BJRMelisa78144: minor cleanup

2025-12-14T23:23:37Z

minor cleanup

>Aciram: added Category:18th-century in Charleston, South Carolina using HotCat

2020-05-26T03:02:38Z

added Category:18th-century in Charleston, South Carolina using HotCat

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{{other ships|Britannia (ship)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2016}}
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|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|civil}} [[File:Flag of the British East India Company (1707).svg|65px]]
| Ship name = ''Britannia''
| Ship owner = *Originally: Waters & Co.<ref name=Hackman>Hackman (2001), p. 225.</ref>
*1800: Lambert
*1801: Cleland & Co.
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| Ship builder = Bombay Dockyard<ref name=Hackman/>
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| Ship launched = 1774<ref name=Hackman/>
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| Ship fate = Last listed 1809 in ''Register of Shipping'' and 1810 in ''[[Lloyd's Register]]''
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| Ship tons burthen = 305,<ref name=BL5>[http://searcharchives.bl.uk/IAMS_VU2:IAMS045-001114666 British Library: ''Britannia'' (5)].</ref> 500,<ref name=LoM>{{Cite web |url=http://www.1812privateers.org/Great%20Britain/marque1793-1815.pdf# |title=Letter of Marque, p.53 - accessed 25 July 2017. |access-date=19 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020052005/http://www.1812privateers.org/Great%20Britain/marque1793-1815.pdf# |archive-date=20 October 2016 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref name=LoM2/> or 500 {{small|{{frac|74|94}}}},<ref name=Hackman/> ([[Builder's Old Measurement|bm]])
| Ship length =*{{convert|97|ft|10|in|m|1|abbr=on}} (overall)<ref name=BL5/>
*{{convert|77|ft|3|in|m|1|abbr=on}} (keel)<ref name=BL5/>
| Ship beam = {{convert|27|ft|3|in|m|1|abbr=on}}<ref name=BL5/>
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| Ship complement = 60-80<ref name=LoM/><ref name=LoM2/>
| Ship armament = *1799:12 x 9-pounder guns<ref name=LoM/><ref name=LoM2/>
*1810:10 × 6-pounder guns<ref name=LR1810/>
| Ship notes = *Two-decked, [[teak]]-built merchantman
*During the period 1790-1800, or so, six vessels named ''Britannia'' engaged in whaling in the South Seas, with several visiting Australia, either with convicts, or without. Separating them out is a non-trivial task as records appear to conflate them.
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'''''Britannia''''' was launched in 1774 at Bombay. She was the focus of a protest against the [[Tea Act]] in Charleston, South Carolina in 1774. In 1796 she transported [[convict]]s from [[Ireland]] to [[Australia]]. This voyage was noteworthy for her captain's cruelty, for which he was tried but not sanctioned. She then sailed to China to pick up a cargo for the [[East India Company]]. On the way she visited or saw four islands in the present-day [[Marshall Islands]]. She remained employed in the services of the [[East India Company]] (EIC) until 1799. She then traded with India for a number of years, twice taking cargoes back to England for the EIC. Between 1808 and 1809 she was a [[whaler]] in the South Seas Fishery.

==Voyages==
In November 1774, ''Britannia'' sailed from London to [[Charleston, South Carolina]]. In addition to passengers, she was carrying "seven chests of East Indian tea." The Captain, Samuel Ball, Jr., said that the tea had been ordered "without his knowledge or consent." Because of local objections to the British duty on tea, "on Thursday at Noon [November 3, 1774], an [[wikt:oblation|Oblation]] was made to [[Neptune (mythology)|Neptune]]." This incident has been called "The Charleston Tea Party" because the tea was dumped over the side, in the same fashion as had occurred at the [[Boston Tea Party]] a year earlier.<ref name="scgazette">{{cite news | url=http://www.teachingushistory.org/CharlestonTeaPartyarticleintheSouthCarolinaGazetteNovember211774.html | title=Charleston Tea Party Article | work=South Carolina Gazette | date=21 November 1774 | accessdate=2 February 2012}}</ref>

Captain Thomas Dennett (or Dennott) sailed ''Britannia'' from [[Kolkatta|Calcutta]] on 28 November 1785 and [[Diamond Harbour]] on 4 January 1786. She reached [[Cape colony|the Cape]] on 2 March, and [[Saint Helena|St Helena]] on 23 March. She arrived at Plymouth on 15 May and Deptford on 8 June.<ref name=BL5/>

''Britannia'' was admitted to Registry in Great Britain on 20 June 1796.<ref>House (1814), p.87.</ref>

===Convict ship===
On 5 August 1796, Thomas Demmett [sic] received a [[letter of marque]], which authorized him to capture French ships should the opportunity arise.<ref name=LoM/> Under the command of Thomas Dennett, ''Britannia'' departed [[Cork (city)|Cork]], Ireland on 10 December, and arrived in [[Sydney Cove]] on 27 May 1797.<ref>Bateson (1959), pp.139 & 143.</ref> She embarked 144 male and 44 female prisoners; ten male convicts and one female convict died during the course of the voyage.<ref name=Bateson>Bateson (1959), p.153.</ref> An enquiry into the conduct of Captain Dennott (Demmett) was held in Sydney and is recorded in the ''[[Historical Records of Australia]]''. The enquiry recommendations as to Demmett's "callous and brutal" treatment of the convicts was sent to England but the only repercussion was that Demmett never served on a convict ship again.<ref>Bateson (1959), pp.142-147.</ref>

===Exploration===
''Britannia'' left Sydney on 2 August 1797 for China, where she would pick up a cargo of tea. She initially followed the route that ''Scarborough'' followed. ''Britannia'' sailed north and into the region of the Marshall Islands. On 19 September she sighted an island that Dennott named "Hunter Island" ([[Kili Island]]). Canoes brought out some islanders who wanted to trade breadfruit. The next day she sighted an island in the [[Ailinglaplap Atoll]] that Dennott named "Lamber Island". Natives again came out to trade but ''Britannia'' sailed on. Later that day ''Britannia'' did stop at an island in [[Namu Atoll]] that Dennott named "Ross Island". This time ''Britannia'' stopped and traded with the natives who came out. One native tore off a galley rail and took it away as a prize. On 21 September ''Britannia'' sighted "Princess Island" at {{coord|8|21|N|167|25|E|display=inline,title}}; this would appear to be [[Lib Island]].

Dennett arrived at [[Macao]] on 16 October 1797 and was at [[Huangpu District, Guangzhou|Whampoa]] on 2 December. For her return to Britain, ''Britannia'' was at Macao on 28 March 1798, [[False Bay]] on 25 July, the Cape on 8 September, and St Helena on 17 November. ''Britannia'' reached [[The Downs (ship anchorage)|the Downs]] on 4 February 1799.<ref name=BL5/> She reached London on 7 February.

Dennott left ''Britannia'' and apparently died around 1800. ''Lloyd's Register'' for 1800 records her owner as Lambert, and her master as "Palmer".

==London-India trade==

Captain Edward Hanoner Palmer received a letter of marque of ''Britannia'' on 1 May 1799.<ref name=LoM/> On 28 May ''Britannia'' sailed from London for Madras. On 24 September she left [[Cape colony|the Cape]] in company with the American armed ship ''Atlantic''. The two planned on sailing together as far as "Achun Head" ([[Aceh]]). On 8 October a ship came into sight and appeared to be chasing them, but they separated and both escaped.<ref>Williams (2009), p.69.</ref> Palmer and ''Britannia'' left [[Chennai|Madras]] on 16 April 1800, reached St Helena on 8 July, and arrived at The Downs on 23 September.<ref name=BL8>[http://searcharchives.bl.uk/IAMS_VU2:IAMS045-001114669 British Library: ''Britannia'' (8).]</ref> ''Britannia'' arrived back in London on 30 September.

''Lloyd's Register'' for 1801 repeats the names of owner and master from the prior volume, but indicates a change with the name of ''Britannia''{{'}}s new owner as "Cleland Co." and the name of her master as "J. Johnson". It also indicates that she carried two 9-pounder guns and ten short 9-pounders "on the New Construction".

''Britannia'' sailed from London on 21 January 1801 for Madeira and India. In Portsmouth her captain was relieved by Captain Stout. Benjamin Stout had received a letter of marque for ''Britannia'' two days earlier.<ref name=LoM2>{{Cite web |url=http://www.1812privateers.org/Great%20Britain/marque1793-1815.pdf# |title=Letter of Marque, p.54 - accessed 25 July 2017. |access-date=19 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020052005/http://www.1812privateers.org/Great%20Britain/marque1793-1815.pdf# |archive-date=20 October 2016 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Stout left Calcutta 28 October 1801. Homeward bound, ''Britannia'' was at [[Khejuri II#Khijri|Kedgeree]] on 4 January 1802, the Cape of Good Hope on 7 February, and St Helena on 26 March, arriving at The Downs on 29 May.<ref name=BL8/> She returned to London on 31 May2.

In 1802 Captain J. Reddy replaced Stout, though her master had still been listed as J. Johnson.<ref>''Lloyd's Register'' (1802).</ref> Captain James Reddy, of ''Britannia'' was reported to have died in Bengal on 29 August 1803.<ref>''The Gentleman's magazine'', 1804, Vol. 74, Part 1, p.181.</ref>

==Fate==
Contradictorily, another report has ''Britannia'' still under Reddy's command between 1808 and 1810, with Cleland & Co. employing her on the South Sea whale fishery.<ref>Clayton (2014), p.77.</ref> Supporting evidence is thin.

A database of whaling voyages does not include ''Britannia''.<ref name=bswf>[http://www.britishwhaling.org/voyage-and-crew-databases.html] Jones, A.G. E.; Dale Chatwin; and Rhys Richards. BSWF Database – voyages: ''Britannia''.</ref> ''Lloyd's Register'' and the ''Register of Shipping'' for 1809 both still shows her trading on the India-London route, with Reddy as master. The 1810 ''Lloyd's Register'' shows ''Britannia'', J. Reddy, master, and Cleland & Co., owners. Her trade is now London-South Seas.<ref name=LR1810>[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015005676393?urlappend=%3Bseq=85 ''Lloyd's Register'' (1810), Seq. №B435.]</ref> ''Britannia'' is no longer listed in the ''Register of Shipping'' after 1809, or in ''Lloyd's Register'' after 1810.

==Cultural depictions==
''Britannia''{{'}}s voyage as convict ship to New South Wales is depicted in the second episode of the Australian miniseries [[Against the Wind (miniseries)|''Against the Wind'']].

==Citations and references==
'''Citations'''
{{Reflist|30em}}
'''References'''
*{{cite book |title =The Convict Ships | first =Charles | last =Bateson | year =1959 | publisher =Brown, Son & Ferguson | oclc =3778075}}
*Clayton, Jane M. (2014) ''Ships employed in the South Sea Whale Fishery from Britain: 1775-1815: An alphabetical list of ships''. (Berforts Group). {{ISBN|978-1908616524}}
*Druett, Joan (2000) "She Captains: Heroines and Hellions of the Sea". (Simon & Schuster) [https://books.google.ca/books?id=PG6TuUhoq88C&pg=PA134&dq=%22The+Hell-ship+%22Britannia%22%22&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22The%20Hell-ship%20%22Britannia%22%22&f=false]
*Hackman, Rowan (2001) ''Ships of the East India Company''. (Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society). {{ISBN|0-905617-96-7}}
*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)
*Williams, Greg H. (2009) ''The French Assault on American Shipping, 1793-1813: A History and Comprehensive Record of Merchant Marine Losses''. (McFarland). {{ISBN|978-0-7864-3837-2}}

==External links==
*[http://www.oocities.org/heartland/prairie/1167/ships.htm Brittania (1774) GeoCities page]

[[Category:1774 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1774]]
[[Category:Tax resistance in the United States]]
[[Category:History of the Thirteen Colonies]]
[[Category:History of Charleston, South Carolina]]
[[Category:Ships of the British East India Company]]
[[Category:Convict ships to New South Wales]]
[[Category:Whaling ships]]
[[Category:Age of Sail merchant ships]]
[[Category:Merchant ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:18th-century in Charleston, South Carolina]]

Britannia (1774 ship) - Revision history

BJRMelisa78144: minor cleanup

>Aciram: added Category:18th-century in Charleston, South Carolina using HotCat