HMS Coromandel (1795)

HMS Coromandel was a 56-gun fourth rate of the Royal Navy, previously the East Indiaman Winterton. She was purchased on the stocks in 1795, used as a troopship from 1796, was converted to a convalescent ship in 1807 for Jamaica, and was sold there in 1813. She returned to Britain around 1847 and was wrecked at Yarmouth in 1856.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Coromandel.

Approaching Dover, by Thomas Whitcombe
History
East India Company
Name:	Winterton
Builder:	Perry & Co., Blackwall Yard
Launched:	9 May 1795
Fate:	Sold to the Royal Navy in 1795
Great Britain
Name:	HMS Coromandel
Acquired:	1795 by purchase
Fate:	Sold 1813
United Kingdom
Name:	Coromandel
Acquired:	1813, by purchase
Fate:	Wrecked 1856
General characteristics [1]
Class and type:	Fourth rate in Royal Navy service; troopship 1796 & 1802; Convalescent ship from October 1807
Tons burthen:	1334​^41⁄94 (bm)
Length:	169 ft 0 in (51.51 m) (overall) 139 ft 3 ^3⁄8 in (42.453 m) (keel)
Beam:	42 ft 5 ^1⁄4 in (12.935 m)
Depth of hold:	17 ft 2 in (5.23 m)
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Complement:	4th Rate: 324 Transport:100[2]
Armament:	4th Rate: Lower deck: 28 x 18-pounder guns Upper deck: 28 x 32-pounder carronades Transport: 24 x 18 & 9-pounder guns[2]

Military career

The Royal Navy commissioned Coromandel in June 1795 under Captain John Inglis. The Admiralty must have been dissatisfied with her as they transferred her to the Transport Board in May 1796 and paid her off in July. Coromandel was recommissioned later that month as a troopship under the command of Lieutenant Richard Harrison. He received a letter of marque dated 15 July 1796.[2] The Navy then struck Coromandel off the Navy List on 9 August.[1]

Richard (or Robert) Simmonds replaced Harrison in 1797. Richard Simmonds received a letter of marque dated 17 November 1797.[2] A year later, on 7 November 1798, Coromandel was at the capture of Minorca. Her officers and crew therefore participated in their share of a partial payment of £20,000 for goods and stores captured at that time.[3] Another payment followed later.[4] Eight days after the fall of Minorca, on 15 November, Coromandel captured the Spanish ship Misericordia, of Minorca, which was carrying a cargo of paper.[5] As part of the British fleet, Coromandel shared in the prize money for the recapture of HMS Peterel on 13 November.[6]

Commander John Mortimer replaced Simmonds in July 1799, in the West Indies. He remained in command until some point in 1801. Between 15 March 1801 and 7 April, Coromandel participated in the capture of the islands of St Bartholomew, Saint Martin, St Thomas, and St. Croix as part of the expedition under Lieutenant General Thomas Trigge and Admiral John Duckworth.[7] On 4 January 1802 she ran ashore in Jamaica,[8] but was got off and on 18 January she sailed for Martinique.[9]

Coromandel was back in Britain by August 1802, being fitted at Chatham for service as a troopship.[1] She then spent the period June through October 1807 being fitted at Chatham as a convalescent ship for service in Jamaica. Coromandel was sold at Jamaica on 24 July 1813 to Mr. William Barnes for £700.[1]

Later career and fate

She returned to Britain around 1847.[10] On 28 September 1856, she was wrecked on the Ridge Sand, in the North Sea off the coast of Winterton-on-Sea, Norfolk whilst on a voyage from Archangelsk, Russia to London. Her crew were rescued by the schooner Falcon and a fishing smack. Coromandel was subsequently beached at Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.[11][12]

Citations and references

Citations

1. Winfield (2008), p. 113.
2. "Register of Letters of Marque against France 1793-1815". 1812privateers.org. p. 57. Archived from the original on 10 April 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
3. "No. 15256". The London Gazette. 10 May 1800. p. 466.
4. "No. 15627". The London Gazette. 6 October 1803. p. 1367.
5. "No. 15106". The London Gazette. 9 February 1799. p. 137.
6. "No. 16136". The London Gazette. 12 April 1808. p. 523.
7. "No. 15666". The London Gazette. 14 January 1804. p. 66.
8. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List (4232). 23 February 1802. Retrieved 14 November 2014 – via 1812privateers.org.
9. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List (4238). 16 March 1802. Retrieved 14 November 2014 – via 1812privateers.org.
10. Howard, A.J. "Bert" (2006). "Coromandel Wreck at Yarmouth" (PDF). The Coromandel Files. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
11. "The Equinoctal Gales". The Times (22486). London. 30 September 1856. col B-C, p. 10.
12. "Shipwreck on the Norfolk Coast". The Times (22491). London. 6 October 1856. col D, p. 12.

References

• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1861762461.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)