Transport vessels for the British invasion of the Dutch Cape Colony (1805-1806)

Last updated

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.

Contents

The lists below are those that Commodore Home Riggs Popham provided to William Marsden, First Secretary of the Admiralty. [1]

Vessels sailing for the British East India Company

These vessels were carrying the 59th Regiment of Foot and recruits for various regiments in India. [1] After the capture of the Cape these vessels sailed on to India or China.

After the Dutch Governor Jansens signed a capitulation on 18 January 1806, and the British established control of the Cape Colony, Belliqueux escorted William Pitt, Jane Dutchess of Gordon, Sir William Pulteney, and Comet to Madras. The convoy included Northampton, Streatham, Europe, Union, Glory, and Sarah Christiana. [2]

Transports

Apart from the EIC vessels, the expedition employed a large number of transports specifically for the expedition. These vessels carried the 93rd, 38th, and 24th Regiments of Foot, the Royal Artillery, and dismounted dragoons. [1] the data on burthens and post-invasion disposition comes from Theal. [3]

VesselBurthenPost-invasion disposition
Agnes†23021 March convoy to UK with invalids and Dutch prisoners
Amphitrite‡28828 February sailed as cartel to Holland
Anacreon (1800 ship)†44811 March sailed as cartel with prisoners from Volontaire
Anne319Sailed 10 March for England with dispatches
Atlas (1801 ship) 435Sailed 13 March as a cartel with the crews of the captured ships Atalanta and Napoleon
Bellona (1782 ship)‡472Sailed 28 February as cartel to Holland
Charlotte (1784 ship) 33811 March sailed as cartel with prisoners from Volontaire
Elisha (or Eliza) Tupper‡272Sailed 28 February as cartel to Holland
Elizabeth†251Sailed with 21 March convoy to UK with invalids and Dutch prisoners
Fame†285Sailed with 21 March convoy to UK with invalids and Dutch prisoners
Francis and Eliza (1782 ship)‡347Sailed 28 February as cartel to Holland
Harbinger365Sailed 13 March as a cartel with the crews of Atalanta and Napoleon
Harlequin†220Sailed with 21 March convoy to UK with invalids and Dutch prisoners
Harriet‡ (or Harriot)387Sailed 28 February as cartel to Holland
Indefatigable (1799 ship)†549Sailed with 21 March convoy to UK with invalids and Dutch prisoners
Indefatigable (C)†217Sailed with 21 March convoy to UK with invalids and Dutch prisoners
Jack151Sailed 21 March with dispatches for Barbados
King GeorgeLost outward bound on the expedition
Majestic377Sailed for Madras 9 February with EIC troops to return with rice and wheat for the colony
Melantho289Reserved for general service
Messenger†217Sailed with 21 March convoy to UK with invalids and Dutch prisoners
Ocean430Reserved for general service
Paragon (1800 Whitby ship) 394Sailed 7 February for Algoa Bay with troops to load lumber for military works
Sea Horse (1782 ship) 293Sailed 20 January with dispatches for England
Simpson354Sailed for Madras 9 February with EIC troops to return with rice and wheat for the colony
Sir John Borlase Warren (1800 ship)‡360Sailed 28 February as cartel to Holland
Traveller†244Sailed with 21 March convoy to UK with invalids and Dutch prisoners
Triton443Reserved for general service
Union292Sailed 28 February as cartel to Holland‡
Walker35721 March loading with provisions
Wellington339Reserved for general service
Whitby336Sailed 28 February to India to get grain for the colony
William447Sailed for Madras 9 February with EIC troops to return with rice and wheat for the colony
Zephyr34221 March loading with artillery and stores for False Bay

Other

VesselBurthenRolePost-invasion disposition
Albion (1802 ship)†201General baggage and horses21 March convoy to UK with invalids and Dutch prisoners
Golden Grove†102Victualer21 March convoy to UK with invalids and Dutch prisoners
Juno (1793 ship) 239VictualerSailed 11 March to Plettenberg Bay to load with timber
Sarah†572Hospital and medical stores21 March convoy to UK with invalids and Dutch prisoners
Wilding (1788 ship)†282Victualer21 March convoy to UK with invalids and Dutch prisoners

Citations and references

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 Theal (1899), pp. 242–4.
  2. ↑ Lloyd's List, №4059..
  3. ↑ Theal (1899), p. 384.
  4. 1 2 Theal (1899), p. 360.

References

Related Research Articles

HMS Leda, launched in 1800, was the lead ship of a successful class of forty-seven British Royal Navy 38-gun sailing frigates. Leda's design was based on the French Hébé, which the British had captured in 1782. Leda was wrecked at the mouth of Milford Haven in 1808, Captain Honeyman was exonerated of all blame, as it was a pilot error.

HMS <i>Belliqueux</i> (1780)

HMS Belliqueux was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 5 June 1780 at Blackwall Yard, London. She was named after the French ship Belliqueux captured in 1758.

William Pitt was a three-decker sailing ship, built in Liverpool in 1803. She made three complete voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), and on the first of these she transported convicts to New South Wales. In December 1814 she was lost in a gale to the east of Algoa Bay while homeward bound from her fourth voyage.

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.

Northampton, was a three-decker merchant ship launched in 1801 upon the River Thames, England. She made eight voyages to India as an extra (chartered) ship for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1801 and 1819. During the same period she made one separate trip transporting convicts from Britain to New South Wales, followed by a voyage for the EIC from China back to England. In 1820 she carried settlers to South Africa. She is last listed in Lloyd's Register in 1822.

Francis and Eliza was a brig built in 1782 upon the River Thames, England. An American privateer captured her in 1815 while she was transporting convicts from Ireland to Port Jackson, New South Wales, and then released her.

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.

Sir John Borlase Warren, was launched in 1800. She traded with the West Indies after having made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). A French privateer captured her in 1808 though she was immediately recaptured. Her crew abandoned her in 1812 but she was recovered. She foundered in 1815.

Streatham was launched in 1805 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made seven voyages for the EIC. On her second voyage the French captured her, but the British Royal Navy recaptured her some months later. She was broken up in 1821.

Europe was launched in 1803 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made six voyages for the EIC. On her third voyage the French captured her, but the British Royal Navy recaptured her some months later. In 1817 her owners sold her for a hulk but new owners continued to sail her between London and India. She is last listed in 1824.

Jane, Duchess of Gordon was launched in 1805 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made one complete voyage for the EIC and then foundered while homeward bound on the second.

William Pitt was launched in 1805 as an East Indiaman. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), between 1805 and 1819. In 1810 and 1811 she participated as a transport in two British military campaigns. She was sold for breaking up in 1820.

Union was launched at Calcutta in 1801. She sailed to England and then made five voyages as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC), between 1805 and 1814. She was wrecked in late 1815 or early 1816.

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.

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 served as a transport. She set out for her twelfth EIC voyage but was lost in 1805 during the third naval campaign.

Glory was an East Indiaman launched in 1802. She made two complete voyages as an "extra ship" for the British East India Company (EIC) before she disappeared in November 1808 while homeward bound from her third voyage. On her second voyage she participated in the British expedition to capture the Cape of Good Hope.

Sir William Pulteney was launched in 1803 at Calcutta as a country ship She sailed to England on a voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) and her owner sold her there. The EIC then engaged her as an "extra ship" for six voyages as an East Indiaman to India and back. She was sold in 1817.

Sarah Christiana was launched in 1798. She made one voyage as an "extra ship" for the British East India Company (EIC). She then made a voyage to Jamaica. On her return, the EIC engaged her for four more voyages as an East Indiaman. In 1810 she was sold and became a West Indiaman. She was wrecked broken up in 1828.

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.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.