''Atlantic'' was launched in 1783. She made one voyage from England to Australia in 1791 carrying

convict A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as " prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former conv ...

s. Later, she made one voyage for 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 Sou ...

(EIC). Subsequently she sailed to

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prom ...

, Surinam, and Gibraltar, before she disappeared from records in 1810.

Career

In 1783 she was under the command of Captain Edward Redman. Under his command, she traded between London and Jamaica. In 1789 ''Atlantic'' was under the command of Captain Muirhead. She was trading between London and Archangel.

Convict transport

Under the command of Archibald Armstrong, master, ''Atlantic'' departed Portsmouth on 27 March 1791 as part of the third fleet, and arrived on 20 August 1791 in

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman S ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. She transported 220 male convicts, 18 of whom died during the voyage. The Naval Agent on board was Lieutenant Richard Bowen, and the surgeon was James Thompson. Provisions in the colony were in short supply. Governor Phillip, therefore, took the ''Atlantic'' into the service as a naval transport. She left Port Jackson on 26 October 1791, bound for Bengal. ''Atlantic'' returned to Port Jackson from Calcutta on 20 June 1792. She then made a return voyage to

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together wit ...

, arriving back in Port Jackson on 30 Sep 1792. On 11 December 1792 she departed Port Jackson for England. She was carrying the retiring governor

Arthur Phillip Admiral Arthur Phillip (11 October 1738 – 31 August 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer who served as the first governor of the Colony of New South Wales. Phillip was educated at Greenwich Hospital School from June 1751 until ...

, accompanied by the

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait ...

Bennelong Woollarawarre Bennelong ( 1764 – 3 January 1813), also spelt Baneelon, was a senior man of the Eora, an Aboriginal Australian people of the Port Jackson area, at the time of the first British settlement in Australia in 1788. Bennelong ser ...

and his friend Yemmerrawanne. Also on board were the last of the

First Fleet The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command o ...

New South Wales Marine Corps The New South Wales Marine Corps (1786–1792) was an ad hoc volunteer unit that the British Royal Navy created to guard the convicts aboard the First Fleet to Australia, and to preserve "subordination and regularity" in the penal colony in New ...

detachment, including diarist John Easty.

East India Company

In 1795 Thomas Probeart was ''Atlantic''s captain, and her occupation was listed as a transport sailing out of London. Then ''Atlantic'' sailed to India for the East India Company. War with France had commenced in 1793, and during her employment with the EIC and subsequently she sailed under a letter of marque, which gave her the right to act offensively against the French, should the opportunity arise, and not just defensively. That is, the letter authorized her to capture French vessels. Probeart received a letter of marque on 26 December 1796. Captain Probert ic sailed past

Dungeness Dungeness () is a headland on the coast of Kent, England, formed largely of a shingle beach in the form of a cuspate foreland. It shelters a large area of low-lying land, Romney Marsh. Dungeness spans Dungeness Nuclear Power Station, the hamlet ...

on 5 February 1797, 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 ...

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the M ...

, and Bengal. On 2 May ''Atlantic'' reached 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 ...

, and on 20 June Madras. From there she sailed to Penang, which she reached on 23 August. She was at Penang on 27 September and also on 12 October. This to-and-fro was a consequence of the EIC and the Royal Navy preparing an expedition against Manila that then did not take place. (A peace treaty with Spain ended the plan.) ''Atlantic''s owners charged the EIC £7,600 7 s 2 d for her services as a transport. ''Atlantic'' left Penang on 26 November. She reached Madras on 11 December, and

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

on 8 January 1798. From there she sailed on to

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

, which she reached on 28 February. Homeward-bound, she left Calcutta, passing

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. Ot ...

on 1 November. She reached the Cape on 19 January 1799, and

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 February. She arrived at Long Reach on 17 July.British Library: ''Atlantic''.
/ref>

Subsequent career

In 1799 ''Atlantic''s captain was Alexander Muirhead, who received a letter of marque on 31 August 1799. Earlier that year, on 19 April, he was captain of the ''Eurydice'', which was in Bengal with a cargo for the EIC. Under Muirhead, ''Atlantic'' traded between London and Smyrna. After Smyrna, she sailed to Surinam. In 1803 Captain Curzans replaced Muirhead and sailed ''Atlantic'' to Gibraltar.''Lloyd's Register'', 1803. After the outbreak of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

, Sampson Baker became ''Atlantic''s captain; he received a letter of marque on 8 June 1803. ''Atlantic'' was no longer listed in ''Lloyd's Register'' in 1810, or in the ''Register of Shipping'' in 1811.

Notes, citations, and references

Notes Citations References * * * *{{Citation , last=Hunter, first= John , author-link=John Hunter (Royal Navy officer) , title=An Historical Journal of the Transactions at Port Jackson and Norfolk Island , publication-date=1793 , publisher=Printed for John Stockdale , location = London , url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15662 , oclc=154257649 , ol=8025878W

External links

''Atlantic''
1783 ships Ships of the Third Fleet Ships of the British East India Company Ships built in Wales Age of Sail merchant ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom