the British East India Company (EIC). She continued trading with India until 1817 when she sustained damage on her way to Bengal. There she was surveyed, condemned and sold.

Berrington was launched in 1783. She made six voyages as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She then became a West Indiaman before again making a voyage under the auspices of the EIC to bring rice from Bengal to England for the British government. She returned to Indian waters and was last listed in 1807.

Ganges was launched in 1799 at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) bringing rice from Bengal for the British government. She then became a West Indiaman until the French navy captured her in 1805.

References