Captain Robert Morgan left Portsmouth on 3 June 1780, bound for China and Benkulen. Pigot reached Whampoa on 2 February 1781. For her return voyage she crossed the Second Bar, about 20 miles before Whampoa, on 8 April, and was at Macao on 23 April. She reached Benkulen, where the EIC had a factory, on 1 August and Padang on 19 August, and returned to Benkulen on 25 September. She then reached St Helena on 17 December, and Plymouth on 10 March 1782. She arrived at the Downs on 31 March.[1]
Voyage #2 (1783-85)
Morgan left Portsmouth on 11 March 1783, bound for Madras and Bengal. Pigot reached São Tiago on 31 March and Johanna on 17 July.[1]
On 24 August Duke of Kingston caught fire off Ceylon and was destroyed. Duke of Kingston was in company with Pigot, Earl of Oxford, and Vansittart, all of which were safe. Some 65 passengers, crew, troops, and their dependents died.[5]
Pigot reached Madras on 26 August. She arrived at Kedgeree on 10 October. Homeward bound, she passed Saugor on 15 February 1784 and reached Vizagapatam on 14 March. She stopped in again at Madras on 3 April, went to Coringa on 5 June, returned to Madras on 2 October, reached Coringa again on 25 November, was at Masulipatam on 5 January 1785, and was again at Madras on 10 January.[1]
Pigot reached False Bay on 8 June and St Helena on 19 July. She arrived at the Downs on 9 October.[1]
Voyage #3 (1786-87)
George Ballantyne (or Ballantine), was Pigot's captain for this and the next two voyages. He left the Downs on 26 March 1786, bound for China. Pigot reached Whampoa on 11 September. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 5 January 1787, reached North Island - the northmost of three islands in the bay that formed the principle anchorage of Enggano Island - on 2 March, and St Helena on 2 June. She arrived back at the Downs on 12 August.[1]
Voyage #4 (1789-1790)
Ballantyne left the Downs on 6 March 1789, bound for Madras and Bengal. Pigot reached Madras on 28 June and arrived at Diamond Harbour on 8 July. Homeward bound, she passed Saugor on 23 December, reached Madras on 2 February 1790, and St Helena on 29 August. She arrived back at the Downs on 29 June.[1]
Voyage #5 (1793 and loss)
Ballantyne left Portsmouth on 22 May 1793, bound for Bengal and Benkulen. War with France had broken out almost four months earlier, so as became the common practice for EIC vessels, he received a letter of marque on 17 April. This authorized him to engage in offensive action against the French, not just defensive. Pigot was part of a convoy that included the East Indiamen Prince William, Lord Thurlow, William Pitt, Glatton, Barwell, Earl of Oxford, Ostereley, Fort William, London, Houghton, Marquis of Landsdown, Hillsborough, Ceres, and Earl of Abergavenny, amongst numerous other vessels, merchant and military, most of the non-Indiamen travelling to the Mediterranean.[7]
On 24 June, Pigot captured the French brig La France,[1] which was sailing from "the Mauritius" to France.[8] The account in the London Gazette refers to the brig as Le Franc.[9] From the number of vessels named in separate accounts as sharing in the prize money, it is clear that the fleet shared the capture. Ceres took possession.
The withdrawal of the Royal Navy squadron from Indian waters had left the EIC's trade vulnerable to privateers from Île de France (Mauritius). The EIC therefore decided to equip a squadron of its merchantmen as cruisers to protect its trade.
The squadron consisted of the East Indiamen William Pitt, Houghton, Nonsuch, and the Bombay Marine (EIC) 14-gun brig Nautilus, all under the overall command of Commodore Charles Mitchell of William Pitt. Contemporary accounts of the composition of squadron vary widely. One account lists the vessels as Britannia, Pigot, Houghton, Nonsuch, and the cruiser Viper. It states their task would be to cruise the Malacca and Sunda Straits, and the Bay of Bengal, when not actually convoying the trade.[10]Lloyd's List lists the squadron as consisting of William Pitt, Oxford, Houghton, Nonsuch, Britannia, and the "Nancy Grab".[lower-alpha 1] They were armed and believed to be cruising the Straits. Pigot was to accompany them to Benkulen.[11]
Pigot passed Saugor on 27 November, and reached Penang on 21 December.[1] She left Penang three days later with a large supply of military stores for Bencoolen.[10] She arrived at Benkulen on 12 January 1794.[1]
In the meantime, the EIC squadron under Commodore Charles Mitchell passed Singapore on 2 January 1794, sailing eastwards in search of French raiders. As the British squadron travelled along the northern coast of Sumatra, two French privateers attacked Bencoolen on the southern coast. The privateers were the 30-gun Vengeur and the 26-gun Résolu. On 17 January they approached the mouth of Rat Island Basin close to Bencoolen where Pigot lay at anchor, completely unprepared for action.[12] At 08:15 Vengeur opened fire at 150 yards (137m), maintaining the battle for an hour and 45 minutes before hauling off so that Résolu could continue the combat. Ballantyne defended his vessel intelligently, positioning Pigot so that the French could only approach one at a time through the narrow mouth of the bay. This allowed him to drive off each ship in turn, the privateers falling back together at 10:20 with damaged rigging.[13]Pigot too had suffered, with one man mortally wounded and sufficient damage to the rigging to require several weeks of repairs. After immediate repairs had been completed, next day Corosin abandoned Bencoolen and retreated to the Sunda Strait in search of weaker targets.[14] The governor at Bencoolen sent over reinforcements to Pigot in the form of a lieutenant, 40 sepoys, and two 18-pounder guns. They arrived too late to assist, and Ballantayne sent them to Rat Island to establish a battery as he could not use the guns.[4]
Early on 22 January, Mitchell's squadron stopped a merchant ship for inspection and as the ship was searched two new sails appeared to the southwest near Shown Rock in the Zuften Islands. Suspicious of the identity of the new arrivals, Mitchell sent Britannia and Nonsuch in pursuit and the ships turned away.[13] As the East Indiamen closed with the fleeing ships, they were identified as Vengeur and Résolu. The British vessels soon outran the French and the French opened fire to which the larger British vessels responded. Captain Thomas Cheap of Britannia engaged Vengeur while Captain John Canning of Nonsuch attacked Résolu at 10:45 and were soon supported by William Pitt and Houghton.[12] The overwhelming numbers and size of the British squadron soon convinced Corosin and Jallineaux that further resistance was pointless and 45 minutes after the first shots were fired both surrendered.[13]
On 25 January in the Sunda strait, Mitchell engaged a French naval squadron under the overall command of Captain Jean-Marie Renaud. The squadron had sailed from the Île de France and consisted of the frigates Prudente and Cybèle, the brig Vulcain, and the captured Princess Royal, now renamed Duguay-Trouin. The combat was inconclusive and both sides withdrew, Mitchell to Batavia.
The French squadron under Renaud withdrew into the Indian Ocean via Bencoolen, which they reached on 6 February. Pigot was still there, undergoing repairs in the Rat Island basin. The attack did not take place until the next day. Although Ballantyne resisted for half-an-hour, he was so outnumbered and outgunned that at 4pm he was forced to strike.[4] As the French maneuvered Pigot out of the bay, Renaud demanded that the small Fort Marlborough nearby surrender.[15] Actually, Renaud demanded 300,000 dollars as a ransom in lieu of surrender. Captain Thomas Brown, commander of the garrison of 20 Europeans and 300 sepoys, declined. He, his two officers, and the garrison showed such energy in preparing the defenses, heating shot, etc., that Renaud withdrew.[16][lower-alpha 2] The French then returned to Île de France.
Lloyd's List reported, "The Pigot (Ballantine), of London; the Sacramento, a Portuguese Ship; and the Ceres, ---- -----, the latter from Manilla to Bengal, have been taken by the French and carried into the Mauritius."[17] The EIC reported that there was no cargo aboard.[18]
Post-script
On 1 June a snow from Mauritius arrived at the Danish exclave of Tranquebar. She brought the news that Pigot had arrived at Mauritius on 14 March. Ballantayne, his first officer, two midshipmen, and four crew were aboard her. Her captors had divided up the rest of the crew over the vessels of their squadron. The French permitted Ballantyne to return to England on his own parole.[10] Ballantyne left in an American ship for New York.[19]
The rest of the officers and crew, who reported that the French had treated them well, were waiting for a cartel that would take them to Madras. At the end of March, the Danish ship Minerva, Coulthard, master, was to take 50 British prisoners at the end of March.[10]The Times reported that "the remainder of the crew of the Pigot with some Dutchmen taken in a packet from Batavia were in a cartel Ship bound to Madras but which was prevented from sailing by the people on shore who suspecting the Captain was an Aristocrat unhung her rudder and carried him on shore for trial."[19] As it was, the prisoners were freed at Bombay in August.[1]
↑ Lloyd's List, no. 2629, - accessed 31 December 2014.
↑ Reports from the Select Committee of the House of Commons appointed to enquire into the present state of the affairs of the East India Company, together with the minutes of evidence, an appendix of documents, and a general index, (1830), Vol. 2, p.976.
The Sunda Strait campaign of January 1794 was a series of manoeuvres and naval actions fought between warships and privateers of the French Republic and a squadron of vessels sent by the British East India Company to protect trade in the region, later augmented by Dutch warships. The campaign developed as French forces based on Île de France reacted more quickly than the British forces in the Indian Ocean to the expansion of the French Revolutionary Wars on 1 February 1793. French privateers rapidly spread along the British trade routes in the Far East, becoming concentrated around the narrow Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in the Dutch East Indies. These ships were soon joined by French Navy frigates and began to inflict losses on shipping in the region. The Royal Navy forces in the Indian Ocean were deployed elsewhere and so the East India Company, the private enterprise that ruled much of British India in the 1790s and maintained their own fleet and navy, raised a squadron of armed merchant ships to patrol the Strait and drive off the raiders.
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.
Osterley was a three-decker East Indiaman, launched in 1780, that made seven trips for the British East India Company between 1781 and 1800. She was present at two battles, and an engagement in which four Indiamen and a country ship engaged a French frigate. On her last trip a French frigate captured her in a single-ship action, but sent her on her way. Osterley eventually returned to Britain in 1800. Her subsequent fate is unknown.
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.
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.
Airly Castle, was built by William Barnard at Deptford and launched in 1787. She made eight voyages as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1788 and 1808. In 1795 she participated in the capture of seven Dutch East Indiamen near St Helena. After her eight voyages she may have served briefly as a general transport before she was sold for breaking up in 1810. She was not broken up but instead served as a transport for several years.
Lord Keith was launched in 1804 by and for Peter Everitt Mestaer. He chartered her to the East India Company (EIC) for six voyages, and she then went on to make another two voyages for the EIC. On her second voyage, and unusually for an East Indiaman, she participated in the proceeds for the recapture of a former British Royal Navy brig and possibly in a skirmish with a French ship. On her third voyage she participated in a notable action. She was broken up c.1820.
William Pitt was launched in 1805 as an East Indiaman. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), between 1805 and 1819. In 1810 and 1811 she participated as a transport in two British military campaigns. She was sold for breaking up in 1820.
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.
Vansittart was launched in 1780 as an East Indiaman. She made three complete voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) and was wrecked in 1789 while outward bound on her way to China on her fourth journey.
Busbridge was launched in 1782 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made seven voyages for the EIC before she was broken up. In June 1795, during her sixth voyage, she participated in the capture of eight vessels of the Dutch East India Company. She was laid up for several years on her return from her seventh voyage and sold for breaking up in 1805.
Sir Stephen Lushington was launched in 1796 as an East Indiaman. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). During this period she took part as a transport in two military campaigns, the cancelled attack on Manila in 1797, and the capture of Mauritius in 1810. In 1812 she became a West Indiaman, thought around 1816 she made another voyage to India. Thereafter her ownership and trade becomes ambiguous: she either traded with Spain until 1822, or with South America until 1825.
Lord Hawkesbury was launched in 1787 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made eight voyages for the EIC before she was sold in 1808 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.
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.
Manship was launched in 1785 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages as a "regular ship" for the British East India Company (EIC). In June 1795 Manship shared with several other Indiamen and the Royal Navy in the capture of eight Dutch East Indiamen off St Helena. 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.
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.
William Pitt was launched on the River Thames in 1785 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). During her fourth she served as an ad hoc warship in a naval campaign during which she saw action. Thereafter she served as a transport, including one voyage in 1801-1802 transporting rice from Bengal to Britain. She was sold for breaking up in 1809.
Clowes, William Laird (1997) [1900]. The Royal Navy, A History from the Earliest Times to 1900, Volume IV. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN1-86176-013-2.
Hackman, Rowan (2001). Ships of the East India Company. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN0-905617-96-7.
James, William (2002) [1827]. The Naval History of Great Britain, Volume 1, 1793–1796. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN0-85177-905-0.
History of the Organization, Equipment, and War Services of the Regiment of Bengal Artillery, Vol. 1. (H.S. King and Company).
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