''Royal George'' was a three-decker

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 in 1777. She made one voyage to Madras and China 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 ...

. Her voyage took place during the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, and she had just set out on her second voyage when a Spanish fleet captured her on 9 August 1780, together with almost the entire convoy of which she was a member. The Spanish Navy took her into service as ''Real Jorge'', a frigate of 40 guns. She was out of service by 1784, and broken up thereafter.

Voyage #1 (1778-80)

Captain Thomas Foxall left Portsmouth on 2 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 China. ''Royal George'' reached

Johanna Johanna is a feminine name, a variant form of Joanna that originated in Latin in the Middle Ages, including an -h- by analogy with the Latin masculine name Johannes. The original Greek form ''Iōanna'' lacks a medial /h/ because in Greek /h/ cou ...

on 25 May, and Madras on 29 June. She reached

Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site si ...

on 26 August, and arrived at Whampoa on 2 October. On her return voyage she crossed the Second Bar, about 20 miles before Whampoa, on 20 February 1779. She reached St Helena on 24 September, and the Downs on 13 January 1780.

Voyage #2 (1780-capture)

For Foxall's second voyage as captain of ''Royal George'', his first officer was

Nathaniel Dance Sir Nathaniel Dance (20 June 1748 – 25 March 1827) was an officer of the East India Company who had a long and varied career on merchant vessels, making numerous voyages to India and back with the fleets of East Indiamen. He was already awar ...

, who would go on to distinguish himself in 1803 at the

Battle of Pulo Aura The Battle of Pulo Aura was a minor naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars, fought on 14 February 1804, in which a large convoy of Honourable East India Company (HEIC) East Indiamen, well-armed merchant ships, intimidated, drove off and chase ...

. ''Royal George'' left Portsmouth on 27 July 1780, as part of an enormous

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

of 63

merchantmen A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are us ...

, including four more East Indiamen, ''Gatton'', ''Godfrey'', ''Mountstuart'', and ''Hillsborough''.Hardy & Hardy (1811), p.87. ''Royal George'' was bound for Madras and Bengal, though the other vessels had diverse destinations, almost all being bound to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

. The entire convoy was under the escort of , under the command of Sir

John Moutray John Moutray of Roscobie (c.1722 – 22 November 1785) was an officer of the Royal Navy. He reached the rank of post-captain and served as the Royal Commissioner for English Harbour in Antigua. Biography Moutray was born in about 1722. He was ma ...

, and three

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

s, including the 36-gun

s and . On 8 August 1780 unusual sails were seen, and Moutray signalled to his ships to alter course and follow him close to the wind. They paid no attention to his orders. Unfortunately for the British convoy, the strange sails were a Spanish naval fleet, under the command of

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

Luis de Córdova y Córdova Admiral Luis de Córdova y Córdova (8 February 1706 – 29 July 1796) was a Spanish admiral. He is best known for his command of the Spanish fleet during the Anglo-Spanish War. His best remembered actions were the capture of two merchant c ...

, together with a squadron of French ships. The British convoy and their Spanish and French forces met at . The British warships escaped with eight of the convoy. The enemy captured the other 55 merchantmen. including the five East Indiamen, and their cargoes worth £1.5 million, and 3,144 prisoners. It was a blow to British

commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

, and especially to the forces in the

, which lost a vast quantity of military stores.

Spanish Navy service and fate

The Spaniards took their prizes into Cadiz. Spanish records reported that ''Royal George'' was carrying a crew of 122 men, 17 troops, five women, and 10 other passengers.''Listado de presas británicas capturadas por la escuadra de Luis de Córdoba en 1780''
''Revista de Historia Naval del Ministerio de Defensa'' – An incomplete list of the British ships captured by Admiral Luis de Córdova in 1780 The Spaniards offered the East Indian Company the opportunity to buy back ''Royal George'', but the Company refused. The Spanish Navy took all five East Indiamen into service. ''Royal George'' became the 40-gun frigate ''Real Jorge''. She was out of service by 1784 and sold for breaking up at some point thereafter.

Citations and references

Citations References * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Royal George (1799) 1777 ships Captured ships Ships of the British East India Company Age of Sail merchant ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom