''General Coote'' was built by
John Barnard
John Edward Barnard (born 4 May 1946, Wembley, London) is an English engineer and racing car designer. Barnard is credited with the introduction of two new designs into Formula One: the carbon fibre composite chassis first seen in with Mc ...
probably at Barnard's Wharf in
Rotherhithe
Rotherhithe () is a district of south-east London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, as well as the Isle of Dogs ...
and launched in 1781 or 1782 as an
East Indiaman
East Indiaman was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India trading companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries. The term is used to refer to vesse ...
. Between 1782 and 1797 she made six voyages to India or China 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). On the last voyage she participated as a transport in a campaign. She was sold in 1797.
Career
1st EIC voyage (1782–1784): Captain Daniel Griffith Hoare sailed from Gravesend on 7 May 1782 and arrived at Portsmouth on 23 May, from Sunderland. She sailed from Portsmouth on 11 September 1782, 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, and in company with , , and several other East Indiamen. ''General Coote'' reached Madras on 9 April 1783 Madras and Malacca on 6 September; she arrived at
Whampoa Anchorage
Pazhou is a subdistrict of Haizhu in southeastern Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, in China.
, formerly Whampoa Island, has a total area of and is the site of Pazhou Pagoda. Its eastern bay was formerly the chief anchorage for ships parti ...
on 7 October.
[
At Madras there had been cargo destined for China that had belonged to , , and . (''Earl of Hertford'' had foundered at Madras on 15 October 1782.) ''General Coote'', , and ''Montague'' carried the cargo to Canton.
Homeward bound, ''General Coote'' crossed the Second Bar on 23 December, 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 24 April 1784, and arrived back at the Downs on 13 July.[ When she arrived at St Helena the name of her master was reported as Farrington.][
3rd EIC voyage (1788–1789): Captain James Baldwin sailed from the Downs on 9 March 1788 bound for Madras and China. ''General Coote'' reached Madras on 15 July and Malacca on 18 September; she arrived at Whampoa on 17 October. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 4 February 1789, reached St Helena on 4 June, and arrived at the Downs on 16 August.][
4th EIC voyage (1791–1792): Captain James Baldwin sailed from Torbay on 1 February 1791 bound for Madras and China. ''General Coote'' reached Madras on 29 May and Penang on 27 July; she arrived at Whampoa on 13 September. She crossed the Second Bar on 23 November, reached St Helena on 25 February 1792, and arrived at the Downs on 14 April.][
5th EIC voyage (1793–1794): Captain Robert Williams sailed from Portsmouth on 7 July 1793, bound for Madras and Bengal. ''General Coote'' reached the Cape on 18 September and Madras on 2 November. She was at ]Diamond Harbour
Diamond Harbour () is a town and a municipality of the South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is situated on the eastern banks of the Hooghly River. It is the headquarters of the Diamond Harbour subdivision.
Histor ...
on 29 January 1794 and Cox's Island on 25 February. She reached St Helena on 17 June and arrived at the Downs on 7 September.[
6th EIC voyage (1795–1797): Captain Charles Dundas (or Dunbar), acquired a letter of marque on 3 April 1795. He sailed from Portsmouth on 13 May, bound for China. ''General Coote'' was part of a convoy of Indiamen that were bringing General ]Alured Clarke
Sir Alured Clarke (24 November 1744 – 16 September 1832) was a British Army officer. He took charge of all British troops in Georgia in May 1780 and was then deployed to Philadelphia to supervise the evacuation of British prisoners of ...
and his troops for the invasion of the Cape Colony
The Invasion of the Cape Colony, also known as the Battle of Muizenberg, was a British military expedition launched in 1795 against the Dutch Cape Colony at the Cape of Good Hope. The Dutch colony at the Cape, established and controlled by th ...
.[
''General Coote'' and the fleet arrived at All Saints Bay ( St Salvadore) on 7 July.][
''General Coote'' and the fleet reached ]Simon's Bay
Simon's Town ( af, Simonstad), sometimes spelled Simonstown, is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa and is home to Naval Base Simon's Town, the South African Navy's largest base. It is located on the shores of False Bay, on the eastern sid ...
on 3–4 September, and the Cape on 2 October. From there ''General Coote'' sailed to Balambang, which she reached on 20 December; she arrived at Whampoa on 5 March 1796. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 22 June, reached St Helena on 20 November, and arrived at the Downs on 14 February 1797.[
]
Fate
''General Coote'' was sold at Lloyd's Coffee House 31 May 1797.
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
1781 ships
Age of Sail merchant ships of England
Ships of the British East India Company