History | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Name | Ocean |
Operator | British East India Company |
Builder | Thomas Pitcher & Sons, London |
Launched | 18 October 1800 [1] |
Fate | Foundered 1811 |
General characteristics [2] | |
Type | East Indiaman |
Tons burthen | 1200 (rated), 1273 (measured), 1337, [3] 13374⁄94 [1] (bm) |
Length |
|
Beam | 42 ft 3 in (12.9 m) |
Depth of hold | 17 ft (5.2 m) |
Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
Complement | 130–140 men [3] |
Armament | 34 or 36 × 6- & 12-pounder guns [3] |
Ocean was an East Indiaman, launched in 1800, that made four trips for the Honourable East India Company. She is most famous for her participation, in 1804, in the battle of Pulo Aura. She foundered in 1811 while on her fifth trip.
Captain Andrew Patton sailed Ocean for Bombay and China. He had been captain of the company's previous Ocean, which had wrecked in 1797. Because the French Revolutionary Wars were still on going, Patton acquired a letter of marque, which was dated 10 December 1800. [3]
Ocean left Portsmouth on 9 January 1801 and reached on 22 May. From there she sailed for China. She reached Whampoa on 6 October. On the return leg she crossed the Second Bar on 7 December. She arrived at Saint Helena on 12 April 1802, and The Downs on 10 June. [2]
On Ocean's second voyage, Patton was again her captain and he left The Downs on 13 October 1802 for the Cape of Good Hope, Madras, Bombay and China. After the resumption of war with France in 1803, Patton posthumously received a new letter of marque dated 1 July 1803 for the same vessel, with a crew of 140 men and 36 guns. [3] Patton died at Bombay in June 1803; Ocean's first lieutenant, John Christian Lochner, became captain and it was he that commanded her at the battle of Pulo Aura.
On 14 February 1804, the China Fleet, under the command of Commodore Nathaniel Dance, intimidated, drove off and chased a powerful French naval squadron at Pulo Aura. Dance's aggressive tactics persuaded Contre-Admiral Charles-Alexandre Durand Linois to retire after only a brief exchange of fire. Dance then chased the French warships until his convoy was out of danger, whereupon he resumed his passage towards British India.
Ocean reached Britain on 15 August 1804. [2]
The EIC voted a £50,000 prize fund to be divided among the various commanders at the battle and their crews. Farrer received 500 guineas, and also a piece of plate worth 50 guineas. Lloyd's Patriotic Fund and other national and mercantile institutions made a series of awards of ceremonial swords, silver plate, and monetary gifts to individual officers. Lloyd's Patriotic Fund gave each captain a sword worth £50, and one worth £100 to Nathaniel Dance. Dance refused a baronetcy but was subsequently knighted. [4]
Captain John(s) James Williamson became captain of Ocean for this and her next two voyages. The change of captain required the issuing of a new letter of marque. This one was dated 17 December 1804. [3]
On her third voyage she left Portsmouth on 8 March 1805, bound for Madras and China. She reached Madeira on 26 March, and Madras on 14 July.
This voyage also saw combat, but of a more minor sort. On 7 August Ocean was in company with the East Indiamen Henry Addington, Dorsetshire, and Cumberland in a convoy escorted by naval vessels under the command of Sir Thomas Troubridge. [5] The British exchanged fire with three French warships that included Belle Poule and Marengo, [5] which did not press the attack. [Note 1]
By 27 August Ocean was at Penang, and then on 14 September she was at Malacca. She reached Whampoa on 22 December. On the return leg Ocean was "off Chumpee" (Chuenpee) in the Bocca Tigris, the estuary of the Pearl River, on 26 February 1806. She reached St Helena on 2 July, and arrived at the Downs on 3 September. [2]
On Her fourth voyage, Ocean left Portsmouth on 5 March 1808, sailing for China. She reached the Cape of Good Hope on 31 May. From there she sailed to Madras, which she reached on 3 August. From there she sailed to Penang (22 August) and Malacca (3 September), before reaching Whampoa on 2 October. On the return leg she crossed the Second Bar on 2 February 1809. She reached St Helena on 7 July, and The Downs on 8 September. [2]
Ocean was again under the command of Captain Williamson when she departed in January 1810 for St. Helena, Bencoolen, and China. [2] Ocean apparently foundered off Pulo Sapate in 1811. [Note 2] Because the ship foundered, there is little further information.
The EIC valued the cargo lost on her at £21,202. [6] She appears on a list of vessels that are believed to have disappeared in typhoons in the India or China Seas. [7]
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.
Warley, launched in 1796, was one of the British East India Company's (EIC), larger and more famous East Indiamen. She made nine voyages to the East between 1796 and 1816, most direct to China. In 1804 she participated in the Battle of Pulo Aura. In 1816, the company sold her for breaking up.
The ship Cumberland was launched in 1802 as a 3-decker East Indiaman. She made seven voyages between India and England from 1802 to 1815 for the British East India Company. Her most notable voyage was her second when she fought in the Battle of Pulo Aura against a French squadron. In 1818 the Chilean government arranged for her purchase. When she arrived in Chile the Chileans took her into their navy as San Martín. As part of the First Chilean Navy Squadron she participated in 1818 in the defeat of a Spanish expeditionary force. She was wrecked off the coast of Peru in 1821.
Exeter was a three-decker East Indiaman built by Perry and launched in 1792. She made eight voyages to the East Indies for the East India Company (EIC). More unusually, on separate voyages she captured a French frigate and participated in the Battle of Pulo Aura. She was sold for breaking up in 1811.
Ocean was an East Indiaman launched in 1788 that made four trips for the British Honourable East India Company between February 1789 and February 1797, when she was wrecked on the island of Kalatea in the East Indies.
Ganges was a large, three-decker East Indiaman, launched in 1797. She made three complete voyages between Britain and China for the British East India Company. On her third she participated in the singular Battle of Pulo Auro. She sank on the homeward leg of her fourth voyage, but with no loss of life.
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.
Henry Addington was launched in 1800 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made seven voyages for the EIC before she was sold in 1815 for breaking up. She was one of the vessels at the Battle of Pulo Aura in 1804.
Wexford was launched in 1802 as an East Indiaman in the service of the British East India Company (EIC). She made seven voyages to India, Persia, and China for the EIC, on the first of which she participated in the battle of Pulo Aura. Her last voyage ended in 1817 and she was broken up c. 1819.
Earl Camden Was launched in 1802 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made three voyages for the EIC until a fire destroyed her at Bombay in 1810 on her fourth voyage. On her first voyage she was under the command of Nathaniel Dance, who was the commodore of the EIC's homeward-bound China Fleet at the battle of Pulo Aura. In the South China Sea he led the whole convoy into an attack that bluffed a squadron of five French warships into withdrawing.
Hope was launched in 1797 on the Thames River. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) before she was sold for breaking up in 1816. She was one of the East Indiamen at the battle of Pulo Aura.
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. The wreck is a Protected Wreck managed by Historic England. She was named after Admiral Alan Gardner.
Alnwick Castle was launched in 1801 as an East Indiaman. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company before her owners sold her in 1816 for breaking up.
Taunton Castle was launched on the River Thames in 1790 as an East Indiaman. She made nine voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) before she was broken up in 1813. In 1797, on her third trip, she was one of a fleet of six East Indiamen that bluffed a squadron of six French frigates into fleeing.
Bridgewater was launched in 1812 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made eight voyages to India and China for the EIC. A hurricane dismasted her as she was homeward bound on her ninth voyage. She was surveyed at Calcutta in 1830, condemned, and sold for breaking up in 1831.
Hugh Inglis was launched in 1799 as an East Indiaman. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), between 1800 and 1817. In 1810 and 1811 she participated as a transport in two British military campaigns. She was sold for breaking up in 1817.
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 Camden was launched in 1783 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company. She made five voyages for the EIC before her owner sold her.
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.
Carmarthen was launched in 1802 as an East Indiaman. She made eight round-trip voyages to India as an "extra" ship for the British East India Company (EIC). On her first voyage she participated in an experiment in bringing variolation to India and other British possessions to combat smallpox. After leaving the EIC's employment, she took one more voyage to India, sailing under a licence from the EIC. She was last listed in 1820.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)