''Belvedere'' was launched in 1787 at

Itchenor West Itchenor is a village and civil parish, on the Manhood Peninsula, in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It lies north of the B2179 Chichester to West Wittering road 4.5 miles (7.3 km) southwest of Chichester. The vill ...

. She made six voyages for the British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

(EIC). She then briefly sailed as a West Indiaman. She was broken up by 1805.

1st EIC voyage (1787–1788)

Captain William Greer sailed from Portsmouth on 9 June 1787, bound for China. ''Belvedere'' arrived at Whampoa Anchorage on 6 November. On 2 December Greer had a seaman put into chains. A few days later some 10 crewmen mutinied and threw their officers overboard. No one drowned. Captain James Dundas of , the senior EIC captain at Canton, gathered men from the other Indiamen there, suppressed the mutiny, and incarcerated the mutineers on ''Fitzwilliam''. A court of 16 EIC captains tried the mutineers on 15 December. Two were sentenced to 180 lashes around the fleet; the others were subject to a smaller number of lashes aboard ''Belvedere''. Homeward bound, ''Belvedere'' crossed the Second Bar on 14 February 1788. She reached

St Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

on 20 July, and arrived back at Long Reach on 25 September.

2nd EIC voyage (1790–1791)

Captain Greer sailed from Portsmouth on 20 February 1790, bound for

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

and China. ''Belvedere'' was at

Johanna Johanna is a feminine name, a variant form of Joanna that originated in Latin in the Middle Ages, including an -h- by analogy with the Latin masculine name Johannes. The original Greek form ''Iōanna'' lacks a medial /h/ because in Greek /h/ cou ...

on 3 June and reached Madras on 28 June. She then stopped at Penang on 15 August before arriving at Whampoa on 7 October. Homeward bound, she was at Macao on 16 Mar ch 1791, reached St Helena on 6 July, and arrived at Long Reach on 23 September.

3rd EIC voyage (1793–1794)

The

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

had begun a few months before ''Belvedere'' again sailed for the Far East. Captain Charles Christie acquired a letter of marque on 7 June 1793. He sailed from Portsmouth on 7 July, bound for

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. ''Belvedere'' was at Colombo on 25 November, Tellichery on 3 December, and

Calicut Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...

on 17 December; she arrived at Bombay on 5 January 1794. Homeward bound, she was at Tellicherry on 15 March, Calicut on 31 March, and Quilon on 10 April. She reached St Helena on 26 June and arrived at Long Reach on 10 September.

4th EIC voyage (1795–1797)

Captain Christie sailed from Portsmouth on 9 July, bound for St Helena and China. In September she spoke the whaler near Rio de Janeiro; the whaler was on her way to Peru.''

Lloyd's List ''Lloyd's List'' is one of the world's oldest continuously running journals, having provided weekly shipping news in London as early as 1734. It was published daily until 2013 (when the final print issue, number 60,850, was published), and is ...

'
(''LL'') 11 December 1795, №2775.
/ref> ''Belvedere'' reached St Helena on 30 September and the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

on 21 November; she arrived at whampoa on 28 March 1796. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 9 May, and was at Macao on 29 June. She reached St Helena on 20 June and arrived at Gravesend on 13 February 1797.

5th EIC voyage (1797–1800)

Captain Charles Christie acquired a letter of marque on 28 June 1797. He sailed from Portsmouth on 6 November 1797, bound for Bombay. She was at Madeira on 22 November and the Cape on 3 February 1798; she arrived at Bombay on 29 May. She then sailed to

Cannanore Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a city and a municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the major port city and commercial hu ...

, where she arrived on 18 September. She sailed on to Colombo, where she arrived on 17 October, before she sailed back to Cannanore. She arrived back at Cannanore on 5 November and Bombay on 22 November. In January 1799 she cruised between Cannanore and

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ker ...

. She returned to Bombay on 8 February. Homeward bound, she reached St Helena on 4 September and Cork on 12 January 1800. She arrived back at the Downs.

6th EIC voyage (1801–1802)

Captain James Peter Fearon acquired a letter of marque on 10 March 1801. He sailed from Portsmouth on 19 May 1801, bound for China. She was at Rio de Janeiro on 31 July and Penang on 1 November. She arrived at Whampoa on 30 January 1802. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 20 March, reached st Helena on 8 July, and arrived back at Gravesend on 16 September.

West Indiaman

''Belvedere'' may briefly have become a West Indiaman. However, that is not reflected in the ship arrival and departure data in ''

''.

Fate

''Belvedere''s registration was cancelled on 29 August 1805. Her demolition had been completed.

Notelist

Citations

References

* * {{cite book , last=Hackman , first=Rowan , year=2001 , title=Ships of the East India Company , location=Gravesend, Kent , publisher=World Ship Society , isbn=0-905617-96-7 1787 ships Ships of the British East India Company Age of Sail merchant ships of England