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 ...
''Oosthuizen'' of the
Dutch East India Company
The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
. ''Oosthuizen'' was launched in 1789 and made one voyage to the Far East. She was on her second voyage in 1794 when the British seized her. In 1795 British interests purchased her and named her ''Walter Boyd''. She made one voyage 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 ...
. She then became a
West Indiaman
West Indiaman was a general name for any merchantman sailing ship making runs from the Old World to the West Indies and the east coast of the Americas. These ships were generally strong ocean-going ships capable of handling storms in the Atlantic ...
. On her last voyage, in 1801, ''Walter Boyd'' captured a Spanish schooner but then foundered on the way back to London from Martinique.
''Oosthuizen''
''Oosthuizen'' was built in 1789 by the Hoorn shipyard for the Hoorn chamber of the Dutch East India Company. The Hoorn chamber was probably the first of the chambers to adopt
copper sheathing
Copper sheathing is the practice of protecting the under-water hull of a ship or boat from the corrosive effects of salt water and biofouling through the use of copper plates affixed to the outside of the hull. It was pioneered and developed by ...
for (Dutch)
East Indiamen
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 ...
, and she may have been coppered.
Captain Gerrit Scheler sailed from the Texel on 17 December 1791. ''Oosthuizen'' arrived at the
Cape
A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck.
History
Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...
on 3 April 1792, and
Batavia
Batavia may refer to:
Historical places
* Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands
* Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...
on 9 July. She returned to the Netherlands via China. She left China on 3 December, arrived 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 14 March 1793, left on 1 April, and arrived at Texel on 27 JulyThe Dutch East India Company's shipping between the Netherlands and Asia 1595-1795. /ref>
On 22 December 1794 Captain Scheler again sailed from the Texel, bound for China. This was some weeks before the French invaded the Netherlands. Nevertheless, when ''Oosthuizen'' called at 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 ...
some six days later the British put her under an embargo. On 31 January 1795 a squadron under Captain Sir
John Borlase Warren
Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren, 1st Baronet (2 September 1753 – 27 February 1822) was a British Royal Navy officer, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1774 and 1807.
Naval career
Born in Stapleford, Nottinghamsh ...
detained the Dutch East India Ship ''Ostenhuyson''.
A year later, in December 1795, the English confiscated ''Oosthuizen''. They auctioned her off for £9000, and Calcleugh & Co., London, purchased her and renamed her ''Walter Boyd''.
Cape
A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck.
History
Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...
,
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 Bengal. ''Walter Boyd'' reached the Cape on 18 November and Madras on 12 February 1797. She arrived at
Kedgeree
Kedgeree (or occasionally ) is a dish consisting of cooked, flaked fish (traditionally smoked haddock), boiled rice, parsley, hard-boiled eggs, curry powder, butter or cream, and occasionally sultanas.
The dish can be eaten hot or cold. Other ...
on 28 February. 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 28 March and left on 31 August. Homeward bound, she left Kedgeree on 17 September, reached the Cape on 22 December and
Saint 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 31 March 1798. She was at
Cork
Cork or CORK may refer to:
Materials
* Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product
** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container
***Wine cork
Places Ireland
* Cork (city)
** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
on 24 June, and arrived in the Downs on 8 July.British Library: ''Walter Boyd''. /ref>
On her return ''Walter Boyd'' became a West Indiaman. On 30 September 1800, ''Walter Boyd'' ran down the transport ''Nelly'' in Cadiz Bay.
Captain William Davis acquired a letter of marque on 13 January 1801. ''Lloyd's List'' reported on 14 July that he had arrived at Barbados after having captured the Spanish schooner ''Francis de Paola'', which had been sailing from Cape Verde to Teneriffe with a cargo of cotton, tobacco, and hides. ''Walter Boyd'' had been sailing from Portsmouth and Madeira at the time.
Fate
''Walter Boyd'' foundered on 4 September 1801 in a
gale
A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ).''Lloyd's List'' №4196. /ref>