''Hartwell'' was a 3-decker ship of the British East India Company (EIC) launched in 1787. On her maiden voyage she ran aground and sank off the

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

Islands off West Africa.

Career

Caleb Crookenden and Co. of West Itchenor, West Sussex, launched ''Hartwell'' in February 1787, for Captain John Fiott. He claimed she was the largest ship of her kind in the service of the EIC. Captain Edward Fiott sailed ''Hartwell'' from The Downs on 25 April 1787, bound for China. She was on her maiden voyage, loaded with goods including of silver. After severe Atlantic gales, on 20 May, a mutiny broke out when the crew refused to extinguish lights. Fiott arrested and confined three men, but with half the crew still refusing to obey orders, he changed course and headed for the Cape Verde islands, where he intended to hand over the mutineers to the authorities. However, on 24 May ''Hartwell'' ran onto a reef three leagues north-east of the island of Boa Vista. Although she broke up and sank, all the crew were saved. The basis of the mutiny was the crew's attempt to seize the treasure ''Hartwell'' was carrying. Captain Fiott's indecisiveness aggravated the situation. The EIC conducted an enquiry that led the EIC on 22 June 1787 to dismiss him from its service. One of the

midshipmen A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

aboard was John Bellingham, later notorious as the assassin of British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval.

Salvage

Between 1788 and 1791, under an East India Company contract, the Braithwaite brothers reportedly recovered 97,650 silver dollars from the wreck. Between 1994 and 1996 the South African company Afrimar recovered more coins and artefacts, and from 1996 the Portuguese company Arqueonautas Worldwide S.A surveyed and recovered yet more artefacts from the wreck.

Citations and references

Citations References * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hartwell (1787 ship) 1787 ships Ships built in England Maritime incidents in 1787 Naval mutinies Shipwrecks of Africa 18th century in Cape Verde Ships of the British East India Company