Career
Sir John appeared in the 1801 Register of Shipping with W. Neil, master, Noble & Co., owners, and trade Plymouth–India. [3] Messrs Princip & Saunders tendered her 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.
Captain William James Davis sailed on 28 December 1800 for Bengal.Sir John was at Falmouth on 24 January 1801 and arrived at Calcutta on 29 May. Homeward bound, she was at Saugor on 13 September, and reached the Cape of Good Hope on 30 December and St Helena on 28 January 1802. [4] Sir John Borlase Warren left St Helena on 31 January 1802, in company with Nutwell. [5] Sir John arrived at The Downs on 11 April. [4]
The data below is from Lloyd's Register .
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade |
|---|
| 1803 | J. Lee | Noble & Co. | London–Barbados |
| 1804 | J.Lee
R. Hunt | Noble & Co. | London–Barbados |
| 1805 | R. Hunt | Noble & Co. | London-Demerara |
| 1806 | R. Hunt | Noble & Co. | London-Demerara |
| 1807 | R. Hunt | Noble & Co. | London-Demerara |
| 1808 | R. Hunt | Noble & Co. | London-Demerara |
|
What Lloyd's Register did not record was that in 1805–1806, Sir John was one of the transport vessels that were part of the expedition under General Sir David Baird and Admiral Sir Home Riggs Popham that would in 1806 capture the Dutch Cape Colony.
Sir John sailed in March 1806 as one of seven cartel ships repatriating to Holland the Dutch troops captured at the Cape, and their dependents.
On 12 September 1808 a French privateer captured Sir John as Sir John was sailing from Haiti to Bermuda with troops. [8] The British recaptured Sir John the same day.
The data below is from the Register of Shipping from 1810 on. Lloyd's Register apparently did not list Sir John after 1809. The data is only as accurate as owners cared to keep it.
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade |
|---|
| 1809 | R. Hunt | Noble & Co. | London-Demerara |
| 1810 | R. Hunt | Noble & Co. | London-Demerara |
| 1811 | R. Hunt | Noble & Co. | London transport |
| 1812 | R. Hunt | Noble & Co. | London transport |
| 1813 | R. Hunt | Noble & Co. | London transport |
|
On 2 September 1812 her crew abandoned Sir John in position 28°00′N68°20′W / 28.000°N 68.333°W / 28.000; -68.333 . Lloyd's List listed her master as Jowell, and described her as being a wreck. [9] However, she was picked up, towed in, and repaired.
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade |
|---|
| 1814 | P. Baird | Noble & Co. | London transport |
| 1815 | P. Baird | Noble & Co. | London transport |
| 1816 | P. Baird | Noble & Co. | London transport |
|
Bellona was a three-decker merchantman launched in 1782 at Limehouse by Woolcombe for Boyd & Co. She then traded for a decade before, in 1792, commencing a series of four voyages for the British East India Company as an "extra ship", that is, on a charter contract. During the first of these voyages she transported convicts from Britain to New South Wales. French privateers captured her and the British Royal Navy recaptured her, the Royal Navy seized her once, and then finally a French privateer captured her in February 1810 and scuttled her.
Hercules was a sailing ship built in 1801 at South Shields, England. She made one trip transporting convicts to Port Jackson. She made two trips for the British East India Company (EIC), and was homeward bound from the second of these when the French privateer Napoleon captured her off the Cape of Good Hope.
Minorca was a merchant ship launched in 1799 at Newcastle upon Tyne, England. She made one voyage in 1801 transporting convicts to New South Wales. For her return voyage to Britain she was under contract to the British East India Company (EIC).
Indefatigable was a square-rigged, three-decked, three-masted merchant ship launched in 1799 at Whitby for James Atty & Co. for the West Indies trade. In 1804 she served as an armed defense ship and recaptured a merchantman that a privateer had captured. She was a transport in the 1805–1806 British invasion of the Dutch Cape colony. She twice transported convicts to Australia; on the first trip she was chartered to the British East India Company (EIC). She burned to the waterline in 1815.
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.
Georgiana was launched in 1791. She served as a merchantman, packet ship for the British East India Company (EIC), a whaler, a warship of the navy of the United States of America, and a merchant vessel again. She was condemned in 1818 as leaky and sold.
Exeter was launched at Calcutta in 1793. She made three voyages from Calcutta to England for the British East India Company (EIC). She was lost in August 1806 in a hurricane while returning to London from Jamaica.
Nutwell was launched at Great Yarmouth in 1800. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). On her return she became a West Indiaman, trading with Jamaica, until the 1806 Great Coastal hurricane overturned her.
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 charter, for the British East India Company (EIC). On her return she again traded with the West Indies until she was captured in 1806.
Hind or Hinde was launched at Hull in 1800. After a voyage to Russia she made one voyage for the British East India Company. She then became a West Indiaman. She was wrecked in April 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.
Crescent was launched at Rotherhithe in 1790. She initially traded with the Levant, particularly Smyrna. After the outbreak of war with France she may have tried her hand as a privateer. In 1796–1798 she made a voyage to the East Indies, almost surely on behalf of the British East India Company (EIC). A French privateer captured her but the British Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. In 1802-1804 she made one voyage as a slave ship carrying slaves from West Africa to Jamaica. In 1805 she became a whaler. She was lost in 1807 off Patagonia while homeward bound from her first whaling voyage.
Young Nicholas was built in Holland in 1790 under another name. The British captured her in 1798 and Prinsep & Saunders purchased her and named her Young Nicholas. She made one voyage under license from the British East India Company (EIC) that resulted in legal difficulties. Next she had a short, unsuccessful cruise as a privateer that resulted in a French privateer capturing her in a single-ship action, but then releasing her. Lastly, she made a third cruise that resulted in French privateer capturing her, the Royal Navy recapturing her, and her being wrecked in a hurricane. This cruise too resulted in legal difficulties culminating in a notable court case.
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.
In the fall of 1805 a small naval squadron under the orders of Commodore Sir Home Popham escorted a fleet of transports and East Indiamen carrying some 5000 soldiers under the command of Major-general Sir David Baird to attack the Dutch at the Cape of Good Hope. The fleet assembled at Madeira and touched at St. Salvador to replenish supplies. The expedition sailed again on the 26 November, and on 4 January 1806, in the evening, anchored to the west of Robben Island, preparatory to taking the Dutch colony.
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.
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.
Anacreon was launched in 1800 at Sunderland. She initially sailed between London and Minorca and then between 1804 and 1805 she served as an armed defense ship for the Royal Navy. She next became a London-based transport, and eventually traded from Liverpool to the Baltic and Canada. She was wrecked in 1823.
Paragon was launched at Whitby in 1800. Between 1803 and 1805 she served as an armed defense ship protecting Britain's coasts and convoys. She then served as a transport on the 1805 naval expedition to capture the Cape of Good Hope. Next, she returned to mercantile service and in 1814 a French privateer captured her, but the British Royal Navy recaptured her the next day. She sailed to India in 1818 under a license from the British East India Company (EIC}, and was wrecked in March 1819 while inbound to Calcutta.
Ceres was launched in France in 1784. The British captured her circa 1800 and sold her as a prize. Once under British ownership she sailed to the Mediterranean, but in 1801 she started sailing in the slave trade. She made four voyages as a slave ship, gathering slaves in West Africa and delivering them to the West Indies. After the abolition of the British slave trade in 1807 she became a West Indiaman, and then an East Indiaman. She was last listed in 1822.
