HMS ''Calcutta'' was the
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 ...
''Warley'', converted to a
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
56-gun fourth rate. This
ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...
served for a time as an armed transport. She also transported convicts to Australia in a voyage that became a circumnavigation of the world. The French 74-gun captured ''Calcutta'' in 1805. In 1809, after she ran aground during the
Battle of the Basque Roads
The Battle of the Basque Roads, also known as the Battle of Aix Roads ( French: ''Bataille de l'île d'Aix'', also ''Affaire des brûlots'', rarely ''Bataille de la rade des Basques''), was a major naval battle of the Napoleonic Wars, fought in t ...
and her crew had abandoned her, a British boarding party burned her.
East Indiaman
The East Indiaman ''Warley'' was built at John Perry's
Blackwall Yard
Blackwall Yard is a small body of water that used to be a shipyard on the River Thames in Blackwall, engaged in ship building and later ship repairs for over 350 years. The yard closed in 1987.
History
East India Company
Blackwall was a sh ...
in 1788, the first vessel of the name that Perry built for the
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 ...
. She made two trading voyages to the Far East for the East India Company. ''Warley''s captain for her two voyages was Henry Wilson.
[British Library: ''Warley'' (1).]
/ref> He received a letter of marque on 7 September 1793.[Letter of Marqu]
– accessed 15 May 2011.
First EIC voyage (1789–90)
Captain Henry Wilson sailed from Falmouth on 8 March 1789, bound for Chennai, Madras and China. ''Warley'' reached Madras on 22 June, left on 9 August, and arrived at Whampoa on 28 September. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 11 February 1790, 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 28 April, and arrived at the Downs on 23 June.[
]
Second EIC voyage (1793–94)
Captain Henry Wilson sailed from the Downs on 19 January 1793, again bound for Madras and China. ''Warley'' reached the Cape of Good Hope on 3 April, and arrived at Madras on 30 May.[
By 6 July 1793, ''Warley'' was off Pondicherry with Admiral Cornwallis's squadron.][ ''Warley'', , and , together with , participated in the capture of ]Pondicherry
Pondicherry (), now known as Puducherry ( French: Pondichéry ʊdʊˈtʃɛɹi(listen), on-dicherry, is the capital and the most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the sout ...
by maintaining a blockade of the port. By 28 August 1793, ''Warley'' was back at Madras.[ The Indiamen then sailed for China in early September.
By 4 October 1793, the East Indiamen were at Penang, and two weeks later at Malacca.][ On their way to China, the East Indiamen participated in an action in the ]Straits of Malacca
The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, 500 mi (800 km) long and from 40 to 155 mi (65–250 km) wide, between the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia) to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connec ...
. They came upon a French frigate
A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat.
The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...
, with some six or seven of her prizes
A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements. , replenishing her water casks ashore. The three British vessels immediately gave chase. The frigate fled towards the Sunda Strait
The Sunda Strait ( id, Selat Sunda) is the strait between the Indonesian islands of Java island, Java and Sumatra. It connects the Java Sea with the Indian Ocean.
Etymology
The strait takes its name from the Sunda Kingdom, which ruled the weste ...
. The Indiamen were able to catch up with a number of the prizes, and after a few cannon shots, were able to retake them. The British restored the prizes to their crews and took the French prize crews as prisoners of war. Had they not carried letters of marque, such behaviour might well have qualified as piracy.
''Warley'' arrived at Whampoa on 13 December.[ When ''Warley'' was at ''Whampoa'' that December she joined other East Indiamen there, among which were several that on their return to Britain the Admiralty would purchase: ''Royal Charlotte'', , '']Earl of Abergavenny
Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...
'', and . The British Government had chartered ''Hindostan'' to take Lord Macartney to China in an unsuccessful attempt to open diplomatic and commercial relations with the Chinese empire.
Homeward bound, ''Warley'' crossed the Second Bar on 13 March 1794. She reached St Helena on 18 June, and arrived at the Downs on 7 September.[
]
Cruiser and armed transport
In early 1795, the Royal Navy purchased ''Warley'' and had her original builders, Perry & Co., refit her as a 56-gun fourth rate
In 1603 all English warships with a compliment of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers a six tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided i ...
, under the name ''Calcutta'', at a cost of £10,300. She was one of nine large merchantmen that the Navy Board purchased that year for conversion to convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...
escorts.
Captain William Bligh
Vice-Admiral William Bligh (9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was an officer of the Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. The mutiny on the HMS ''Bounty'' occurred in 1789 when the ship was under his command; after being set adrift i ...
was her first commander, assigned to her to supervise her conversion. He took command on 16 April 1795 and commissioned her in May.[ In October 1795, the crew of the 74-gun (then commanded by Captain Sir George Horne) mutinied. Bligh, in ''Calcutta'', was ordered to embark 200 troops and take them alongside ''Defiance'' so that they might board her and regain control. The threat of the soldiers ended the mutiny for the time being, though the crew of the ''Defiance'' mutinied again in 1797 and 1798. Bligh continued to command ''Calcutta'' until she was paid off in February 1796 and transferred to the Transport Board.][
In order for her to fulfill her new role, the Transport Board had the guns on her lower deck removed. As a result she no longer needed as large a crew and her complement fell to 160 officers and men.][ ''Calcutta'' served in the transport role under Lieutenants Robert Arnold (June 1796 – August 1797), Edward Jekyll Canes (August 1797 – January 1798), Richard Pouldon (or Poulden, or Polden; January 1798 – December 1799). and John Anderson (December 1799 – May 1802).
Under Poulden ''Calcutta'' was at the capture of ]Menorca
Menorca or Minorca (from la, Insula Minor, , smaller island, later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Majorca. Its capi ...
in December 1798. On 11 November she was part of a squadron that unsuccessfully chased four Spanish frigates, though two days later recaptured the sloop , which the Spaniards had captured on the 11th.
Lieutenant John Anderson (December 1799 – May 1802) replaced Pouldon. On 6 June 1800 he sailed ''Calcutta'' to Gibraltar, carrying the Banffshire
Banffshire ; sco, Coontie o Banffshire; gd, Siorrachd Bhanbh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. It borders the Moray ...
Fencibles
The Fencibles (from the word ''defencible'') were British regiments raised in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and in the colonies for defence against the threat of invasion during the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence, the Frenc ...
.
Convict transport
Between May 1802 and February 1803, the Navy had ''Calcutta'' fitted out as a transport for convicts being sent to Britain's penal colonies in Australia. She received new armament in the form of sixteen 24-pounder carronade
A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century. Its main func ...
s on her upper deck
The Upper Deck Company, LLC (colloquially as Upper Deck and Upper Deck Authenticated, Ltd. in the UK), founded in 1988, is a private company primarily known for producing trading cards. Its headquarters are in Carlsbad, California, United State ...
and two six-pounder guns on the forecastle.[ Captain ]Daniel Woodriff
Captain Daniel Woodriff (17 November 1756 – 25 February 1842) was a British Royal Navy officer and navigator in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries. He made two voyages to Australia. He was Naval Agent on the convict transport ...
recommissioned her in November 1802 and sailed her from Spithead on 28 April 1803, accompanied by , to establish a settlement at Port Phillip
Port Phillip (Kulin languages, Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped bay#Types, enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, ...
. ''Calcutta'' carried a crew of 150 and 307 male convicts, along with civil officers, marines, and some 30 wives and children of the convicts.[Bateson (1959), p.168.] The Reverend Robert Knopwood
Robert Knopwood (2 June 1763 – 18 September 1838)
was an early clergyman and diarist in Australia.
Knopwood was the third child and only surviving son of Robert Knopwood (from a wealthy Norfolk family) and his wife Elizabeth, ''née'' Bart ...
kept a journal on the voyage.
''Calcutta'' arrived at Teneriffe on 13 May; five convicts had died on that leg, suggesting that many had probably been embarked already in bad health.[ She reached ]Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
on 19 July, and the Dutch colony at 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 16 August.
While ''Calcutta'' was at the Cape, a vessel arrived with news that Britain was now at war with the Batavian Republic
The Batavian Republic ( nl, Bataafse Republiek; french: République Batave) was the successor state to the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 and ended on 5 June 1806, with the accession of Louis Bona ...
. The colony's Dutch commodore sent a representative aboard ''Calcutta'' to demand her surrender and that of her contents. While the representative waited, Woodriff spent two hours preparing her for battle. He then showed the representative her sailors and marines at their guns, and told the Dutchman to inform the commodore that ''"if he wants this ship he must come and take her if he can"''. To speed up the preparations, William Gammon, the master's mate, had asked the convicts if any would volunteer to fight and work the ship. All volunteered. The commodore gave Woodriff 24 hours to leave, saying that he ''"did not wish to capture such a large number of thieves"''.
On 12 October, she reached her destination; by this time another three convicts had died. Of the eight convicts that died, one had drowned in an escape attempt at the Cape.[
At Port Phillip ]David Collins David Collins may refer to:
Persons
* David Collins (Hampshire cricketer), 18th-century cricketer
* David Collins (New Zealand cricketer) (1887–1967)
* David Collins (Scottish footballer) (1912–?)
* David Collins (Australian footballer) ( ...
, the commander of the expedition, found that the poor soil and shortage of fresh water made the area unsuitable for a colony. Collins wanted to move the colony to the Derwent River on the south coast of Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
(then Van Diemens Land
Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sepa ...
) to the site of current-day 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 ...
. Woodriff refused the use of ''Calcutta'', arguing that ''Ocean'' was large enough to transport the colony, and that he was under orders to pick up naval supplies for transport to England.
In December Woodriff sailed to Sydney where he took on a cargo of lumber. At midnight on 4 March, Woodriff landed 150 of his crew and marines
Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...
to assist the New South Wales Corps
The New South Wales Corps (sometimes called The Rum Corps) was formed in England in 1789 as a permanent regiment of the British Army to relieve the New South Wales Marine Corps, who had accompanied the First Fleet to Australia, in fortifying the ...
and the Loyal Association, a local militia, in suppressing a convict uprising in support of the Castle Hill convict rebellion
The Castle Hill convict rebellion was an 1804 convict rebellion in the Castle Hill area of Sydney, against the colonial authorities of the British colony of New South Wales. The rebellion culminated in a battle fought between convicts and the ...
, a revolt by some 260 Irish convicts against Governor King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
. Afterward, the commander of the marine detachment on ''Calcutta'', Charles Menzies, offered his services to the governor as superintendent of a new settlement at Coal Harbour
Coal Harbour is the name for a section of Burrard Inlet lying between Vancouver's Downtown Peninsula and the Brockton Point of Stanley Park. It has also now become the name of the neighbourhood adjacent to its southern shoreline.
Neighbourhoo ...
, an offer Governor King accepted. Another ''Calcutta'' officer, Lieut. John Houston, accepted an appointment as acting Lieutenant Governor of Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...
while Major Joseph Foveaux
Joseph Foveaux (1767 – 20 March 1846) was a soldier and convict settlement administrator in colonial New South Wales, Australia.
Early life
Foveaux was baptised on 6 April 1767 at Ampthill, Bedfordshire, England, the sixth child of Joseph Fove ...
was on leave.
''Calcutta'' left on 17 March 1804, doubled Cape Horn
Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramírez ...
and reached Rio on 22 May. In reaching Rio, she had thus circumnavigated the world in ten months three days. She arrived at Spithead
Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast. It receives its name from the Spit, a sandbank stretching south from the Hampshire ...
on 23 July.
Ship of the line
In September 1804, the Admiralty again fitted out ''Calcutta'' for duty as a cruiser, re-arming her as a 56-gun fourth rate.[
]
Capture
On 3 August 1805, ''Calcutta'', still under the command of Captain Woodriff, left 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 ...
as escort of a motley convoy to England. The convoy consisted of the East India company's "extra-ship" , from Madras, the southern whaler ''African'' from Desolation, the whaler ''Fox'' from the Mozambique channel, the whaler from the Peruvian coast and bound to Milford, the Prussian ship ''Wilhelmina'', which ''Calcutta'' had detained on her way out to 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 ...
, and the large Swedish ship ''Carolina'', which was sailing from China and asked to join.[''Naval Chronicle'', Vol. 19, pp.170–172.]
On 14 September 1805, the brig ''Brothers'', of London, from Tobago, joined the convoy. She had gotten separated from her convoy in a gale. Unfortunately, she was leaky and a very slow sailer.[
On 25 September 1805, the convoy was in the Channel south of the ]Isles of Scilly
The Isles of Scilly (; kw, Syllan, ', or ) is an archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is the most southerly point in Britain, being over further south than the most southerly point of the ...
when lookouts spotted a number of unknown vessels in the distance. ''Calcutta'' moved to position herself between the convoy and the unknown flotilla.
Next morning, it became clear that the unknown vessels were probably French so ''Calcutta'' signalled the convoy to make sail without her and moved to intercept the French vessels. She sailed towards the nearest vessel, which turned out to be the 40-gun frigate . The engagement was desultory but ''Calcutta'' succeeded in luring the French southward and away from the convoy. As a result, the French detached the brig ''Sylph'' which captured only the slow-sailing ''Brothers''.[
However, eventually the rest of the French squadron started to arrive. It turned out to be Allemand's squadron, which included the 74-gun . Woodriff brought ''Calcutta'' alongside ''Magnanime'', but after a battle of some three-quarters of an hour was forced to strike. The French had shot high, bringing down ''Calcutta''s rigging, disabling her. Because the French fired high, ''Calcutta'' suffered only six dead and six wounded out of a crew of 350. The French brought ''Calcutta'' into French service the next day and retained her name.
Woodriff was imprisoned at ]Verdun
Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department.
Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...
and appealed to the French foreign minister, Talleyrand, for release. Eventually, in early 1807, he was sent to Saint-Malo
Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast.
The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...
, where the French government provided him a vessel under cartel
A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. Cartels are usually associations in the same sphere of business, and thus an alliance of rivals. Mos ...
to take him to England. The British government immediately reciprocated by releasing a French officer of equal rank. The court-martial on , on 1 January 1808, acquitted Woodriff and his officers, praising the captain for his gallantry and skillful maneuvering, which had allowed the convoy to escape.
The owners and underwriters on the ship and cargo of the ''Indus'', one of the East Indiamen that ''Calcutta'' had saved, proposed a subscription of 21 percent on the amount insured. The resulting money was to be presented to Woodriffe, his officers and the crew, as a small token of gratitude.
French service
On 12 April 1809, ''Calcutta'' was part of the squadron of La Rochelle
La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...
under captain Jean Baptiste Lafon
Jean may refer to:
People
* Jean (female given name)
* Jean (male given name)
* Jean (surname)
Fictional characters
* Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character
* Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations
* Jean ...
. During the Battle of the Basque Roads
The Battle of the Basque Roads, also known as the Battle of Aix Roads ( French: ''Bataille de l'île d'Aix'', also ''Affaire des brûlots'', rarely ''Bataille de la rade des Basques''), was a major naval battle of the Napoleonic Wars, fought in t ...
, ''Calcutta'' ran aground on the shoals of Les Palles, as did most of the other French ships. Under fire from '' Imperieuse'' under Captain Lord Cochrane, ''Calcutta''s crew panicked and abandoned ship without orders. A midshipman with a small party from ''Imperieuse'' took over ''Calcutta'', but then set her afire to prevent her re-capture, causing her to explode.[James & Chamier, pp.98-129.]
A court-martial held Lafon responsible for the loss of his ship, and deemed his behaviour to have been cowardly. In a five to four vote, the court sentenced him to death; a firing squad executed him on the deck of on 9 September.[
]
Other information
The National Library of Australia
The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...
has three oil paintings by Thomas Whitcombe
Thomas Whitcombe (possibly 19 May 1763 – c. 1824) was a prominent British marine art, maritime painter of the Napoleonic Wars. Among his work are over 150 actions of the Royal Navy, and he exhibited at the Royal Academy, the British Institut ...
of the battle between ''Calcutta'' and ''Magnanime'' and ''Armide''.Woodriff, Daniel (1756–1842)
''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Online Edition
See also
* List of ships captured in the 19th century
Throughout naval history during times of war battles, blockades, and other patrol missions would often result in the capture of enemy ships or those of a neutral country. If a ship proved to be a valuable prize efforts would sometimes be made to ...
Notes, citations, and references
Notes
Citations
References
*
*
* Colledge, J.J. (1987) ''Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy From the Fifteenth Century to the Present.'' (Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.) .
*
*
*
* James, William & Frederick Chamier (1837) ''The naval history of Great Britain : from the declaration of war by France in 1793 to the accession of George IV''. (London : R. Bentley)
* Kilpatrick, Jane & Jane Crawley (2007) ''Gifts from the gardens of China: the introduction of traditional Chinese garden plants to Britain 1698–1862''. (London: Frances Lincoln)
* Pateshall, Nicholas (1980) ''A short account of a voyage round the globe in H.M.S. Calcutta, 1803–1804''. (Carlton, Vic.: Queensbury Hill Press).
*
* Tipping, Marjorie. (1988) ''Convicts Unbound'': The story of the ''Calcutta'' Convicts and their Settlement in Australia. (Ringwood, Victoria: Penguin Books).
* als
Australian Etext Collections
* Winfield, Rif (1997) ''The 50-gun ship''. (London : Chatham).
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calcutta (1795)
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Military history of New South Wales
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