Suffolk (1803 ship)

Suffolk was launched in 1803 at Calcutta and at some point prior to 1810 was renamed General Wellesley. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) but an American privateer captured her in December 1814 on the outbound leg of her second EIC voyage. In January 1815 she stranded on the Charleston Bar and became a total loss.

For other ships with the same name, see Suffolk (ship).

History
United Kingdom
Name:	Suffolk
Owner:	1810:Hugh A Reid[1] 1815:J. Short[2][3]
Builder:	Hudson, Bacon, & Co.[4] John Banister Hudson,[3] Calcutta
Launched:	6 August 1803[5]
Renamed:	General Wellesley
Captured:	December 1814
Fate:	Wrecked January 1815
Notes:	Hackman conflates this Suffolk with Suffolk (1795 ship) and Suffolk (1800 ship).[3]
General characteristics
Tons burthen:	411,[6] or 430,[4] or 430​^50⁄94[7] or 431,[2] or 440,[8][3] or 480[1][3] (bm)
Propulsion:	Sail
Armament:	1810:2 × 9-pounder guns + 8 × 18-pounder carronades[6]
Notes:	Teak-built

Career

Suffolk was launched in 1803 and at some point between then and 1809 was renamed General Wellesley.[4] General Wellesley is among the country ships listed as having participated in the invasions of Île de France and Île Bourbon.[9] However, the invasion of Île Bonaparte/Bourbon took place in July 1810 and the invasion of Isle de France took place in December 1810 . General Wellesley had by then sailed to England, though she may have returned in time to the Indian Ocean to participate in one or the other.

General Wellesley first appears in the Register of Shipping in 1810 with Chawoet, master, Ried, owner, and trade London—India.[6] She does not appear in Lloyd's Register.

General Wellesley was admitted to the Registry of Great Britain on 3 May 1810.[7] Fitting her out in Great Britain cost £705 18s 10d.[10]

General Wellesley was on the numerous transport vessels that the British government hired to support the campaigns to capture Île Bourbon and Île de France.

Main article: Transport vessels for the British invasions of Île Bourbon and Île de France (1810)

The British government chartered nine vessels as cartels, i.e., under a flag of truce, to carry back to France the French troops that they had captured in these campaigns.[11] In addition, at end-March 1811 General Wellesley sailed from Mauritius to repatriate to France 120 people who had refused to take the oath of allegiance to the King after the British capture of the island. General Wellesley was travelling as a cartel.[12] On 19 June HMS Curacoa arrived at the Cape of Good Hope, where she delivered an outbound convoy.[13] On her way home, she encountered General Wellington and detained her, sending her into Portsmouth.[14]

General Wellesley finally enters Lloyd's Register in 1812 with Brown, master, H. Reid, owner, and trade London—India.[8] The Register of Shipping has the same ownership and trade information, but carries her master as Chawnet.

On 19 November 1813 Captain J.L. Heathorn sailed from the Hughli River bound for England on a voyage for which General Wellesley was under charter to the EIC. She was at the Cape of Good Hope on 1 February 1814, reached Saint Helena on 25 February, and arrived at Blackwall on 21 May.[1]

The Register of Shipping for 1814 has General Wellesley's master changing from Brown to Heathorn, her owner from Reid to J. Short, and her trade from London—Cape of Good Hope to London—Île de France.[2]

On 23 September 1814 General Wellesley sailed for Batavia.[3]

Capture and loss

As General Wellesley was on the outbound leg of her voyage she encountered the American privateer Yankee. Yankee captured her quarry on 5 December,[15] at about 4°30′N 25°00′W and in sight of the convoy of which she had been part, and its escort. The Americans put a prize master and crew on board, and sent her into Charleston, South Carolina.[16] The Americans also left her non-European crew on board.

On 12 January 1815 General Wellesley grounded on the South Breakers, apparently while being chased by a larger ship. During the night the prize master and some 12 men landed from the ship. They reported that some 60 men remained aboard, principally lascars and sepoys. Next morning when boats went out the rescuers found that the wreck was mostly under water. They were able to retrieve two white seamen and five lascars. Some 50 men, however had died, including the boatswain and another white man.[16]

The prize master had brought out some three or four trunks, and Yankee had also taken out some valuables. General Wellesley had been carrying 18,000 bars of iron, plus some dry goods, brandy, porter, and the like. The prize master estimated that had it been possible to get a decked vessel alongside her before she sank it would have been possible to save her crew and property worth some $20,000.[16]

Citations and references

Citations

1. British Library: General Wellesley.
2. Register of Shipping (1814), Seq.№G91.
3. Hackman (2001), pp. 243-4.
4. Phipps (1840), p. 100.
5. Calcutta Monthly Journal, August 1807, p.279.
6. Register of Shipping (1810).
7. House of Commons (1814), p. 87.
8. Lloyd's Register (1812), Supple. Seq.№G14.
9. House of Commons (1814), p. 65.
10. House of Commons (1814), p. 615.
11. Lloyd's List №4547.
12. THE LITERARY PANORAMA, BEING A COMPENDIUM OF NATIONAL PAPERS AND PARLIAMENTARY REPORTS, ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE HISTORY, STATISTICS, AND COMMERCE OF THE EMPIRE; A UNIVERSAL EPITOME OF INTERESTING AND AMUSING INTELLIGENCE FROM ALL QUARTERS OF THE GLOBE; A REVIEW OF BOOKS, AND MAGAZINE OF VARIETIES FORMING AN ANNUAL REGISTERS. (1812), p.311.
13. Lloyd's List №4592.
14. Lloyd's List №4601.
15. Lloyd's List №4948.
16. Grocott (1997), pp. 375-77.

References

• Grocott, Terence (1997). Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary & Napoleonic Eras. London: Chatham. ISBN 1861760302.
• Hackman, Rowan (2001). Ships of the East India Company. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-96-7.
• Phipps, John, (of the Master Attendant's Office, Calcutta) (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.
• Report from the Committee to Whom the Petition of Benjamin Lacam, Esq. Grantee of New Harbour, in Bengal, was Referred. (1806).
• 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)