HMS Cornwallis (1805)

HMS ''Cornwallis'' was a Royal Navy 54-gun fourth rate. Jemsatjee Bomanjee built the ''Marquis Cornwallis'' of teak for the Honourable East India Company (EIC) between 1800 and 1801. In March 1805 Admiral Sir Edward Pellew purchased her from the Company shortly after she returned from a voyage to Britain. She served in the Far East, sailing to Australia and the Pacific Coast of South America before returning to India. In February 1811 the Admiralty renamed her HMS ''Akbar''. She captured forts and vessels in the Celebes and Amboyna, and participated in the invasion of Isle de France, and the 1811 invasion of Java. She also served in the West Indies before being laid up at Portsmouth in December 1816. She then stayed in Britain in a number of stationary medical and training capacities until the Admiralty sold her in the 1860s.

Service with the EIC

The EIC had ''Marquis Cornwallis'' built for long-range convoy escort duties. As such, she was a spar-decked frigate. As of 1 January 1802 she was under the command of Captain Thomas Hardie.

In December 1801, she sailed, together with (a country ship), ''Betsey'' (an armed HEIC brig), some other vessels, and 1000 troops to Daman and Diu to persuade the Portuguese governor to resist any French incursion. The expedition was under the command of Captain John Mackellar, of the Royal Navy, whose own vessel, , was not ready for sea. The governor accepted the British reinforcements, which, as it turned out, were not needed.

''Marquis Cornwallis'', under the command of Captain Isaac Godsalve Richardson, left Bombay on 7 Feb 1803, reaching St Helena on 12 May, and arriving at the Downs on 1 August. On 8 May 1804, ''Marquis Cornwallis'' sailed from Portsmouth, still under Richardson's command. She sailed via St Helena to Bombay, where the company intended for her to remain. She was convoying ''Marquis of Ely'', , , , , , and ''Ann''.

Royal Navy service

In 1805 Admiral Pellew purchased her for £68,630, and commissioned her "immediately". Commander Charles James Johnston took command in February 1806. She then served off Bombay and engaged in the long-distance blockade of Isle de France (now Mauritius).

On 11 November 1806, and ''Cornwallis'' sailed into Saint Paul's Bay, on Île Bonaparte, in an attempt to cut out vessels there, which consisted of the French frigate '' Sémillante'', three other armed ships and twelve captured British ships. (The eight ships that were prizes to ''Sémillante'' had a collective value of £1.5 million.) ''Sceptre'' and ''Cornwallis'' fired on the French and took fire in return. However, when the slight breeze failed, ''Sceptre'' and ''Cornwallis'' found themselves unable to maneuver. They therefore left without having accomplished anything, but apparently also without having suffered damage or losses.

Pacific cruise

In February 1807, ''Cornwallis,'' under the command of Johnston, was ordered on a cruise against Spanish shipping and ports on the west coast of South America. Johnston used Port Jackson as a base for refreshment and re-supply before proceeding on his cruise between May and October 1807. ''Cornwallis'' sailed first to Juan Fernandez, then cruised northward along the coasts of Chile, Peru, Panama, and Mexico, capturing 17 vessels, most of them small, two of which were sent as prizes to Port Jackson. One of them, the re-captured South Sea whaler ''Atlantic'', was found to be too unseaworthy for a Pacific crossing; her captors scuttled her off Punta Mala (Panama) on 7 September. The brig ''Rosalía'', of 375 tons, was captured at the Peruvian port of Ilo on 13 July. ''Cornwallis'' took her to Pisco with other prizes, and then dispatched her to Port Jackson on 17 July with seven men on board under the command of Lieutenant John Garland, ''Cornwallis''s master. ''Rosalía'' was wrecked on the Minerva Reefs, 1,300 kilometres from Norfolk Island. The survivors then sailed to Norfolk Island without chart or quadrant. This was a feat of navigation that ranked with that of William Bligh from Tofua to Kupang in 's launch in 1789, or that of William and Mary Bryant and their companions from Port Jackson to Kupang in a cutter in 1792. The ''Calcutta Gazette'' of 25 February 1808 reported the presence of the ''Cornwallis'' at Malacca the previous month, and said that:

Captain Johnson icwas returned from a cruize of upwards of nine months, during which time he had proceeded along the coast of South America; had been at New Holland, Owyhee and other islands in the South Sea. He had destroyed near 30 vessels, and had captured three, which he left at Port Jackson.

The cruise is commemorated in the name Johnston Atoll, which atoll Captain Johnston sighted on 15 December 1807 while proceeding on his course from Hawaii to Canton. Also, Port Pegasus on Stewart Island and Pegasus Bay on the Banks Peninsula are named for the captured ship ''Pegaso'', re-named ''Pegasus'' after being sent to Port Jackson and sold as a prize.

East Indies

In 1808, command of ''Cornwallis'' passed to Captain Fleetwood Pellew. ''Cornwallis'', in company with ''Sceptre'', engaged and damaged ''Sémillante'', together with the shore batteries whose protection she had sought.

In 1809 Captain Christopher Cole took command. When he moved to , William Augustus Montagu replaced him. Montagu then engaged in a number of operations in the Dutch East Indies, attacking forts on islands in the Celebes and Amboyna.

On 17 January, Montagu and ''Cornwallis'' attacked a Dutch fort at Boolo Combo in Bouthian Bay in the Celebes. Montagu, under a flag of truce, had requested permission to water his ship. When the Dutch commander refused, the British landed a small force of 100 men from the European Madras regiment. The 30 or so Dutch troops and 200 local troops quickly gave up the fort, but continued to snipe from the woods. The British burnt 11 small vessels (20-50 tons each), and the public buildings, took the ammunition, and spiked the eight 9-pounder guns and two brass field pieces there. The action cost the British one man killed, and nine wounded, including the captain commanding the landing force, who was lightly wounded.

On 1 February Montagu spied a brig taking shelter under the guns of Manippa. He sent in three boats which brought the brig out. The British suffered no casualties despite coming under heavy small arms fire from the fort. Montagu took the cargo of foodstuffs off the brig to feed his crew, and then burnt the vessel. There were no British casualties

In February 1810, the British attacked Amboyna. In the campaign, ''Cornwallis'' captured the ship ''Mandarine'', of 16 guns and 66 men, Captain Besman, on 3 February after a chase of four hours. ''Madarine'' had been out for four weeks but had captured nothing. ''Cornwallis'' suffered only one man wounded in the action. ''Mandarine'' then served as a tender to ''Cornwallis''.

On 1 March ''Cornwallis'' chased a Dutch man-of-war brig all day until she took refuge in a small bay on the north side of the island of Amblaw. The wind being light and variable, and night approaching, Montagu sent in ''Cornwallis''s boats, under the command of Lieutenant Henry John Peachey. After rowing all night, they captured the Dutch brig ''Margaritta Louisa'', under Captain De Ruyter on 2 March. ''Margaritta Louisa'' was pierced for 14 guns but carried only eight, and a crew of 40 men. ''Margaritta Louisa'' had left Surabaya nine days earlier with 20 to 30,000 dollars for Ambonya, and supplies for Ternate. In the boarding, the British had one man seriously wounded and four men lightly wounded; the Dutch lost one man killed and 20 wounded.

''Cornwallis'', ''Dover'', and ''Samarang'' in January 1816 shared in the prize money awarded for sundry property captured on and off Ambonya between 19 February 1810 and 21 March. ''Cornwallis'' and ''Dover'' also shared in ''Samarang''s capture on 28 March of the Dutch brig ''Recruiter''.

In late 1810, ''Cornwallis'' was deployed with Albemarle Bertie's squadron that forced the surrender of Isle de France. William Fisher took command in December 1810 after Montagu was selected from among the captains assembled for the invasion and reassigned to lead a naval brigade in support of the British Army forces' ground offensive.

In February 1811, ''Cornwallis'' was renamed HMS ''Akbar'', freeing the name for the 3rd-rate ship of the line HMS ''Cornwallis'' that was launched in Bombay in 1813.

On 29 June 1811 captured the slaver ''Expedition'' off Mauritius. The prize crew took the ship and the slaves on her to the Portuguese colony of Goa because selling slaves was illegal in British India, but not Goa. ''Salsette'' shared the prize money with the crews of and ''Cornwallis''.

Between 4 August and 19 September 1811, ''Akbar'' participated in the capture of Java. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Java" to all surviving claimants from the campaign.

United Kingdom

''Akbar'' was paid-off in July 1812. Then in February 1813 she was at Woolwich Dockyard for conversion to a store ship. In the spring of 1813, Captain Archibald Dickson was appointed to command ''Akbar''. Between March and December she was converted to a frigate. However, in late August she escorted ''Windham'', , and out of the Channel as they left Britain with convicts for New South Wales.

On 15 May 1814, ''Akbar'' recaptured ''Indian Lass''.

Captain Charles Bullen took command in November 1814. Rear-Admiral Griffiths made her his flagship on the Bermuda station in 1815.

The court martial of captain, officers and men of for the loss of their vessel took place on board ''Akbar'' at Halifax on 28 June 1815. Then on 11 August ''Akbar'' and captured ''Hannah''.

Fate

''Akbar'' was laid up at Portsmouth in December 1816, but the next year was fitted as a troopship. Then between June and December 1824 she was fitted to serve as a quarantine ship for Pembroke. In September 1827 she was moved to Liverpool to serve as a lazaretto. She became a training ship in 1852 and a quarantine ship again around 1858. She was sold in 1862 for breaking up.

Notes

Citations

References

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* King, Robert F. "Putting the Minerva Reefs on the Chart, 1807-1854", ''Map Matters,'' Issue 33, December 2017/January 2018, pp. 11–1


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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornwallis (1805), HMS
Frigates of the Royal Navy
1800 ships
War of 1812 ships of the United Kingdom
Ships of the British East India Company
Age of Sail merchant ships
Merchant ships of the United Kingdom