Suffolk was launched in 1795 at Newcastle. In 1800 she made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). She traded widely as different owners deployed her on one route or another.
Captain John Luke acquired a letter of marque on 22 November 1800.[1] Messrs. Princep and Saunders had tendered Suffolk, John Luke, 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.[4]
Suffolk sailed on 25 December 1800 and returned on 28 February 1802.[5]
Lloyd's List reported on 25 February 1825 that Suffolk, Allison, master, had been blown out of Madeira on 25 January and that she had not returned by the 28th.[6]
Following the resumption of war with France in early 1803, concern developed in Britain about Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom. The British government's response took many forms including the reactivation of Fencible regiments and the Sea Fencibles, a program of the construction of Martello Towers along the coasts of Britain and Ireland, and the commissioning of a number of armed defense ships.
The British East India Company in November voted to underwrite 10,000 tons (bm) of armed transports to protect Great Britain's coasts. The vessels were existing, but not EIC, merchantmen that would receive an upgrade in armament and in some cases a naval officer as captain. The vessels were: Albion, Anacreon, Atlas, Aurora, Chapman, Diadem, Duckenfield, Helder, Indefatigable, Lord Forbes, Lord Nelson, Norfolk, Paragon, Perseus, Robert, Sir Alexander Mitchell, Suffolk, and Triton.[3]
On 21 November 1803 Suffolk, of 362 tons (bm) and 16 guns, was ready but yet to be allocated to her station.[3] The Royal Navy returned the armed defense ships to their owners by the second half of 1805.
In 1836 new owners, Richard Wilson and George Foggo, shifted her registry to Whitby. She was broken up in December 1844.[2]
Note
Because Suffolk and Suffolk(1800 ship) both sailed to Bengal at the same time to bring back rice, and Suffolk(1803 ship) was launched in Bengal, the three vessels are sometimes conflated.[5]
Hackman, Rowan (2001). Ships of the East India Company. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN0-905617-96-7.
Hardy, Charles (1800). A Register of Ships, Employed in the Service of the Hon. the United East India Company, from the Union of the Two Companies, in 1707, to the Year 1760: Specifying the Number of Voyages, Tonnage, Commanders, and Stations. To which is Added, from the Latter Period to the Present Time, the Managing Owners, Principal Officers, Surgeons, and Pursers; with the Dates of Their Sailing and Arrival: Also, an Appendix, Containing Many Particulars, Interesting to Those Concerned in the East India Commerce. Charles Hardy.
Weatherill, Richard (1908). The ancient port of Whitby and its shipping. Whitby: Horne and Son.
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Atlantic was launched in 1783. She made one voyage from England to Australia in 1791 carrying convicts. Later, she made one voyage for the East India Company (EIC). Subsequently she sailed to Smyrna, Surinam, and Gibraltar, before she disappeared from records in 1810.
Atlas was built in Souths Shields by Temple and launched in 1801 for Temple. She made two voyages transporting convicts from Ireland or England to Port Jackson. On the first voyage she carried cargo for the British East India Company (EIC). On the second she sailed to Bengal after delivering her convicts to New South Wales and was wrecked off India in 1820 while on her way back to Britain.
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.
Diadem was a barque launched in 1800 at Whitby. She served as an armed defence ship between 1803 and 1805. Her owners sold her to the British government in 1818. The year 1818 may be a transcription error for 1808 as that is the last year for which Diadem is listed in either Lloyd's Register or the Register of Shipping.
Perseverance was built in 1797 at Stettin or Sweden and came into British hands in 1799. She made one voyage under charter to the British East India Company (EIC), and was lost in July 1803.
Ceres was launched at Whitby in 1794. She made two voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). Thereafter she remained a London-based transport. She was last listed in 1816.
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.
Ariadne was launched in 1794 at Whitby. Two years later a new owner shifted her registry to London. She then made one voyage for the British East India Company. On her return she sailed on between England and the West Indies. She is last listed in 1811.
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.
Santa Brigida was a frigate of the Spanish Navy, launched in 1785. The British Royal Navy captured her in 1799. She then became the East Indiaman Automatia, and made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). She was sold for breaking up in 1803.
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.
Grant was launched at Whitby in 1798, or possibly 1799. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1800 and 1802. Thereafter she sailed as a West Indiaman or a London-based transport. She was last heard from in 1820; Spanish authorities may have seized her off Peru.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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