''Harrington'' was launched at Calcutta in 1796 for the Bengal Pilot Service. A French privateer captured her on 9 November 1797 at

Balasore Balasore or Baleswara is a city in the state of Odisha, about north of the state capital Bhubaneswar and from Kolkata, in eastern India. It is the largest town of northern Odisha and the administrative headquarters of Balasore district. It i ...

Roads. She returned to British ownership and Calcutta registry c. 1800. She undertook sealing expeditions, captured two Spanish vessels off South America, and was seized by convicts in Port Jackson, before being wrecked in March 1809.

Origin

''Harrington'' was launched at Calcutta in 1796 for the Bengal Pilot Service (BPS). The French privateer ''Apollon'', Captain Jean-François Hodoul, captured her on 9 November 1797 off Sand Heads (equally,

Roads), and also another BPS vessel – . ''Harrington'' arrived at Mauritius on 21 December. There are no records available online that would clarify how ''Harrington'' returned to British ownership. Still, Australian records show the snow ''Harrington'', of 180 tons (bm), William Campbell, master, as having been built at Calcutta in 1796.''Historical Records of New South Wales: Hunter and King, 1800-1802'' (1896), pp.647 & 758. She was registered in Calcutta. The ''East India Register and Directory'' (1803) showed ''Harrington'', launched in Calcutta, with Covins, Bazett and Co., owners, and W.Campbell, master.''East India Register and Directory'' (1803), p.98. It also showed the snow ''Harington'', of 180 tons, W.Campbell, master registered at

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 ...

Career

''Harrington'' sailed from

in 1801 under the command of William Campbell. She arrived at Port Jackson on 12 June with miscellaneous goods, having come via Bengal. She brought 4000 gallons of spirits that Governor King refused to let her land. Campbell transferred the spirits to ''John'', which left the colony with these and the 8000 gallons of spirits ''John'' had brought from 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 ...

and had also been denied permission to land. ''Harrington'' cleared customs at Port Jackson on 2 September, in ballast. On 14 December she returned to Port Jackson "from the Southward". On 24 January 1802 she returned to Port Jackson from Norfolk Island, in ballast. On 10 February ''Harrington'' cleared outward, bound for a

seal hunting Seal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of seals. Seal hunting is currently practiced in ten countries: United States (above the Arctic Circle in Alaska), Canada, Namibia, Denmark (in self-governing Greenland only), Ice ...

voyage. She began sealing in

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct waterwa ...

. While sealing around

King Island King Island, Kings Island or King's Island may refer to: Australia * King Island (Queensland) * King Island, at Wellington Point, Queensland * King Island (Tasmania) ** King Island Council, the local government area that contains the Tasmanian is ...

, on 18 March she discovered wreckage of a ship on the southern extremity. ''Harrington'' returned to port Jackson on 1 June with 5000 gallons of elephant oil and 5000 seal skins. On 8 October ''Harrington'' cleared Port Jackson outward bound for Chile and Peru. Returning for Madras on 9 June 1803 before leaving on a trading voyage to Peru and Chile before returning to Madras and leaving on 18 October and returning to Sydney on 9 January 1804. Returning to Peru and Chile, William Campbell acting on his belief that England and Spain were at war, proceeded to raid the South American coast as a privateer, capturing the coast-guard vessel ''Extremeña'' and the merchant brig ''St Francisco & St Paulo''. On the return to Governor of New South Wales Philip Gidley King ordered that ''Harrington'' be detained until it was known whether hostilities with Spain had broken out at the time of the capture. ''Harrington'' was later returned on the advice of the crown law officers in England owing to a doubt whether Campbell had acted with a 'piratical intention', though his conduct was 'highly blameable'; the prizes, with other loot, were confiscated and sold for £5054. A cargo of sandalwood from Fiji to China was undertaken, returning with merchandise in March 1808. Chace, Chinnery & Co. in liquidation and in May, Campbell purchased the remaining share in ''Harrington''. On 15 May 1808, convicts seized ''Harrington'' as she was preparing to return to Fiji.

Fate

HMS ''Dédaigneuse'' caught up with ''Harrington'' in March 1809. ''Dédaigneuse'' put some men aboard ''Harrington'', and took off one or two convicts. ''Harrington'' ran aground on the coast of Luzon and was wrecked. All the convicts still aboard escaped."FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE". ''Aberdeen Journal'' (Aberdeen, Scotland), 4 October 1809; Issue 3221.

Citations

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrington (1800 ship) 1796 ships British ships built in India Ships of the British East India Company Captured ships Maritime history of Australia History of New South Wales Individual sailing vessels 1788–1850 ships of Australia Merchant ships of Australia Maritime incidents in 1809 Shipwrecks of the Philippines Sealing ships