''Royal Captain'' was a British East Indiaman launched in 1772 and lost in 1773 in the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phi ...

. In 1999, an expedition discovered the wreck and salvaged some of her cargo. Randall built the three-decker, which her managing owner, Sir Richard Hotham, chartered to the

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 South ...

. The ship measured 43.6 metres from bow to rudder and 11 metres across the beam.

The voyage

The ''Royal Captains first and only voyage took her to China via St Helena. Captain Edward Berrow (or Barrow) sailed from

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

on 30 January 1773. ''Royal Captain'' reached St Helena on 11 April and arrived at Whampoa in the

Pearl river The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-a ...

region of China, on 23 August. She crossed the Second Bar on 28 November on her way home.British Library:''Royal Captain'' (1).
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Loss

On 17 December 1773, at 2:30 in the morning, ''Royal Captain'' struck an uncharted reef in the

. The place where she struck is now known as Royal Captain Shoal and is some 46 miles (76 kilometers) from

Palawan Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in t ...

in the

. When she struck, in addition to her captain, ''Royal Captain'' was carrying six passengers and 99 crew members. Her cargo consisted of 100,000 pieces of Chinese

porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...

, as well as

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the ...

, glass beads, and gold.Goddio ''et al.'' (2000). Even though the crew managed to free the ship twice, a third collision with the reef sealed her fate and she sank with the bulk of her cargo. All but three crewmen survived the sinking; the three sailors who drowned were apparently drunk and refused to take to the lifeboats. ''Lloyd's List'' reported that when the accident occurred ''Royal Captain'' was three days out of China and on her way to

Balambangan Island Balambangan Island ( ms, Pulau Balambangan) is an island in Kudat Division, Sabah, Malaysia. It is located off the northern tip of Borneo and is situated just about 3 kilometres west of Banggi Island. It is now part of the Tun Mustapha Marin ...

on the northern tip of

Sabah Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory o ...

where, between 1761 and 1805, the East India Company maintained a free port. This report stated that the goods were saved, but it did note that three crew members drowned. The British ship ''Union'' picked up the survivors and carried them to Balambangan. The crew returned home on , a

packet ship Packet boats were medium-sized boats designed for domestic mail, passenger, and freight transportation in European countries and in North American rivers and canals, some of them steam driven. They were used extensively during the 18th and 19th ...

in the EIC's service.

Discovery and salvage

In 1999, an expedition led by Franck Goddio located the wreck in a depth of about 350 meters and salvaged part of the remaining stage freight. Goddio utilised the '' Ocean Voyager'' as well as two high-tech 2-person submarines of the '' Deep Rover'' class, capable of diving 1000 metres.

Documentary

A documentary about the ship, ''The Treasure of the Royal Captain'', aired on the Discovery Channel in June 2000.''The Treasure of the Royal Captain''
Internet Movie Database.

Notes

Citations

References

* Cotton, Sir Evan, & Sir Charles Fawcett (ed.) (1949) ''East Indiamen: The East India Company's Maritime Service''. (Batchworth). *Goddio, Frank (1998). ''Discovery and archaeological excavation of a 16th century trading vessel in the Philippines''. (Manila). *Goddio, Franck, Christoph Gerigk and Miguel Moll Kraft (2000). ''Royal Captain, A Ship Lost in the Abyss''. (London, Periplus Publishing Ltd.). * * {{coord, 9.0356, N, 116.6362, E, source:wikidata, display=title Maritime incidents in 1773 Ships of the British East India Company Ships built in Rotherhithe 1772 ships Shipwrecks in the South China Sea Ships of the United Kingdom Age of Sail merchant ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom