First letter of marque: 26 x 9 & 6-pounder guns + 2 x 12-pounder carronades[2]
Second letter of marque: 26 x 9 & 6-pounder guns[2]
Third letter of marque: 24 x 9 & 6-pounder guns[2]
Royal Admiral was an East Indiaman, launched in 1777 on the River Thames. She made eight trips for the East India Company (EIC) before she was sold. She then continued to trade. She made two trips carrying convicts from England to Australia, one as an East Indiaman in 1791, and a second in 1800. On this second voyage as a convict transport she was present at a notable naval action.
On her first voyage, Captain Joseph Huddart sailed her from Portsmouth on 27 April 1778. She reached Madeira on 27 May, the Cape of Good Hope (Cape) on 24 August, Anjengo in January 1779, and finally Bombay on 7 February. On the return trip she was back at Madeira on 21 August, and in the Downs on 13 January 1780.[3]
Voyage #2 (1780-83)
Huddart and Royal Admiral left Portsmouth on 3 June 1780. She reached Rio de Janeiro on 28 August, Anjengo on 16 January 1781, Goa on 29 January, and Bombay on 14 February. She then spent months on the coasts of India and in the Indian Ocean. On 8 May she was at Tellicherry, then on 26 May Cuddalore, and on 4 June Negapatam. From there she went to Madras, arriving on 26 June, 'Jaggernaickpuram' on 18 July, Masulipatam on 7 August, and returning to Madras on 28 August. She was again at Negapatam on 12 October, and Anjengo on 9 December, Tellicherry on 15 December, Bombay on 31 December, Tellicherry again on 30 April 1782, and Bombay for the last time on this voyage on 28 May. From there she reached St Helena on 31 January 1783 and the Downs on 25 August.[3]
Huddart left the Downs on 26 March 1784, reaching St Helena on 8 June, and Bombay on 19 September. From Bombay Royal Admiral sailed to Tellicherry, arriving 25 November, and to Anjengo, arriving on 9 December, before returning to Bombay, which she reached on 29 December. She then sailed to China via Malacca, which she reached on 13 June 1785, before arriving on 8 July at Whampoa. For her return to Britain she crossed Second Bar on 18 October, reached St Helena on 17 February 1786, and the Downs on 27 April.[3]
Voyage #4 (1787-88)
Huddart sailed Royal Admiral from the Downs on 20 January 1787. She reached Trindade on 12 March, and Madras on 22 May. Her next stop, on 27 July, was Penang. From there she arrived at Whampoa on 21 September. For her return to Britain she crossed Second Bar 18 January 1788, reached St Helena on 2 May, and arrived at the Downs on 3 July.[3]
Voyage #5 (1790-91)
Captain Essex Henry Bond took command of Royal Admiral for her next three voyages. She left the Downs on 17 April 1790 and arrived at Whampoa on 26 August. She crossed Second Bar on 31 January 1791, reached the Cape on 9 April, St Helena seventeen days later, and the Downs on 26 June.[3]
Voyage #6 (1792-93)
Again under Bond's command, she sailed from Torbay, England, on 30 May 1792, with 299 male and 49 female convicts. She reached the Cape on 9 August. One male convict escaped at the Cape, but one convict escapee from the Pitt, the convicted forger and future Australian artist Thomas Watling, was transported on board after the Dutch had recaptured him. Royal Admiral arrived in Port Jackson, New South Wales on 7 October 1792. Ten male and two female convicts had died during the voyage; four children were born.[4]
Royal Admiral left Port Jackson on 13 November, bound for China.[Note 1] After leaving Port Jackson Royal Admiral arrived at Whampoa on 14 January 1793. On the return trip to Britain she reached Bocca Tigris on 18 March and St Helena on 16 June, and arrived at the Downs on 21 August.[3]
Voyage #7 (1794-95)
Royal Admiral was almost rebuilt in 1794. Her next voyage, the seventh, began during the French Revolutionary War, and as was standard practice for the EIC, on 13 June 1794 Bond received a letter of marque. Royal Admiral left Plymouth on 14 August. She reached Madeira on 5 September, the Cape on 28 November, and Diamond Harbour on 20 February 1795. On her homeward bound leg she reached Saugor on 26 April, Madras on 18 July, Trincomalee on 12 August, St Helena on 7 November, and the Downs on 16 March 1796.[3]
Voyage #8 (1796-98)
Captain William Dorset Fellowes commanded Royal Admiral on her eighth voyage, and received a letter of marque on 8 June 1796. She left Portsmouth on 11 August 1796 and reached the Cape on 18 November. She arrived at Kedgeree on 28 February 1797 and Diamond Harbour on 21 March. On 1 July she was again at Kedgeree, on 21 July at Ganjam, on 9 August at Madras, on 8 October at Diamond Harbour, and on 14 October at Calcutta.[3]
The reason for the to-and-fro, was that the British government planned to mount an expedition against Manila in 1797–8. (One of the Royal Navy vessels involved appears to have been HMS Sybille.) The EIC held eight regular ships and three "dismantled ships" to support the expedition: Pitt, Lascalles, and Royal Admiral. None of the three went to Penang, but instead went to the Coromandel Coast with stores and back to Bengal. A peace treaty with Spain resulted in the British cancelling the expedition.
The EIC detained Pitt and Royal Admiral for an average of a year, though Pitt appears to have spent less time than that. The owners claimed demurrage; for Royal Admiral, the amount they claimed was £8,568 15s for 250 days.[6]
The captains involved sued the EIC for expenses, though Fellowes did not. The court further ordered that the officers of the vessels involved receive some payment. Royal Admiral''s officers received £200 in all, with Fellowes receiving £40, her purser £16, and the other officers intermediate amounts.[6] Fellowes received by far the smallest amount of any of the 11 captains involved.
For her return to Britain, Royal Admiral reached Saugor on 27 January 1798, the Cape on 28 May, St Helena on 29 June, and the Downs on 18 October.[3]
In 1799 her owners sold Royal Admiral to Gillett & Co., of Calcutta. Gillett and Co. wanted her for the local trade in India.[1]
Botany Bay ship
Royal Admiral first appears in the Lloyd's Register for 1800 with William Wilson as captain and Gillet & Co. as owners, destination Botany Bay, and her age is given as 23 years old. She appears among the list of vessels sailing for the EIC, but as a separate listing from the above.[7] She also does not appear in the Hardy & Hardy (1811) list of vessels serving the EIC between 1760 and 1810, indicating that the EIC had sold her.
She sailed from Portsmouth on 23 May 1800,[8] under a letter of marque issued to Wilson on 10 February 1800.[2] She was carrying 300 male convicts.[9] She was also carrying 11 missionaries and had undertaken to deliver them to the South Sea islands after having delivered her convicts.[8]
Royal Admiral arrived at Rio on 12 August. Lloyd's List reported in January 1801 that the Botany Bay ship Royal Admiral had been at Rio de Janeiro, having sailed in company with several ships of the East India Company. On the way, 23 prisoners, her surgeon Samuel Turner, four seamen, a convict's wife, and a convict's child had died.[8]
Royal Admiral reached Port Jackson, New South Wales, on 20 November.[11] Forty-three male convicts had died during the voyage.[9]
She left Port Jackson on 23 March, bound for China.[5] She reached the Barrier Islands on 21 April and left them on 17 June, reaching Tahiti on 10 July. From there she sailed on 2 August, the reaching Whampoa on 23 August. For her return to Britain, she crossed Second Bar on 22 December, reaching the Cape on 30 March 1802. She stopped at St Helena on 30 April, and arrived at the Downs on 2 July.[7]
Royal Admiral last appears in Lloyd's Register in 1807, still with Wilson as captain, Gillet & Co. as owner, and London-Botany Bay as her destinations.
Notes
↑ One source gives her departure year as 1796, but this is clearly an error, given that the source correctly reports her arrival in 1792.[5]
Neptune was a three-decker East Indiaman launched in 1780 at Deptford. She made five voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), the last one transporting convicts to Port Jackson as one of the vessels of the notorious Second Fleet. This voyage resulted in a private suit against the master and chief officer for wrongful death. A fire and explosion in 1796 at Cape Town destroyed Neptune.
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.
Barwell was a merchantman launched in 1782. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She then left the EIC's service but continued to sail. She made one voyage transporting convicts in 1797 from England to Australia. She was last listed in 1807.
Royal Captain was a three-decked East Indiaman, launched in 1760, that made four voyages for the British East India Company between 1761 and 1771. She was sold 1771 for breaking up.
Sir Edward Hughes was launched in 1784 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She spent four years as a country ship, i.e., sailing in the East Indies but without going to Britain. Then between 1788 and 1803 she made eight voyages to India and China for the EIC. In 1804 the EIC sold Sir Edward Hughes to the British Royal Navy, which commissioned her as a 38-gun frigate. The Navy renamed her Tortoise in 1807 and converted her to a storeship in 1808. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars she became variously a coal depot, a hulk, and then a convict transport. In 1844 she became a receiving ship at Ascension Island. She was lost there in 1859, or broken up there in 1860, or 1863.
Albion was an East Indiaman of the British East India Company (EIC). She made eight voyages for the EIC before she was sold to the British government in 1810 for service as a troopship. She was lost at sea in 1816.
York was launched in 1773 as an East Indiaman' She then made five voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1773 and 1787. She then became a general merchantman and was last listed in 1794.
Northumberland was launched in 1780 to serve as a regular ship of the British East India Company (EIC). She made six voyages for the EIC between 1780 and 1797. She was sold in 1797 for breaking up.
Earl St Vincent was launched on the Thames in 1799. Between 1800 and 1813 she made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), primarily to India, though on one voyage she reached Canton. In 1813 she was sold for breaking up.
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.
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.
Ponsborne was launched in 1779 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made six voyages for the EIC before she was wrecked in 1796 at Grenada after having landed troops there.
Huddart was launched in 1803 as an East Indiaman. She made eight voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), between 1803 and 1818. In 1810-1811 she participated as a transport in two British military campaigns. In 1818 new owners deployed her in sailing to Canada. She was wrecked there in 1821.
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.
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.
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.
Barrosa was launched in 1811 at Cossipore. She sailed to England and then made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC); during this period she also made one voyage carrying immigrants to South Africa. After the EIC gave up its maritime activities in 1833-1834, Barossa became a transport. She made three voyages transporting convicts to Australia. She was lost in 1847, without loss of life, while transporting contract labourers from Madras to Jamaica.
Defence was launched in 1735 at Deptford. She made three voyages to India, the Red Sea, and China for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1736 and 1743 before she was sold out of the EIC's service
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.
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