''Osterley'' was 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 ...
launched on 9 October 1771 by Wells, Deptford. She made two voyages for the British
East India Company (EIC) before the captured her on 21 February 1779 while she was on her third voyage. She then sailed for a few years as a French merchantman.
Career
1st EIC voyage (1771–1773): Captain Francis Fortescue sailed from
the Downs on 18 May 1772, bound for
Bencoolen and China. ''Osterley'' reached Bencoolen on 18 May 1772, and arrived at
Whampoa Anchorage on 1 August. Homeward bound, she crossed the
Second Bar on 1 December, reached 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 ...
(the Cape) on 23 February 1783,
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 13 March, and
Ascension Island
Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory o ...
on 23 March, and arrived back at the Downs on 26 May.
[
2nd EIC voyage (1774–1776): Captain Fortescue sailed from the Downs on 26 December 1774, bound for St Helena and Bencoolen. ''Osterley'' reached St Helena on 11 March 1775 and Simon's Bay on 19 May before arriving at Bencoolen on 5 August. She then visited two ports on Sumatra (Manna on 10 November, and Pring on 27 November, before returning to Bencoolen on 24 December. Homeward bound, she was at St Helena again on 12 May 1776, and arrived back at the Downs on 17 August.][
3rd EIC voyage (1778-capture): Captain Samuel Rogers sailed from Plymouth on 9 February 1778, 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 Bengal. British records give the date of her capture as 22 February 1779,[ suggesting that she was homeward bound at the time of her capture.
]
Capture and fate
On 6 May 1779, , under Captain Saint-Orens captured ''Osterley'' off Cape Agulhas, helped by the armed merchantman . In early June, ''Osterley'', ''Pourvoyeuse'', and ''Elisabeth'' arrived at Île de France (Mauritius).
Funds from the sale of the cargo were embezzled, leading to a heated dispute. Tronjoli, commander of the French forces in the Indian Ocean, demanded that Saint-Orens explain himself. The day before he was to testify before the authorities, Saint-Orens was found dead, officially from an aneurism, although rumour said that he had been mortally wounded in a sword duel with a M. Villeneuve, formerly a Counselor at Pondichéry.
After Tronjoly was recalled to France and transferred command of the French forces to Thomas d'Estienne d'Orves, he embarked on ''Osterley'' to return to Brest. He arrived in late April 1781.
She was sold as a merchant ship at Isle de France in January 1783. She continued to sail in the Indian Ocean until at least 1784.
Notes
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Osterley (1771 EIC ship)
1771 ships
Ships of the British East India Company
Captured ships
Age of Sail merchant ships
Merchant ships of the United Kingdom