| History | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name: | Zoroaster |
| Namesake: | Zoroaster |
| Builder: | Hull |
| Launched: | 1818 |
| Fate: | Crew mutinied and scuttled her in 1836 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen: | 460 [1] (bm) |
Zoroaster was launched at Hull in 1818. From the start she was an East Indiaman, sailing between England and India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). Her crew mutinied and scuttled her in 1836.
Zoroaster first appeared in Lloyd's Register in 1818 with I.Ross, master, Egginton & Co., owner, and trade Hull–Calcutta. [2]
In 1813 the EIC had lost its monopoly on the trade between India and Britain. British ships were then free to sail to India or the Indian Ocean under a license from the EIC. [3]
Zoroaster served as a transport vessel under the British government's 1820 Settlers scheme.
The settlers embarked on Zoroaster in December 1819 at Deptford. Unfortunately ice on the Thames trapped the ship which was only able to sail on 12 February 1820. She arrived at Simon's Bay on 30 April. Her charter party only covered the journey to Simon's Bay so when she arrived the some 142 settlers had to transship on Albury.
The Register of Shipping for 1821 still showed Zoroaster with A.Ross, master, Eggington, owner, and trade Hull–Calcutta, [4] as it had for 1820. However, Zoroaster's master was Thompson. She was at Deal on 4 February 1820, having come from the Thames, bound for the Cape of Good Hope. On 16 March Zoroaster, of Hull, Thompson, master, was at 1°10′N19°55′W / 1.167°N 19.917°W . [5] On 30 May she sailed from the Cape for Mauritius. She arrived there on 20 June and sailed for Bengal on the 29th. She arrived at Bengal on 27 July. On 12 January 1821 she was back at Cape of Good Hope, having come from Bengal via Mauritius. On 1 April she was off Dover and on the 4th she was at Gravesend.
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1825 | "VnKnichr" | Holland (location) | Hull–India | LR; rebuilt 1821 |
| 1830 | "VnKnichr" | Holland (location) | Hull–India | LR; rebuilt 1821 |
Zoroaster disappears from Lloyd's Register and the Register of Shipping after 1830. She next appeared in Singapore. An advertisement gave her masters name as Patton. He managed Zoroaster with his wife. She sailed with him on her last two voyages. When her crew deserted at Sumatra in early 1836 on what would be her last voyage Mrs. Patton left Zoroaster, sailed to Penang on another vessel, and there recruited a new crew of lascars. [6] When his crew deserted, Patton complained to the local rajah who investigated. The rajah found that the crew complained that Patton was cruel, beating them, and having beaten one lascar to death. Their wages were always six to seven months in arrears, and he withheld their provisions. [7]
Zoroaster's crew mutinied, murdered the captain, his wife, and the chief officer, and scuttled the vessel on or before 3 September 1836. By some reports Zoroaster was on a voyage from "Pilen" to China. [8] [9]
The mutiny took place off the coast of Sumatra near Aceh. The mutineers scuttled Zoroaster and landed at Kreung (or Kerong) Raja. They claimed that they had been shipwrecked but the local rajah soon found out about the mutiny. He did not, however, arrest them, [10] or hand them over to the EIC's schooner Zephyr when she came looking for them. One of the mutineers reported that Zoroaster had had special ports cut into her sides to facilitate the loading of lumber. These had facilitated her scuttling. [11]
Citations
References
Providence was a merchant ship built at Calcutta, India, and launched in 1807. She made four voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), on one of which she delivered convicts to New South Wales. The ship was scuttled at St Martin's, Isles of Scilly in 1833 after grounding while on a voyage from London to Bombay, India.
Bengal Merchant was a sailing ship built of teak in Bengal and launched there on 26 May 1812. Between 1812 and 1829, Bengal Merchant was in private trade as a licensed ship. She served the East India Company (EIC) in 1813 and from 1830 till 1834. She also twice transported convicts from Britain to Australia before she was hulked in 1856.
Castle Forbes was a merchant ship built by Robert Gibbon & Sons at Aberdeen, Scotland in 1818. She made several voyages to India, sailing under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). She made two voyages transporting convicts from Ireland to Australia. She sustained damage in 1826 on a voyage to India and was condemned at the Cape of Good Hope. However, she was repaired. She was last listed in 1832, and in 1838 in Lloyd's Register (LR).
Richmond was launched in 1811 as a West Indiaman. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). She wrecked in 1822 in the Sea of Java.
Timandra was launched in 1814. She started trading with India and made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) before she was lost off the Lofoten Islands in 1822.
Peggy was built at Calcutta in 1793 and initially sailed in the Indian coastal and Far East trade. In 1801 she assumed British registry and her name was changed to Juliana. Her owners sold her to the Transport Board but in 1804 the government resold her and she was sailing as a West Indiaman between London and Antigua. She then made two voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), and one voyage to Hobart, Van Dieman's Land, transporting convicts. On her return from this voyage she wrecked in 1821 on the English coast.
Kingston was launched at Bristol in 1811. She traded between Bristol and Jamaica until her owners sold her in 1818. She then made two voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). Afterwards she continued trading with India, and then with Quebec. She was wrecked in 1833.
Hyperion was launched in 1814 at Sunderland. She sailed to the Baltic, and then India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). In 1820 the EIC chartered her for a voyage for them to India. On her return she traded with Canada until her crew had to abandon her in 1824 in the Atlantic.
Elizabeth was launched at Liverpool in 1801. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). She wrecked, with great loss of life, in December 1810 early in the outward leg of a second voyage to India for the EIC.
Potton was launched in 1814 and shortly thereafter made one of two voyages under charter to the British East India Company (EIC). Between voyages for the EIC and after she was a general trader until she foundered in 1829.
Regret was launched at Whitby in 1814. She traded with the East Indies under license from the British East India Company (EIC). She also made one voyage for the EIC. A fire destroyed Batavia Roads in September 1822.
Duckenfield Hall was launched on the Thames in 1783. She spent most of her career trading with the West Indies. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1797 and 1798. In 1819 she became a Greenland whaler. She was wrecked in the Orkney Islands in 1820 while returning from a whaling voyage.
Grant was launched at Whitby in 1798, or possibly 1799. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1800 and 1802. Thereafter she sailed as a West Indiaman or a London-based transport. She was last heard from in 1820; Spanish authorities may have seized her off Peru.
Barton was launched at Hull in 1811. She sailed as a general trader and made voyages to the West Indies and the East Indies. She was lost in 1823 on a voyage to the Baltic.
Hippolyta, was launched in 1813. She was initially a West Indiaman but then made some voyages to India under a license from the British East India Company. She returned to the West Indies trade and in 1823 wrecked near Boulogne, while sailing from Havana for London.
Oracabessa was launched in 1810 at Hull. She was initially a West Indiaman but then from 1818 she started trading with India. She foundered in a hurricane in the Bay of Bengal in 1823.
Stentor was launched in 1814 at Sunderland. In 1820 she transported settlers to South Africa. She made several journeys to India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). As a transport she carried troops and supplies to such destinations as Sierra Leone, Fernando Po, Ceylon, and the West Indies. She was wrecked in November 1846.
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.
Hebe was launched at Hull in 1809. She initially sailed as a West Indiaman, but then sailed to the Mediterranean. In 1813 a privateer captured her but the Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. Between 1816 and 1819 she made two voyages to India, sailing under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). On her return new owners sailed her as a whaler. She was wrecked on 10 March 1821 on her second whaling voyage to the British Northern Whale Fishery.
Lady Lushington was launched in 1808. Then in 1809 the British East India Company (EIC) chartered her. She made four voyages to India for the EIC and several others while under a license from the EIC. She was on a voyage to India under a license from the EIC when she was wrecked on 10 August 1821.