''Indefatigable'' was a square-rigged, three-decked, three-masted merchant ship launched in 1799 at Whitby for James Atty & Co. for the West Indies trade. In 1804 she served as an armed defense ship and recaptured a merchantman that a privateer had captured. She was a transport in the 1805–1806 British invasion of the

Dutch Cape colony The Cape of Good Hope () was a Dutch United East India Company (VOC) supplystation in Southern Africa, centered on the Cape of Good Hope, from where it derived its name. The original supply station and the successive states that the area was ...

. She twice transported

convict A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convicts ...

s to Australia; on the first trip she was chartered to 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 ...

(EIC). She burned to the waterline in 1815.

Career

''Indefatigable'' spent her 11 years as a transport, first sailing out of London and then out of

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

. The data below is from ''

Lloyd's Register Lloyd's Register Group Limited, trading as Lloyd's Register (LR), is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research ...

''; it was only as accurate as ship owners chose to keep it. Following the resumption of war with France in early 1803, concern developed in Britain about

Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom at the start of the War of the Third Coalition, although never carried out, was a major influence on British naval strategy and the fortification of the coast of South East England. In 1796 the Fre ...

. The British government's response took many forms including the reactivation of

Fencible The Fencibles (from the word ''defencible'') were British regiments raised in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and in the colonies for defence against the threat of invasion during the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence, the Frenc ...

regiments and the

Sea Fencibles The Sea Fencibles were naval fencible (a shortening of ''defencible'') units established to provide a close-in line of defence and obstruct the operation of enemy shipping, principally during the French Revolutionary Wars, French Revolutionary a ...

, a program of the construction of

Martello Towers Martello towers are small defensive forts that were built across the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the French Revolutionary Wars onwards. Most were coastal forts. They stand up to high (with two floors) and typica ...

along the coasts of Britain and Ireland, and the commissioning of a number of armed defense ships. The British

in November voted to underwrite 10,000 tons (bm) of armed transports to protect Great Britain's coasts. The vessels were existing, but not EIC, merchantmen that would receive an upgrade in armament and that would receive a naval officer as captain. The vessels were: ''Albion'', , , ''Aurora'', , ''Diadem'', , ''Helder'', ''Indefatigable'', , ''Lord Nelson'', ''Norfolk'', , , , ''Sir Alexander Mitchell'', , and ''Triton''. On 21 November 1803 ''Indefatigable'', of 550 tons (bm) and 18 guns, was awaiting the designation of her station. On 10 April 1804 the armed transports ''Indefatigable'', ''Albion'', and ''Duckingfield'', were ordered to St Helen's to maintain a guard there until could relieve them. In June ''Indefatigable'' escorted convoys. On 20 June a 16-gun privateer captured ''Melcombe'', Langrish, master, as ''Melcombe'' was sailing from Weymouth to London. ''Indefatigable'' recaptured ''Melcombe'' the next day and sent into Portsmouth. ''Indefatigable'' was under the command of Commander George Andrews. On 12 July ''Indefatigable'' departed Spithead for Hull. She returned to the Downs from Hull on 29 August. The Navy returned the armed defence ships to their owners in late 1804 or in 1805. Next, ''Indefatigable'' was one of the transport vessels that were part of the expedition under General Sir David Baird and Admiral Sir

Home Riggs Popham Rear-Admiral Sir Home Riggs Popham, KCB, KCH (12 October 1762 – 20 September 1820), was a Royal Navy officer and politician who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He is known for his scientific accomplishments, particula ...

that would in 1806 capture the

Dutch Cape Colony The Cape of Good Hope () was a Dutch United East India Company (VOC) supplystation in Southern Africa, centered on the Cape of Good Hope, from where it derived its name. The original supply station and the successive states that the area was ...

. On 21 March 1806 she sailed with 16 other transports in a convoy to Great Britain with invalids and Dutch prisoners. The newly-captured and commissioned HMS ''Volontaire'' provided their escort.

Convict transport

''Indefatigable'' was under charter to the EIC and under the command of John Cross, when she left England on 4 June 1812, passing

the Lizard The Lizard () is a peninsula in southern Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The southernmost point of the British mainland is near Lizard Point at SW 701115; The Lizard, also known as Lizard village, is the most southerly region on the ...

on 7 June. She sailed together with and they reached

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

on 29 July. There they joined the ''

Archduke Charles Archduke Charles Louis John Joseph Lawrence of Austria, Duke of Teschen (; 5 September 177130 April 1847) was an Austrian Empire, Austrian field marshal, the third son of Emperor Leopold II and his wife, Maria Luisa of Spain. He was also the youn ...

'', which was transporting convicts from Ireland, also for Port Jackson. The three vessels left Rio together on 11 August, but ''Archduke Charles'' parted the next day. Six days after they left Rio, a gale separated ''Minstrel'' and ''Indefatigable''. She arrived at

Hobart Town Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly half ...

on 19 October. ''Indefatigable'' had left with 200 convicts and she landed 199, one having died on the way. ''Indefatigable'' left Hobart Town and arrived at

Port Jackson Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta ...

on 6 December. She left Port Jackson on 7 January 1813 bound for England. She arrived at the

Cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used th ...

on 6 August, ''Indefatigable'' had been at Canton, where she had loaded a modest cargo of tea and no textiles. From the Cape she sailed to

St Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

, where she arrived on 5 September. She apparently did not leave St Helena until 1 March 1814, but then reached Blackwall on 19 May.British Library: ''Indefatigable''.
/ref> On her second convict voyage, under the command of Matthew Bowles, ''Indefatigable'' left England in 1814. She sailed via

and arrived at Port Jackson on 26 April. She transported 200 male convicts, two of whom died on the voyage. ''Indefatigable'' left Port Jackson on 13 July bound for

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

. In 1813, the EIC had lost its monopoly on the trade between India and Britain. British ships were then free to sail to India or the Indian Ocean under a licence from the EIC. ''Indefatigable''s owners applied for a licence on 9 August 1814, and received the licence on 15 August.

Fate

While anchored at Batavia (now Jakarta), ''Indefatigable'' was burnt to the waterline in an accident on 23 October 1815 and declared a total loss. Her cargo was also lost.''

Lloyd's List ''Lloyd's List'' is one of the world's oldest continuously running journals, having provided weekly shipping news in London as early as 1734. It was published daily until 2013 (when the final print issue, number 60,850, was published), and i ...

'
№5050.
/ref>

Citations

References

* * * * {{1815 shipwrecks 1799 ships Ships built in Whitby Maritime incidents in 1815 Ships of the British East India Company Convict ships to New South Wales Convict ships to Tasmania Ship fires