''Rose'' was launched in 1786 as 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 ...

. She made six voyages between 1787 and 1800 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 ...

(EIC). She also participated as a transport for a military expedition to the West Indies. She then made one more voyage for the EIC, bringing rice back to England from Bengal. Next she sailed as a general trader, but also made one voyage

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 ...

. She was last listed in 1820.

Career

EIC voyage #1 (1787–1788)

Captain John H. Dempster sailed from The Downs on 21 February 1787, 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 China. ''Rose'' reached Madras on 2 June and arrived at

Whampoa anchorage Pazhou is a subdistrict of Haizhu in southeastern Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, in China. , formerly Whampoa Island, has a total area of and is the site of Pazhou Pagoda. Its eastern bay was formerly the chief anchorage for ships parti ...

on 19 September. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 6 January 1788, 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 16 April, and arrived at The Downs on 22 June.

EIC voyage #2 (1789–1790)

Captain Dempster sailed from The Downs on 6 March 1789, bound for Madras and Bengal. ''Rose'' reached Madras on 19 June and arrived 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 29 June. Homeward bound, she was at

Saugor Sagar is a city, municipal corporation and administrative headquarter in Sagar district of the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India. Situated on a spur of the Vindhya Range, above sea-level. The city is around northeast of state capital ...

on 28 October, reached St Helena on 28 January 1790, and arrived at her moorings on 26 April.

EIC voyage #3 (1792–1793)

Captain Dempster sailed from Torbay on 24 April 1792, bound for Madras and Bengal. ''Rose'' 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 ...

on 8 July and Madras on 25 August, and arrived at Diamond Harbour on 21 September. Homeward bound, She was at Saugor on 18 January 1793 and Madras on 17 February. She reached St Helena on 19 May, and arrived at The Downs on 21 August.

EIC voyage #4 (1794–1795)

War with France had broken out in 1793. Captain Dempster acquired a letter of marque on 21 August 1793. However, the British government held ''Rose'' at Portsmouth, together with 38 other Indiamen in anticipation of using them as transports for an attack on Île de France (Mauritius). It gave up the plan and released the vessels in May 1794. It paid £456 6 s 8 d for having delayed her departure by 22 days. When she sailed, it was Captain ALexander Gray who sailed from Portsmouth on 2 May 1794, bound for Madras and Bengal. ''Rose'' reached Madras on 3 September and arrived at Diamond Harbour on 23 September. Homeward bound, she was at Cox's Island on 29 November, reached St Helena on 18 March 1795, and arrived at the Downs on 22 July.

West Indies Expedition (1795–1796)

The Admiralty chartered ''Rose'' as a transport for Admiral

Hugh Cloberry Christian Sir Hugh Cloberry Christian KB (1747 – 23 November 1798) was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary Wars. Details of his early life are obscure, but he appears to ha ...

's expedition to the West Indies. Her captain was Smyth. She sailed for the West Indies on 9 December, but bad weather delayed the start of the expedition and the vessels had to put back to England. After numerous false starts aborted by weather issues, the fleet sailed on 26 April to invade

St Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindia ...

, with troops under Lieutenant-General

Sir Ralph Abercromby Lieutenant General Sir Ralph Abercromby (7 October 173428 March 1801) was a British soldier and politician. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-general in the British Army, was appointed Governor of Trinidad, served as Commander-in-Chief, Ire ...

. St Lucia surrendered to the British on 25 May. The British went on to capture Saint Vincent and

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...

. ''Rose'', Smith, master, arrived at Gravesend on 28 July 1796 from St Vincent.

EIC voyage #5 (1797–1798)

Captain Alexander Gray sailed from Portsmouth on 18 March 1797, bound for Madras and Bengal. ''Rose'' reached the Cape on 3 June and Madras on 7 August, and arrived at Diamond Harbour on 20 September. Homeward bound, she was at Saugor on 17 November, reached St Helena on 1 March 1798 and

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 30 June. She arrived at The Downs on 7 July.

EIC voyage #6 (1799–1800)

Captain Wemyss Orrok sailed from Portsmouth on 24 April 1799, bound for Madras and Bengal. ''Rose'' reached Madras on 21 August, and arrived at Diamond Harbour on 16 September. Homeward bound, she was at Saugor on 6 January 1800, reached St Helena on 13 June, and arrived at the Downs on 23 September.

EIC voyage #7 (1801–1802)

Mr. John Kymer tendered ''Rose'' to the EIC to bring back rice from Bengal. She was one of 28 vessels that sailed on that mission between December 1800 and February 1801. Captain Christopher Kymer acquired a letter of marque on 23 December 1800. He sailed from the Downs on 19 January 1801. ''Rose'' reached Diamond Harbour on 25 May. Homeward bound, she was 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 17 August, reached St Helena on 31 December, and arrived at the Downs on 25 February 1802.British Library: ''Rose'' (3).
/ref>

General trader

In 1802 ''Rose'' was sold. She thereafter served a variety of owners in a variety of trades. In 1805 ''Rose'', John Leith, master, M'Taggert, owner, made one voyage to the Isle of Desolation to gather seal skins. She returned on 13 May 1808. The ''Register of Shipping'' for 1806 has the same information as to master, owner, and trade. It also shows her as having undergone a "large repair" in 1802.''Register of Shipping'' (1806), Seq.№R355.
/ref> The ''Register of Shipping'' provided the following information:

Fate

''Rose'' was last listed in the ''Register of Shipping'' in 1820. The Customs Registers show that she had been broken up by 1821.

Citations

References

* * *''Proceedings Relative to Ships Tendered for the Service of the United East-India Company, from the Twenty-sixth of March, 1794, to the Sixth of January, 1795: With an Appendix''. {{Portal, Transport 1786 ships Age of Sail merchant ships of England Ships of the British East India Company Sealing ships