''Argo'' was a merchant ship built in 1806 at

Chittagong Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...

, present-day

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. She was registered in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

to Payne & Tyrce. She disappeared in 1814 off the coast of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

after having been "run away with" by

convicts A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convict ...

Disappearance

''Argo'', Dixon, master, arrived at

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

on 22 December 1813 with merchandise from Île de France. She departed, ostensibly for Île de France, on 14 April 1814. In 1814 ''Argo'' illegally departed

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

with thirteen or fourteen convicts on board. It was postulated that this was done with the agreement of the master of the ship, John Poor Dixon. At a special commission held on 3 May 1820, the harbour master of Hobart, Captain James Kelly, testified that ''Argo'' was never heard of again. It was presumed that she foundered at sea with the loss of all aboard.

Citations

References

* * Shipwrecks of Tasmania History of New South Wales Sailing ships Individual sailing vessels Merchant ships of India Age of Sail merchant ships of England British ships built in India Missing ships Maritime incidents in 1814 Ships lost with all hands Convictism in Tasmania Convict escapees in Australia 1806 ships {{Merchantship-stub