Armenia (1796 Ship)

''Armenia'' was a merchant vessel launched at Calcutta in 1796. Captain Thomas Meek (or Meik), was her only captain. In 1799 the East India Company (EIC) took her up for a voyage to Britain. A French privateer captured her on her return voyage to India.

Early career

She made one trip to Britain for the EIC. On that trip she left St Helena on 6 July in the company of the East Indiamen , ''Triton'', and , and under escort by the 18-gun ''Cornwallis''. ''Armenia'' arrived in Britain on 27 September.

''Armenia'' was admitted to the Registry in Great Britain on 16 November 1799. ''Armenia'' appears in the 1800 issue of the ''Register of Shipping'' with T. Meek, master, and Walker, owner, and trade London−India.''Register of Shipping'' (1800), Seq. №A661.
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Capture and postscript

The French privateer ''Clarisse'' captured ''Armenia'' on 5 July 1800 and sent her into Mauritius. ''Clarisse'' was armed with 16 guns and had a crew of 180 men under the command of Captain François-Thomas Le Même. ''Armenia'' encountered ''Clarisse'' at ; after a five-hour chase ''Clarisse'' caught up with ''Armenia'' and combat ensued. Captain Meik resisted, but after about 40 minutes of exchanging fire he stuck. ''Armenia'' had lost her Third Officer killed and six men wounded, one of whom died later; ''Clarisse'' appeared to have had three men killed. Another report has ''Clarisse''s casualties as seven killed and 20 wounded.

Le Même took Captain Meik (or Meek), his second officer, and the crew on board the privateer. The four passengers, one of them a woman, and the wounded remained on ''Armenia'' and reached Mauritius on 17 July, where the French government provided good care. The passengers were then able to return to India in about a month later.Anon. (1868), p.269.

Meik and his crew were apparently left on the Seychelles. On 29 October Meik, his crew, and two midshipmen and 15 men from and were put in a small boat of 35 tons bound to Colombo. On 9 November, at about midnight, the boat ran into rocks in the Maldives. Five of the navy men, three of ''Armenia''s crew, and five Frenchmen died in an attempt to reach shore on a makeshift raft. The survivors took two Maldivian boats and set sail again. Meik arrived at Cochin on 4 December. Mr. Maddox, a midshipman from ''Lancaster'', died of sickness on the passage. At the time of Meek's letter (6 January 1801) reporting his trials, the second boat, which also had some navy personnel aboard, had not been heard from.

On 20 July 1801, the members of the Bengal Phoenix Insurance Society presented Captain Meik with an elegant, engraved sword worth 1600 ''sicca'' rupees. Then on 24 September, the Calcutta Insurance Company voted a donation of £150 to the mother of ''Armenia''s Second Officer, £100 to the Steward, who distinguished himself in the action, and ''500'' sicca rupees to establish an annuity fund for the two seamen who suffered in the action.Anon. (1868), Vol. 3, pp.285-6.

Notes

Citations

References

*Anon. (1868) ''Selections from the Calcutta Gazettes of the Years 1798, 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803, 1804, and 1805, Showing the Political and Social Condition of the English in India Sixty Years Ago'', Vol. 3.
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*{{cite book, url=https://archive.org/stream/hobsonjobsonagl02croogoog#page/n302/mode/1up/, page=251 , year=1903 , place=London , publisher=John Murray, title=Hobson-Jobson, last1=Yule , first1=Henry , last2=Burnell , first2=A.C., editor=Crooke, William

1796 ships
Ships of the British East India Company
Captured ships
Age of Sail merchant ships
Merchant ships of the United Kingdom