Transport vessels for the British invasion of Java (1811)

For the invasion of Java (1811), under the auspices of Lord Minto, the British government hired a number of transport vessels. Most of the transports were "country ships". Country ships were vessels that were registered in ports of British India such as Bombay and Calcutta, and that traded around India, with Southeast Asia, and China, but that did not sail to England without special authorization from the EIC. In addition, some of the transports for the invasion were "regular ships" of the British East India Company (EIC), and some were "extra ships". Regular ships were on a long term contract with the EIC, and extra ships were vessels the EIC had chartered for one or more voyages.

The data in the table below comes primarily from two sources. An 1814 report from a Select Committee of the House of Commons of the British Parliament provided the data only on country ships, giving the names of a large number of vessels, and their burthen (bm). Then the Naval Chronicle published a list of vessels than had assembled at Malacca in May–June 1811 and then sailed for Java.[1] The list in the Naval Chronicle also included the names of British Royal Navy warships, EIC warships, and other EIC vessels, particularly regular and extra ships. A number of transports in the Select Committee report do not show up as having sailed from Malacca. Equally, a number of transports in the Naval Chronicle list are not in the Select Committee report. Transports without burthen data are in the Naval Chronicle but not in the Select Committee report.

Names of vessels that appear in both lists do not always agree. Some vessels in the Select Committee report that have compound names such as "Bombay Anna" or "Arab Mary" appear in the Naval Chronicle as Bombay and Anna, and as Arab and Mary. Also, transliteration of non-English names shows no consistency across sources, making it extremely difficult to try to find more information about the vessels in question.

Many of the transports gathered at Malacca and then left in four divisions on the following days:

  • 1st division: 7 June 1811
  • 2nd division: 11 June
  • 3rd division: 14 June
  • 4th division: 17 June
Name Burthen Division Notes
Alexander 750 3 Lost on the Bill of Portland 1815
Ann 403 4 Built at Pegu?
Bombay Anna 955 2 Lost at sea 1815-16
Anne 405 4 Possibly victualer
Antipodes 70
Asia 992 3
Asia Felix 324 3
Batavia 600 1 EIC extra ship
Betsey 330 4 Hired transport
Betsey 175 3 Hired brig
Borneo 365 4 Possibly a victualer; lost at Madagascar 1814
Britannia 170 1
Cawdry 4
Charles Baillie 200
Charlotte 248 4 Foundered in Madras Roads October 1818[2]
Cornwallis 653 2
Countess of Harcourt 501 1
Derie Beggi / Derea Beggye 500 4 Foundered 1838
Duncan 400 3 Built at Beypour in 1803
Estambool / Estaenboole 310 4
Fattahoul Khyer / Footahoolkeer 368 4
Fifeshire 501
Fleetwood 350 1 ex-Jessy (Calcutta; 1802); broken up at Calcutta in 1815.[3]
Fort William 1160 1
Friendship 872 3 Lost on the Nicobars, 181[4]
Futteh Almoneen 490
Harmoody 415 2
Harriot / Harriet? 488 Built at Pegu?
Huddart 565 2 EIC regular ship
Hugh Inglis 821 2 EIC regular ship
James Drummond 669 3 Built at Demaun 1800 as Adam Smith; broken up at Calcutta, 1823.[5]
Kheeleel / Keleel 310 4
Lord Eldon 571 3 EIC extra ship
Lowjee Family 926 3 Destroyed by fire in Bombay Harbour, 1849
Macauley 264 4
Marchioness Wellesley / Marchioness of Wellesley 510 / 581 Broken up 1821, or 1824
Margaret and Francis 305 1
Mary 250 4 Lost on the John and Margaretta Shoal 1823.[6]
Mary 400
Arab Mary 350 2
Matilda 762 2 Wrecked March 1822
Mentor 400
Minerva brig 160
Minto 190 4 EIC-hired agent vessel[7]
Mornington 770 4 Built at Calcutta
Mysore 831 / 900 2 Built Pegu 1795: Lost off Pulo Sapata 1818
Nadir Shah 518
Northumberland 600 4 EIC extra ship
Olive (or hired brig Olivia) 420 4 Captured 1806; returned to British hands
Perseverance 280 4
Phoenix 336
Phoenix 818 3 EIC regular ship
Preston 671 4 EIC regular ship
Resource 400 3 Captured 1807;[Note 1] Returned to British ownership; registered at Calcutta prior to January 1811
Substitute 4
Sullimany, or Solimany 689 3 Launched at Demaun[9]
Sullimany 350
Sultana 300 3
Sundany 430 1
Thomas Henchman 517 Burnt 1811 at Malacca on the expedition to Java[10]
Troubridge 800 2
Venus 250 2 Captured by USS Peacock in 1815; later returned to British ownership
Wellesley 3
William Pitt 819 1 EIC regular ship
Windham 833 1 Wrecked September 1815

Notes, citations, and references

Notes
  1. The French frigate Piémontaise captured Resource on 9 October 1807. She was carrying toile and 7,500 sacks of rice. The value of the prize was 215,930.24 francs.[8]

Citations

  1. Naval Chronicle, Vol. 27, p.109.
  2. Phipps (1840), p. 102.
  3. Phipps (1840), pp. 142&179.
  4. Phipps (1840), p. 172.
  5. Phipps (1840), pp. 172 & 188.
  6. Phipps (1840), p. 145.
  7. Phipps (1840), p. 104.
  8. Roman (2007), p. 223.
  9. Phipps (1840), p. 171.
  10. Phipps (1840), p. 100.

References

  • Phipps, John (1840). A Collection of Papers Relative to Ship Building in India ...: Also a Register Comprehending All the Ships ... Built in India to the Present Time ... Scott.
  • Roman, Alain (2007). Robert Surcouf et ses frères [Robert Surcouf and his brothers] (in French). Preface by Olivier Roellinger. Editions Cristel. ISBN 2-84421-050-3. OCLC 159954380.
  • House of Commons, Parliament, Great Britain (1814). Minutes of the Evidence Taken Before the Select Committee on Petitions Relating to East-India-Built Shipping. H.M. Stationery Office.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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