''Hinchinbrooke'' (or ''Hinchinbrook'') was the Spanish ship ''San Carlos'' that Admiral Rodney's squadron captured on 8 January 1780. She was sold as a prize and in 1781 commenced a voyage as an "extra" ship of the British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

. During the voyage a French squadron captured her at the

Battle of Porto Praya The Battle of Porto Praya was a naval battle that took place during the American Revolutionary War on 16 April 1781 between a British squadron under Commodore George Johnstone and a French squadron under Pierre André de Suffren. Both squadr ...

, but the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

recaptured her within a day or so. She was lost in the

Hooghly River The Hooghly River (, also spelled ''Hoogli'' or ''Hugli'') is the westernmost distributary of the Ganges, situated in West Bengal, India. It is known in its upper reaches as the Bhagirathi. The Bhagirathi splits off from the main branch of the G ...

in 1783 on her return voyage to Britain. ''San Carlos:'' On 8 January 1780 a squadron under the command of Admiral Rodney encountered a convoy of 22 Spanish vessels some 76 leagues ENE of

Cape Finisterre Cape Finisterre (, also ; ; ) is a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia, Spain. In Roman times it was believed to be an end of the known world. The name Finisterre, like that of Finistère in France, derives from the Latin , mean ...

Background

The convoy consisted of seven vessels and ships of war belonging to the

Guipuzcoan Company of Caracas The Royal Guipuzcoan Company of Caracas ( Spanish: ''Real Compañía Guipuzcoana de Caracas'') was a Spanish chartered company which existed from 1728 to 1785. It conducted trade with Spain's overseas colonies and maintained its own fleet of wa ...

, and 15 merchantmen. One of the Company vessels was ''San Carlos'', under the command of Captain Don Firmin Urtizberea. Rodney's squadron captured the entire Spanish convoy. EIC voyage and loss: ''San Carlos'' arrived in the River Thames on 27 April 1780. There she was condemned in prize. Robert Williams purchased ''San Carlos'' and renamed her ''Hinchinbrooke''. He chartered her for a voyage to Bengal for the EIC, but first she underwent fitting and measuring by Barnard. Captain Arthur Maxwell sailed from Portsmouth for

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

and Bengal on 13 March 1781. On 16 April 1781 a French squadron under the Bailli de Suffren attacked a British squadron under

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (India), in India ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ' ...

George Johnstone anchored at Porto Praya (now

Praia Praia (, Portuguese for "beach") is the capital and largest city of Cape Verde.Cape Verde Islands Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

to take on water. Both squadrons were en route to the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

, the British to take it from the Dutch, the French aiming to help defend it and French possessions in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

. The encounter was unexpected so neither fleet was prepared to do battle. The French ship '' Artésien'' captured ''Hinchinbrooke'', but when the French withdrew from the inconclusive battle the prize crew abandoned her and the British recaptured her. ''Hinchinbrooke'' sailed on to Bengal. Loss: ''Hinchinbrooke'' was wrecked on 10 April 1785 on the Long Sand, River Hooghly, as she was returning to Calcutta for repairs prior to resuming her return voyage to Britain. She had reached the mouth of the Bengal river when she encountered a violent storm. As she was returning to

Kedgeree Kedgeree (or occasionally ) is a dish consisting of cooked, flaked fish (traditionally smoked haddock), boiled rice, parsley, hard-boiled eggs, curry powder, lemon juice, salt, butter or cream, and occasionally sultanas. The dish can be eat ...

to refit she wrecked and three crew members drowned. The value of her cargo, which could not be saved, was reported as three (or six or seven)

Lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2, 2, 3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. F ...

s, presumably of rupees.''Lady's Magazine Or Entertaining Companion for the Fair Sex ...'', Volume 16, p.558.

References

Bibliography

* {{cite book , last=Hackman , first=Rowan , year=2001 , title=Ships of the East India Company , location=Gravesend, Kent , publisher=World Ship Society , ISBN=0-905617-96-7 1770s ships Age of Sail merchant ships of Spain Captured ships Age of Sail merchant ships of England Ships of the British East India Company Maritime incidents in 1785