Triton (1787 EIC ship)

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Carter-Triton-m021400 009599 p.jpg
Boarding of the Triton by the French corsair Hasard (ex-Cartier) under Robert Surcouf. Painting by Léon Trémisot.
History
Flag of the British East India Company (1707).svg Great Britain
NameTriton
Namesake Triton
Owner
  • EIC Voy. 1–3: Gilbert Slater [1]
  • EIC Voy. 4: John Jackson [1]
OperatorBritish East India Company
BuilderRandall, Rotherhithe
Launched26 November 1787 [2]
FateCaptured 1796
Flag of the United States (1818-1819).svgUnited States
Acquired1796 by purchase of a prize
FateSold c.1796
British-Red-Ensign-1707.svgGreat Britain
NameTriton
Acquired1796–1797 by purchase
FateUnknown post–1809
General characteristics [1]
Tons burthen800, [1] [3] or 8005494, [2] or 828 [4] or 850, [5] or 950 [6] (bm)
Length
  • 143 ft 7 in (43.8 m) (overall)
  • 116 ft 0 in (35.4 m) (keel)
Beam36 ft 0+12 in (11.0 m)
Depth of hold14 ft 9 in (4.5 m)
PropulsionSail
Complement70 [3]
Armament26 × 9 & 6-pounder guns [3]

Triton was launched in 1787 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made three full voyages for the EIC before the French privateer Robert Surcouf captured her in 1796 while she was on her fourth voyage. She returned to British ownership shortly thereafter and the EIC chartered her for three more voyages to Britain. She was based at Calcutta and was last listed in 1809.

Contents

Career

The EIC took Triton up as for six voyages a regular ship. [7] She completed three and was captured on her fourth.

First voyage (1788–1789)

Under the command of Captain William Agnew, Triton sailed from The Downs on 5 April 1788, bound for Madras and Bengal. She reached Madras on 14 July and arrived at Diamond Harbour on 23 July. She left Bengal on 30 December, reached St Helena on 7 March, before arriving at The Downs on 14 May. [1]

Of her 118 passengers, not fwer than 98 had been soldiers in India. They had served out their contracts and were returning to England at the EIC's expense, together with their wives and children. Most of these men were now entitled to a lifetime pension from the EIC. [8]

Second voyage (1790–1791)

Captain Agnew again left The Downs on 5 January 1790, this time bound for Madras and China. Triton reached Madras on 9 July, and arrived at Whampoa on 30 August. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 2 February 1791, reached the Cape on 9 April and St Helena on 28 April, arriving at The Downs on 28 June. [1]

Third voyage (1793–1794)

Capt Philip Burnyeat sailed Triton from Torbay on 13 January 1793, bound for Madras, Bengal and China. She reached Madras on 21 May, leaving on 6 July. Trtion was at Pondicherry on 15 July, together with Warley, and Royal Charlotte, maintaining a blockade of the port, together with HMS Minerva. [9] Triton had sailed from Fort Saint George (Madras) as escort to Admiral Lord Cornwallis, then Governor General of India, who was traveling to Pondicherry in a small captured French vessel. [10] Triton also escorted him back, returning to Madras on 30 July. (Pondicherry fell to the Army on 23 August.) She reached Kedgeree on 8 August, and then on 8 September was at Madras again. She reached Penang on 4 October and Malacca on 19 October, before arriving at Whampoa on 15 December. She crossed the Second Bar on 14 March 1794, reached St Helena on 18 June, left on 1 July, and arrived at The Downs on 17 September. [1]

Fourth voyage and capture (1795–1796)

Engraving of the battle, by Ambroise Louis Garneray. Triton-Hasard-stitched.jpg
Engraving of the battle, by Ambroise Louis Garneray.

Captain Burnyeat left Portsmouth on 9 July 1795, bound for Madras and Bengal. [1] Because she was travelling in wartime, Burnyeat had arranged for a letter of marque, as was customary for EIC ships, which was issued to him on 1 May 1795. [3] This authorized him to engage in offensive action against the French, not just defensive. The French captured Triton at Balasore Roads on 29 January 1796. [1]

The privateer Robert Surcouf had had a successful cruise in the Indian Ocean capturing several vessels, including the pilot boat Cartier, which he renamed Hasard. He transferred his remaining men from his ship Émilie to Hasard and on 28 January, sighting Triton at anchor, decided to attack. He recognised only too late the overwhelming superiority of his opponent. [11] Surcouf, feeling unable to flee, decided to board her with his 26 men, [12] [lower-alpha 1] After haranguing his men, he approached under a British flag, [14] before hoisting French colours at the very last moment and launching a violent assault. [13] In the ensuing 45-minute battle, [11] Triton suffered 5 wounded and 10 killed, [15] including Burnyeat and the first officer, Picket; [13] Surcouf transferred his prisoners to Diana, another vessel that he had captured, and which he released to her captain against a 30,000 rupee ransom. [16]

Newspaper accounts stated that a boatswain had persuaded 20 members of Triton's deck crew to decline to fight. [17]

Surcouf returned to Île de France (Mauritius) with his prizes, [18] arriving on 10 March 1796. [13] However, Émilie had been sailing without a letter of marque, so although the Prize court declared the prizes legal, it seized them and sold them for the benefit of the State. [15] [18]

The EIC put the value of the cargo it had lost at £3,030. [19]

She was reportedly purchased at Mauritius by an American and entered Calcutta under American colours a few months after her capture. [20] Apparently the American sold her to Calcutta owners.

Purchase and subsequent career

Triton returned quickly to British ownership as a country ship, i.e., sailing in the coastal trade. [2] The EIC chartered her to serve as a transport, one of about 15, in a planned attack on Manila. [6] The EIC chartered her from 25 May 1797 to 25 March 1798 at sicca rupees 10,000 pr month.

However, the British Government cancelled the invasion following a peace treaty with Spain and the EIC released the vessels it had engaged. Triton arrived at Madras on 24 June 1798.

Later, the EIC chartered her as an extra ship for three voyages, for which records exist for the second and third:

First voyage (1798–1799)

Triton, under the command of Captain David Dunlop, arrived in England on 28 September 1799 from Madras. [21]

Outfitting Triton for her return voyage cost £9,920 9s 2d, and was billed on 6 March 1800. [22]

Second voyage (1800–1801)

Captain David Dunlop left Madras on 10 October 1800, bound for London. Triton reached St Helena on 12 December, and Spithead on 22 February 1801. She was at The Downs on 1 March, and London on 5 March. [23] There she delivered a cargo of rice. [2]

Outfitting Triton for her return voyage cost £7,474 9s 3d, and was billed on 15 July. [22]

Third voyage (1802)

Captain Nicholas Anstis left Calcutta on 26 February 1802. Triton left Kedgeree on 17 April, and reached St Helena on 9 July. she arrived at The Downs on 13 September. [23]

Outfitting Triton for her return voyage cost £1,926 9s 2d, and was billed on 1 November. [22]

On 12 January 1803 Triton, Captain Anstiss, arrived at Bahia requiring repairs. The authorities put many administrative and pecuniary obstacles in his way and he was not able to effect his repairs and leave until 6 February. While Triton was at Bahia, the captain and crew of the whaler brig Anna Augusta arrived there; she had been wrecked a few days earlier south of Bahia. [24]

Triton appears in the 1804 volume of the Register of Shipping with N. Ansties, master, Scott & Co., owners, and trade London–India. She is of 828 tons burthen, and is listed as having been built on the Thames. [4] This entry continues unchanged through 1809.

An 1803 listing of country ships registered at Calcutta shows her master as N. Ansties and her owner as Fairlie, Gilmore and Co. [25] An 1809 listing shows her master as — Patrick, and her managing owner as Robert Lawson. [5]

Fate

Triton's ultimate fate is currently unknown.

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<i>Fortitude</i> (1780 EIC ship)

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<i>Kent</i> (1799 ship)

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<i>Cartier</i> (1787 ship)

Cartier was a brig launched in 1787 for the Bengal Pilot Service as a pilot ship operating at Balasore Roads. The French privateer Robert Surcouf captured her, and then used her to capture the East Indiaman Triton on 29 January 1796. The British Royal Navy subsequently recaptured her.

<i>Houghton</i> (1782 EIC ship)

Houghton was launched in 1782 and made six voyages as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). In 1794 she was part of an EIC squadron that had some success against French privateers and naval vessels in the Sunda Strait, and then in 1796 she participated as a transport in the British capture of St Lucia. She was sold in 1799 and her owner took her out to India to work in the tea trade between India and China. She foundered in 1803.

Eliza Ann was launched at Calcutta in 1795. She sailed to England where she was admitted to the Registry. In all, she made five voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), during one of which she participated in a notable action and during the last of which she captured a French privateer. She herself was lost in 1807.

Huddart was launched in 1803 as an East Indiaman. She made eight voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), between 1803 and 1818. In 1810-1811 she participated as a transport in two British military campaigns. In 1818 new owners deployed her in sailing to Canada. She was wrecked there in 1821.

Hugh Inglis was launched in 1799 as an East Indiaman. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), between 1800 and 1817. In 1810 and 1811 she participated as a transport in two British military campaigns. She was sold for breaking up in 1817.

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.

Sir Stephen Lushington was launched in 1796 as an East Indiaman. She made seven voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). During this period she took part as a transport in two military campaigns, the cancelled attack on Manila in 1797, and the capture of Mauritius in 1810. In 1812 she became a West Indiaman, thought around 1816 she made another voyage to India. Thereafter her ownership and trade becomes ambiguous: she either traded with Spain until 1822, or with South America until 1825.

Euphrates was launched in 1803 as an East Indiaman. Between 1803 and 1812 she made four voyages to India for the British East India Company (EIC). During these voyages she participated as a transport in two military campaigns, the capture of the Cape of Good Hope and of Mauritius. She was wrecked in 1813 towards the end of the outward leg of a fifth voyage to India.

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.

Calcutta was launched in 1798 as an East Indiaman. She made four voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), and disappeared while homeward bound from Bengal on her fifth voyage.

Harriet was a two-decker East Indiaman launched in 1802. She made five complete voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), as an "extra ship" i.e., under charter, and accidentally burnt as she was preparing to return to England from her sixth voyage.

Sovereign was launched at Rotherhithe in 1800 as a West Indiaman. The British East India Company (EIC) then took her up as an "extra" ship on several contracts; in all she made seven voyages as an East Indiaman for the EIC. After she left the EIC's service in 1817 she continued to trade with India, but under a license from the EIC. She was broken up in 1822.

Osterley was an East Indiaman launched on 9 October 1771 by Wells, Deptford. She made two voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) before the French frigate Pourvoyeuse captured her on 21 February 1779 while she was on her third voyage. She then sailed for a few years as a French merchantman.

Tigris was launched in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1802. She made six voyages between 1803 and 1815 as an "extra ship" for the British East India Company (EIC). After her stint as an East Indiaman, Tigris became a West Indiaman. She was wrecked in December 1823.

Carmarthen was launched in 1802 as an East Indiaman. She made eight round-trip voyages to India as an "extra" ship for the British East India Company (EIC). On her first voyage she participated in an experiment in bringing variolation to India and other British possessions to combat smallpox. After leaving the EIC's employment, she took one more voyage to India, sailing under a licence from the EIC. She was last listed in 1820.

Indus was launched in 1803 at Newcastle on Tyne. In 1804 the British East India Company (EIC) hired her for six voyages to India as an "extra ship". She completed the last of these six voyages in 1814. Thereafter she continued to trade with India, but privately, sailing under a licence from the EIC. She was last listed in 1823.

References

Notes

  1. Levot gives a figure of 17 men; Cunat, of 19. [11] [13]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 British Library: Triton (3).
  2. 1 2 3 4 Hackman (2001), p. 206.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Register of Letters of Marque against France 1793-1815", p.90. - accessed 11 June 2011.
  4. 1 2 Register of Shipping (1804), Seq. №360.
  5. 1 2 Reports... (1809), p.241.
  6. 1 2 House of Commons (1814), p. 654.
  7. House of Commons (1814), p. 81.
  8. Edinburgh Evening Courant, 18 May 1789, p.4.
  9. Universal Magazine, January 1794, p. 60.
  10. "No. 13621". The London Gazette . 4 February 1794. p. 115.
  11. 1 2 3 Levot (1866), p.494.
  12. Rouvier, p.252.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Cunat, p.395
  14. Rouvier, p.253
  15. 1 2 Hennequin, p.380.
  16. Granier, p.218.
  17. A Peoples' History 1793 – 1844 from the newspapers – accessed 17 July 2018.
  18. 1 2 Rouvier, p.254.
  19. House of Commons (1830), p. 976.
  20. Analytical Review (1799), Vol. 28, p.434.
  21. Hardy (1800), pp. 224–225.
  22. 1 2 3 House of Commons (1814), pp. 613–614.
  23. 1 2 British Library: Triton (4).
  24. Lindley (1808), pp.125–133.
  25. East-India register and directory (1803), p.99.

Bibliography