Transport vessels for the British invasion of Java (1811)

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For the invasion of Java (1811) , under the auspices of Lord Minto, 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 of the transports for the invasion 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.

Contents

The data in the table below comes primarily from two sources. An 1814 report from a Select Committee of the House of Commons of the British Parliament provided the data only on country ships, giving the names of a large number of vessels, and their burthen (bm). [1] Then the Naval Chronicle published a list of vessels than had assembled at Malacca in May–June 1811 and then sailed for Java. [2] The list in the Naval Chronicle also included the names of British Royal Navy warships, EIC warships, and other EIC vessels, particularly regular and extra ships. A number of transports in the Select Committee report do not show up as having sailed from Malacca. Equally, a number of transports in the Naval Chronicle list are not in the Select Committee report. Transports without burthen data are in the Naval Chronicle but not in the Select Committee report.

Names of vessels that appear in both lists do not always agree. Some vessels in the Select Committee report that have compound names such as "Bombay Anna" or "Arab Mary" appear in the Naval Chronicle as Bombay and Anna, and as Arab and Mary. 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.

Many of the transports gathered at Malacca and then left in four divisions on the following days:

NameBurthenDivisionNotes
Alexander 7503Lost on the Bill of Portland 1815
Ann4034Built at Pegu?
Bombay Anna 9552Lost at sea 1815-16
Anne4054Possibly victualer
Antipodes70
Asia9923
Asia Felix3243
Batavia 6001EIC extra ship
Betsey3304Hired transport
Betsey1753Hired brig
Borneo3654Possibly a victualer; lost at Madagascar 1814
Britannia1701
Cawdry4
Charles Baillie200
Charlotte2484Foundered in Madras Roads October 1818 [3]
Cornwallis 6532
Countess of Harcourt 5011
Derie Beggi / Derea Beggye5004Foundered 1838
Duncan4003Built at Beypour in 1803
Estambool / Estaenboole3104
Fattahoul Khyer / Footahoolkeer3684
Fifeshire501
Fleetwood3501ex-Jessy (Calcutta; 1802); broken up at Calcutta in 1815. [4]
Fort William11601
Friendship8723Lost on the Nicobars, 1819 [5]
Futteh Almoneen490
Harmoody4152
Harriot / Harriet?488Built at Pegu?
Huddart 5652EIC regular ship
Hugh Inglis 8212EIC regular ship
James Drummond6693Built at Demaun 1800 as Adam Smith; broken up at Calcutta, 1823. [6]
Kheeleel / Keleel3104
Lord Eldon 5713EIC extra ship
Lowjee Family9263Destroyed by fire in Bombay Harbour, 1849
Macauley2644
Marchioness Wellesley / Marchioness of Wellesley510 / 581Broken up 1821, or 1824
Margaret and Francis3051
Mary2504Lost on the John and Margaretta Shoal 1823. [7]
Mary400
Arab Mary3502
Matilda 7622Wrecked March 1822
Mentor400
Minerva brig160
Minto1904EIC-hired agent vessel [8]
Mornington 7704Built at Calcutta
Mysore831 / 9002Built Pegu 1795: Lost off Pulo Sapata on 7 December 1818 [9]
Nadir Shah518
Northumberland 6004EIC extra ship
Olive (or hired brig Olivia)4204Captured 1806; returned to British hands
Perseverance2804
Phoenix336
Phoenix 8183EIC regular ship
Preston 6714EIC regular ship
Resource 4003Captured 1807; [lower-alpha 1] Returned to British ownership; registered at Calcutta prior to January 1811
Substitute4
Sullimany, or Solimany6893Launched at Demaun [11]
Sullimany350
Sultana3003
Sundany4301
Thomas Henchman 517Burnt 1811 at Malacca on the expedition to Java [12]
Troubridge 8002
Venus 2502Captured by USS Peacock in 1815; later returned to British ownership
Wellesley3
William Pitt 8191EIC regular ship
Windham 8331Wrecked September 1815

Notes

  1. ↑ The French frigate Piémontaise captured Resource on 9 October 1807. She was carrying toile and 7,500 sacks of rice. The value of the prize was 215,930.24 francs. [10]

Citations

  1. ↑ House of Commons (1814), p. 655.
  2. ↑ Naval Chronicle, Vol. 27, p.109.
  3. ↑ Phipps (1840), p. 102.
  4. ↑ Phipps (1840), pp. 142&179.
  5. ↑ Phipps (1840), p. 172.
  6. ↑ Phipps (1840), pp. 172 & 188.
  7. ↑ Phipps (1840), p. 145.
  8. ↑ Phipps (1840), p. 104.
  9. ↑ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 5413. 17 August 1818. hdl:/2027/hvd.32044050816529.
  10. ↑ Roman (2007), p. 223.
  11. ↑ Phipps (1840), p. 171.
  12. ↑ Phipps (1840), p. 100.

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References

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