 Great Britain | |
|---|---|
| Name | Syren |
| Owner | British East India Company (EIC) |
| Operator | EIC |
| Builder | Bombay Dockyard [1] |
| Launched | 1770 [2] |
| Fate | Sold 1778 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 250 [3] (bm) |
| Sail plan | snow [lower-alpha 1] |
Syren was a snow that the Bombay Dockyard built in 1770 for the EIC. The EIC used her as a packet ship. She made two voyages to England for the EIC before it sold her in 1778.
EIC voyage #1: Captain Edward Berrow left Balambangan Island on 14 February 1774. Syren reached St Helena on 1 June, and arrived at The Downs on 17 August. [3] Berrow had been captain of Royal Captain, which had wrecked on the shoals of Palawan. His officers and crew manned Syren. [5]
EIC voyage #2: Captain Joseph Smith sailed from Portsmouth on 19 January 1775, bound for Bencoolen and Bengal. [6] On 5 February Syren was at Waterford. [3] Lloyd's List reported on 17 February that the "Syren Pqt, Smith, from London to Bengal, is put into Waterford in Distress, having receiv'd considerable Damage." [7] On 7 April she was at Cork for repairs. Once repaired, she was at Falmouth on 28 August. She reached the Cape of Good Hope 22 February 1776 and arrived at Bencoolen on 16 May. She then arrived at Calcutta on 17 July. England bound, she was at Culpee on 29 September. She reached St Helena on 18 January 1777 and arrived at The Downs on 26 April. [3]
Syren was sold in 1778 as being surplus to requirements. One source states that she was sold into the African slave trade, and renamed African Queen. It further states that on 12 August 1793, after she had landed a cargo of slaves, she was driven out of the harbour at Nevis by a hurricane and foundered. [1] However this appears to be conjecture and currently unverifiable. The pre-eminent database of trans-Atlantic slave trading voyages has no description of a vessel named African Queen that at all conforms to Syren's description. [8] Furthermore, the African Queen that foundered in 1793, [9] first appeared in Lloyd's Register in 1787 and in 1793 was described as built in East India in 1775 and of 376 tons (bm). [10]
Notes
Citations
References
At least six ships with the name Queen served the Honourable East India Company between 1701 and 1839. Most were East Indiamen:
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.
Royal Charlotte was launched by Bombay Dockyard in 1774 as a country ship. She made one voyage for the British East India Company in 1796 when she sailed from Calcutta to Britain. There she took on British registry. She sailed back to Calcutta where a lightning bolt ignited her magazine, destroying her in 1797.
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.
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.
Larkins made ten voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), all as an "extra ship", i.e. under contract. On two of these voyages she first transported convicts to Australia. She also made one convict voyage independently of the EIC. She traded extensively between England and India or China, and in this twice suffered serious but not fatal maritime mishaps. In 1853 she became a coal hulk at Albany, Western Australia, and remained there until she was broken up in 1876.
Retreat was launched in 1801 and briefly sailed as a West Indiaman between London and Jamaica. She then made five voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) as an "extra ship", that is, under charter. She was broken up in 1814.
Airly Castle, was 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.
Anna was launched at Calcutta in 1793. She was often called Bengal Anna to distinguish her from BombayAnna. Bengal Anna made three voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She was lost on the coast of Chittagong c.1811, after participating in a military expedition.
For the British expedition to the Red Sea (1801) the British government hired a number of transport vessels. The transports supported Major-General Sir David Baird's expedition in 1801 to the Red Sea. Baird was in command of the Indian army that was going to Egypt to help General Ralph Abercromby expel the French there. Baird landed at Kosseir, on the Egyptian side of the Red Sea. He then led his troops army across the desert to Kena on the Nile, and then to Cairo. He arrived in time for the battle of Alexandria. Captain Hardie of Shah Kaikusroo was appointed Commodore of the fleet of country ships.
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.
Lord Macartney was launched in 1782 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC0 before she was sold in 1798. She then traded across the Atlantic to North America and was last listed in 1811.
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.
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.
Earl of Chesterfield was launched in 1781 as an East Indiaman. She made four voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) before she was sold in 1794 for breaking up.
Spy was built in France in 1780, almost surely under another name, and taken in prize. The British East India Company (EIC) purchased her in 1781 and used her for almost two years as a fast packet vessel and cruiser based in St Helena. It then sold her and she became a London-based slave ship, making two voyages carrying slaves from West Africa to the West Indies. She then became a whaler, making seven whaling voyages between 1786 and 1795. She was probably wrecked in August 1795 on a voyage as a government transport.
Surat Castle was launched at Surat in 1788 as a country ship, that is, a vessel that traded around and from India, staying east of the Cape of Good Hope. She originally was intended for the cotton trade with China. From 1796 to 1817 she made nine voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She then made one more voyage under a license from the EIC. She made one more voyage to India, this time under a licence from the EIC and then disappeared from easily accessible online sources after her sale in 1819.
Cumbrian was launched in 1803 at Bombay, possibly at the Bombay Dockyard. She was a "country ship", generally trading east of the Cape of Good Hope. She also made three voyages for the British East India Company. She was sold in 1835.
David Scott was launched at Bombay in 1801. She was a "country ship", i.e., she generally traded east of the Cape of Good Hope. Between 1802 and 1816 she made five voyages between India and the United Kingdom as an "extra ship" for the British East India Company (EIC). Thereafter she traded between Britain and India under a license from the EIC. A fire destroyed her at Mauritius on 12 June 1841.
Carmarthen was launched in 1802 as an East Indiaman. She made eight round voyages as an "extra" ship for the British East India Company (EIC). She then one more voyage to India, sailing under a licence from the EIC. she was last listed in 1820.