Career
EIC voyage #1 (1781–1783)
Captain John Lewis sailed from Portsmouth on 13 March 1781, bound for Madras and Bengal. [2] Valentine was part of a convoy of Indiamen accompanying a British squadron under Commodore George Johnstone. [4] At about the same time as the British sailed, a French squadron under the command of Bailli de Suffren left France. Both squadrons were en route to the Cape of Good Hope, the British to take it from the Dutch, the French aiming to help defend it and French possessions in the Indian Ocean, including Rodriguez Island, Ile Bourbon (Réunion), Île de France (Mauritius), and Pondicherry.
The British stopped at São Tiago to take on water. Valentine arrived there on 10 April. [2] The French squadron attacked the British on 16 April in the battle of Porto Praya. Due to the unexpected nature of the encounter, neither fleet was prepared for the engagement and the result was an inconclusive battle in which the French warships sustained more damage than did the British. Though the battle was inconclusive, it did enable the French to forestall the British attack on the Cape. The British sailed on to the Cape. At the Cape, Johnstone captured five Dutch East Indiamen at the battle of Saldanha Bay. The British Indiamen then sailed on, directly, or indirectly, to India.
Valentine reached Madras on 18 August, and arrived at Kedgeree on 28 September. She returned to Madras on 23 November, was at Negapatam on 23 December, Madras again on 22 January 1782, and Kedgeree on 22 February. Homeward bound, she was at 10 Apr Barrabulla (a sandbank that forms near Kedgeree) on 12 April, and reached St Helena on 12 September. She left St Helena on 26 November, and arrived at the Downs on 21 February 1783. [2]
EIC voyage #2 (1784–1785)
Captain Lewis sailed from The Downs on 1 January 1784, bound for Madras and Bengal. Valentine left the Cape of Good Hope on 20 April, reached Madras on 29 June, and arrived at Kedgeree on 25 July. She left Kedgeree on 23 January 1785, reached the Cape on 17 April and St Helena on 16 May, and arrived at the Downs on 8 August. [2]
EIC voyage #3 (1786–1787)
Captain Thomas Wall sailed from The Downs on 17 January 1786, bound for Madras and China. Valentine reached São Tiago on 16 February, and Madras on 26 May. She left Madras on 24 July, reached Malacca on 28 August, and arrived at Whampoa anchorage on 21 September. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 4 February 1787, reached St Helena on 23 May, and arrived at the Downs on 20 July. [2]
EIC voyage #4 (1788–1790)
Captain John Lewis sailed from The Downs on 13 December 1788, bound for Madras and China. Valentine reached Madeira on 29 December and São Tiago on 26 January 1789. She arrived at Madras on 1 May. She sailed from Madras on 10 July, reached Penang on 1 August, and arrived at Whampoa on 18 September. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 3 December, reached St Helena on 18 February 1790, and arrived at the Downs on 25 April. [2]
EIC voyage #5 (1792–1793)
Captain Iver McMillan sailed from The Downs on 9 March 1792, bound for St Helena, Bengal, Madras, and Bencoolen. Valentine reached St Helena on 11 May, Diamond Point on 6 August, "'Monsourcottah" on 21 September, and Diamond Harbour on 2 November. She sailed from Saugor on 2 January 1793, reached Madras on 12 January, and arrived at Bencoolen on 20 February. Homeward bound, she sailed from Bencoolen on 13 March, was at St Helena between 11 May and 21 June, and arrived at the Downs on 21 August. [2]
EIC voyage #6 (1794–1795)
War with France had broken out in 1793. Captain Iver McMillan acquired a letter of marque on 13 March 1794. [3]
The British government held Valentine at Portsmouth, together with 38 other Indiamen in anticipation of using them as transports for an attack on Île de France (Mauritius). It gave up the plan and released the vessels in May 1794. It paid £417 5s 4d for having delayed her departure by 22 days.
Captain McMillan sailed from Portsmouth on 2 May, bound for Bengal. Valentine arrived at Diamond Harbour on 12 September. Homeward bound, she was at Cox's Island on 28 November and left on 8 January 1795. She arrived at St Helena on 18 March and left on 14 May. She arrived at the Downs on 23 July. [2]
West Indies Expedition (1795-96)
The Admiralty chartered Valentine as a troopship for Admiral Hugh Cloberry Christian's expedition to the West Indies. Captain Henry Hughes acquired a letter of marque on 30 October 1795. [3]
She sailed for the West Indies on 9 December, but bad weather delayed the start of the expedition and the vessels had to put back to England. [5] After numerous false starts aborted by weather issues, the fleet sailed on 26 April to invade St Lucia, with troops under Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby. St Lucia surrendered to the British on 25 May. [6] The British went on to capture Saint Vincent and Grenada.
Pigot was an East Indiaman that made five voyages to India, China, and the East Indies for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1780 and 1794. Oh her fifth voyage, which occurred early in the French Revolutionary Wars, the French captured her during the Sunda Strait campaign of 1794.
Asia was launched in 1780 and made six voyages as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She participated in three actions, two against the French and one against the Dutch. She left the EIC's service in 1799 and traded between London and Lisbon until 1802 when new owners from Embden renamed her Reine Louise de Prusse and returned her to trading with the East Indies. Asia is last listed in Lloyd's Register for 1808 on the London-Batavia trade.
Northumberland was launched in 1805. She made six voyages as an extra ship of the British East India Company (EIC), between 1805 and 1818. In 1810 and 1811 she served as a transport in the British invasions of Mauritius and Java. She was sold for breaking up in 1819.
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.
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.
Lord Keith was launched in 1804 by and for Peter Everitt Mestaer. He chartered her to the East India Company (EIC) for six voyages, and she then went on to make another two voyages for the EIC. On her second voyage, and unusually for an East Indiaman, she participated in the proceeds for the recapture of a former British Royal Navy brig and possibly in a skirmish with a French ship. On her third voyage she participated in a notable action. She was broken up c.1820.
Preston was launched in 1798 as an East Indiaman. She made six 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 1812 but instead became a transport and a West Indiaman. She disappeared after a gale in August 1815.
Busbridge was launched in 1782 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made seven voyages for the EIC before she was broken up. In June 1795, during her sixth voyage, she participated in the capture of eight vessels of the Dutch East India Company. She was laid up for several years on her return from her seventh voyage and sold for breaking up in 1805.
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.
Lord Camden was launched in 1783 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company. She made five voyages for the EIC before her owner sold her.
Lord Hawkesbury was launched in 1787 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made eight voyages for the EIC before she was sold in 1808 for breaking up.
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.
Essex was launched in 1780 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). On her first voyage she was present at an inconclusive battle with the French, and later as a second inconclusive engagement with a French frigate.
Europa was launched in 1781 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She was probably broken up in 1798.
Manship was launched in 1785 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages as a "regular ship" for the British East India Company (EIC). Her owners sold her in 1801 and she then made one voyage for the EIC as an "extra ship" on a voyage charter. Her owners sold her to the British government in 1803 for use as a powder hulk. In June 1795 Manship shared with several other Indiamen and the Royal Navy in the capture of eight Dutch East Indiamen off St Helena.
Ganges was launched in 1778 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), and one voyage as a transport for a naval expedition.
Deptford was launched in 1781 as an East Indiaman. She made six apparently uneventful voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) before she was sold in 1807 for breaking up.
Castle Eden was launched in 1800 as an East Indiaman. She made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) before she became a transport in 1812 and disappears from online records.
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.
United Kingdom was an East Indiaman launched in 1801. She made three voyages to India for the British East India Company (EIC). The French Navy captured her in 1809 during her fourth voyage and the Royal Navy recaptured her in 1810. She became a country ship trading east of the Cape of Good Hope and was wrecked near the Cape in 1815.
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