Transport vessels for the British expedition to the Red Sea (1801)

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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.

Contents

Most of the transports were "country ships". Country ships were vessels that were registered in ports of British India such as Bombay and Calcutta, and that traded around India, with Southeast Asia, and China, but that did not sail to England without special authorization from the EIC. In addition, some of the transports were "regular ships" of the British East India Company (EIC), and some were "extra ships". Regular ships were on a long-term contract with the EIC, and extra ships were vessels the EIC had chartered for one or more voyages.

The data in the table below comes primarily from an 1814 report from a Select Committee of the House of Commons of the British Parliament, which provided the data only on country ships, giving the names of a large number of vessels, and their burthen (bm).

Also, transliteration of non-English names shows no consistency across sources, making it extremely difficult to try to find more information about the vessels in question.

Country ships

NameBurthenWhere builtNotes
Admiral Nelson122
Ann and Amelia 800 Whitby, 1781Becomes HMS Mediator, 1804
Ann and Eliza350
Anna Maria450
Anstruther 450–654Calcutta, 1800Stranded 22 September 1803 in Balabac Strait [1]
Auspicious 400 / 462British, 1798Sold 1821
Bly Merchant480
Byram Gore456
Candidate700 / 709Calcutta, 1797Foundered in the Bay of Bengal, 1804 [2]
Cecilia 478Contradictory informationWrecked at Madeira, 1803
Commerce413 / 450Rangoon?The French privateer Caroline captured her on 15 November 1805. [3]
Cornwallis 633Surat, 1789Burnt 1841 at Bombay
Cuvera 936Calcutta, 1798Broken up 1853
Brig Dundas176 / 187 [4] Probably Philip Dundas, built at Bombay Dockyard in 1798 for the Bengal Pilot Service [4] Newbiggin, master; lost at Foul Bay between January 1801 and June 1802 [5]
Eliza400 / 350RangoonGibson, master; north of Jiddah between January 1801 and June 1802 [5]
Expedition70
Fancy brig125 / 100
Fortune182Ketch; Jolliffe, master; near Mt. Agerib between January 1801 and June 1802 [5]
Friendship400Rangoon
Friendship872Demaun, 1794 [6]
Fyze Allum700Baird, master; Cape Orfin (or Cape Orsoy) on the coast of Africa, [5] 7 June 1801; [7]
Gabriel 825Calcutta, 1794Lost on the expedition; crew and passengers saved
Ganges450
Griffin400
Hercules485
Hope500 / 580Calcutta, 1800
Jehanguire

Shaw Jehangire

780 / 705Deman
JuliaLost between January 1801 and June 1802 [5]
London350
Lowjee Family926Bombay, 1791 [6] Destroyed by fire in Bombay Harbour, 1849
Milford 679 / 655 Bombay Dockyard, 1786Wrecked in the Hooghly River in August 1829
Minerva987 / 1057Demaun, 1790 [6] Launched as Amelia; captured 1808 by Al Qasimi pirates and almost the entire crew massacred. [8]
Mornington450
Moorad Bux279
Raheem Shah270 / 275Bombay [9]
Ruby 300Calcutta, 1800 or 1797Lost 1814 or later
Pearl450
Serrah/Sarah 935Bombay, 1792 [10] "Lost in the French War" [10]
Shah Ardasheer
Shah Ardaseer 		868Bombay, 1786, [6] or 1787 [11] Burnt at Bombay Harbour on 14 September 1809 [12]
Shah Kaikusroo 1046Bombay, 1799Broken up 1864
Shannon90
Sophia
Sullimany, or Sulimanny679 Demaun, 1797 [6]
Superb650Calcutta, 1795 [13] Lost 1814 or so
Susannah244Drysdale, master; lost between January 1801 and June 1802 [5]
Taz Balish436
Upton Castle 675 Bombay Dockyard, 1793Burnt at Saugor, 1817
Warren Hastings 443Calcutta, 1789
William 393 / 400Bombay Dockyard, 1800 [6]

EIC naval vessels

The following vessels were listed in the 1814 report as country ships, [14] but were actually vessels of the EIC's navy, the Bombay Marine.

NameBurthenWhere builtNotes
FuryEIC schooner of 6 guns [15]
Strombolo
(or Stromboli)		485Bombay, 1793EIC bomb ketch [16] /gun vessel of 12 × 3-pounder guns [17]
WaspEIC schooner of 6 guns

Citations

  1. ↑ Phipps (1840), p. 116.
  2. ↑ Phipps (1840), p. 172.
  3. ↑ Roman (2007), p. 174.
  4. 1 2 Wadia (1986), p. 336.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 The Asiatic Annual Register, Or, a View of the History of Hindustan and of the Politics, Commerce and Literature of Asia, (1804), Vol. 5. pp.15-6.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Reports... (1809), p.242.
  7. ↑ Calcutta Monthly Journal, Nov. 1801, Vol. 7, №86, p.3067 & p.3069.
  8. ↑ Low (1877), p. 320.
  9. ↑ East-India register and directory (1803), pp.269-70.
  10. 1 2 Wadia (1986), p. 335.
  11. ↑ Wadia (1986), p. 334.
  12. ↑ Lloyd's List №4425.
  13. ↑ Hackman (2001), p. 244.
  14. ↑ House of Commons (1814), p. 654–655.
  15. ↑ East-India register and directory (1803), pp.96-9.
  16. ↑ Hackman (2001), p. 341.
  17. ↑ Bombay Almanack and Register...for 1798, p.101.

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Mornington was a British merchant vessel built of teak and launched in 1799 at Calcutta. She made three voyages under charter to the British East India Company (EIC). On the first of these her non-European crew suffered a high mortality rate on the voyage back to India. On the third French privateers twice captured her and Royal Navy vessels twice recaptured her. She was a transport for the British invasion of Java in 1811. A fire destroyed her in 1815.

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Cornwallis was built probably at Surat around 1789, or possibly Demaun in 1790. Her name was originally Britannia, but it was changed to Cornwallis shortly before her completion. She served for some years in India as a country ship, before transferring her registry to Britain in 1797. She then served in private trade between Britain and India until 1809 or so when she transferred her registry back to Bombay. Thereafter she served as a country ship, though in both 1810 and again in 1817 she performed a voyage to Britain for the British East India Company. Thereafter she apparently continued to serve as a country ship with homeport of Bombay. She burnt there in June 1841 as she was about to take a cargo of cotton to China.

Arran was launched at Calcutta in 1799. In 1800 she sailed to Britain for the British East India Company (EIC). On her return voyage she suffered a major outbreak of illness while between England and the Cape. She then traded between England and India and around India until she was lost in June 1809 while sailing to Basra from Bengal.

Gabriel was a country ship launched in 1794 at Calcutta. She traded east of the Cape of Good Hope, except for at least two voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She wrecked in 1801 during the British military expedition to the Red Sea.

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Upton Castle was launched at Bombay in 1793. She spent her career as a "country ship", that is trading in the Far East. She made some voyages to England, including at least one, in 1809, under charter to the British East India Company (EIC). She also participated in two military campaigns as a transport. The French Navy captured her in 1804, but she returned to British hands before 1809. A fire in 1817 destroyed her.

Maria was launched at Calcutta in early 1804 and immediately sailed for London on a voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). The French captured her in 1807 and sold her to Arab merchants who renamed her Derreak Beggie. In 1810-11 she served as a transport in the British capture of Java. At some point she became Ruby; Ruby foundered in 1838.

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For the invasions of Île Bourbon and Île de France (Mauritius) the British government hired a number of transport vessels. Most of the transports were "country ships". Country ships were vessels that were registered in ports of British India such as Bombay and Calcutta, and that traded around India, with Southeast Asia, and China, but that did not sail to England without special authorization from the EIC. In addition, some were "regular ships" of the British East India Company (EIC), and some were "extra ships". Regular ships were on a long-term contract with the EIC, and extra ships were vessels the EIC had chartered for one or more voyages.

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Auspicious was built in 1797. The British East India Company (EIC), chartered her for a voyage to Bengal and back. At Calcutta a fire almost destroyed her. She was rebuilt there some years later. She served as a transport vessel in the British government's expedition to the Red Sea in 1801. She then sailed to England, again under charter to the EIC. In 1811 she sailed to Bengal to remain. She was sold in 1821 either to Malabars or Arabs.

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Aurora was launched in 1790 at Calcutta. The first 10 years of her career are currently obscure. In 1801 she made a voyage to England for the British East India Company (EIC), and then was briefly registered in England. She returned to India to continue to sail as a "country ship" until she was sold to Portuguese or Spanish owners in 1811. She returned to British ownership circa 1816 and made a second voyage for the EIC, this time from China to England. She returned to English registry and made one voyage to India under a license from the EIC. She then switched to sailing between Liverpool and Quebec and was lost in the Atlantic around 1822.

Shah Ardaseer was built at Bombay, probably in 1786. English transliterations of her name show her as Shah or Shaw + Adaseer, or Ardaseer, or Ardasier, or Adasier, or Ardasheer, or Ardeseer, or Ardesir. A fire on 13 September 1809 at Bombay burnt her. She then may have been recovered, repaired, and enlarged to become the hulk HMS Arrogant, which was moved to Trincomalee in 1822 and sold there in 1842.

Marchioness Wellesley was launched at Calcutta in 1805. She initially sailed as a country ship, i.e., trading east of the Cape of Good Hope. She participated in the 1811 British military expedition to Java. In 1815 she sailed to England and then sailed between England and India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). She was broken up in 1821 or 1824.

Resource was launched in Calcutta in 1804 as a country ship; that is, she traded out of India but only east of the Cape of Good Hope. In 1807 the French captured her, but she returned to British ownership. She participated as a transport in the British invasion of Java. After 1813 she traded between Britain and India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). From about the mid-1830s she traded primarily between Britain and Australia, and in 1839 she transported immigrants to South Australia. In 1843 she started sailing between Britain and Quebec until December 1846 when her crew had to abandon her at sea while on a voyage back to Britain from Quebec.

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.

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References

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