''Royal Saxon'' was a British

merchant ship 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 u ...

built at Liverpool in 1829. She carried cargo and passengers to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, and the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

. In 1839 ''Royal Saxon'' attempted to violate a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

blockade of

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

and inadvertently became the direct cause of the Battle of Chuenpi and consequently the

First Opium War The First Opium War (), also known as the Opium War or the Anglo-Sino War was a series of military engagements fought between Britain and the Qing dynasty of China between 1839 and 1842. The immediate issue was the Chinese enforcement of the ...

. She is last listed in ''

Lloyd's Register Lloyd's Register Group Limited (LR) is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research and education in science and ...

'' in 1857. __TOC__

First Opium War

By 1839 the opium trade was causing great tension between the British Empire and the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

. The Chinese were concerned with the effects of

opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...

on the general population and as such banned the substance. This action lead to the destruction of opium at Humen, an event which caused relations between Britain and China to deteriorate further. Charles Elliot, Chief Superintendent of British Trade in China, ordered British ships trading in opium to avoid Chinese ports or face sanction. However, when the Qing government issued a bond that required foreign merchants to not deal in opium if they wanted to do business in China, Elliot ordered all British shipping out of Chinese waters. Many merchants (especially those who did not participate in the opium trade) reacted negatively to Elliot's decision, feeling that the decree infringed upon their rights to trade freely. One merchant ship, the

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

-owned ''Thomas Coutts,'' arrived in China and successfully unloaded its cargo at Canton. The Chinese allowed the merchant ship to conduct its business as it was known that the Quakers refused to deal in opium. In response to this violation, Elliot ordered a blockade of the Pearl River. On 3 November 1839 ''Royal Saxon'' attempted to sail past the blockade and into Canton. The British warships and moved to intercept the merchant, and ''Volage'' fired a warning shot across ''Saxon'''s bow. In response to this action, a fleet of Chinese war junks under the command of

Guan Tianpei Guan Tianpei (; 1781 – 26 February 1841) was a Chinese admiral of the Qing dynasty who served in the First Opium War. His Chinese title was "Commander-in-Chief of Naval Forces". In 1838, he established courteous relations with British Rear-Admi ...

sailed out to protect ''Royal Saxon'' The Chinese and British ships fired on each other, beginning what would be known as the First Battle of Chuenpi. ''Royal Saxon'' herself was not involved in the action and slipped into Canton under the cover provided by the Chinese fleet.

Later service

''Royal Saxon'' continued her career as a merchant and passenger ship. From 1841 to 1844 she transported colonists and freight to Australia. She is last listed in 1857 with homeport Sydney, H. Jackson, master, Towns, owner, and trade London_Sydney.''Lloyd's Register'' (1857), Seq. №423.
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Citations

References

* * * * {{cite book , last=Parker , first= Edward Harper , year=1888 , title=Chinese Account of the Opium War , url=https://archive.org/details/chineseaccountof00parkrich , location=Shanghai History of foreign trade in China 1829 ships Age of Sail merchant ships of England