Raunak Shankhwar: put up...

2025-12-13T21:38:52Z

put up...

New page

{{other ships|Princess Royal (East Indiaman)|Princess Royal (ship)|French ship Duguay-Trouin}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Infobox ship
|section1={{Infobox ship/image
|image=
|image_caption =
}}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career
| hide_header =
| country = [[East India Company]]
| flag = [[File:Flag of the British East India Company (1707).svg|65px]]
| name = ''Princess Royal''
| owner = Alexander Hume
| ordered =
| builder = Wells
| laid_down =
| launched = October 1786
| renamed =
| fate = Captured 1793
}}

|section3={{Infobox ship/career
|hide_header=title
|country=France
|flag=[[File:Flag of French-Navy-Revolution.svg|45px|French Navy Ensign]]
|name= ''Duguay Trouin''
|namesake=[[René Duguay-Trouin]]
|owner=Pitot & Co of Mauritius
|operator=
|registry=
|route=
|ordered=
|awarded=
|builder=
|original_cost=
|yard_number=
|way_number=
|laid_down=
|launched=
|sponsor=
|christened=
|completed=
|acquired=By capture September 1793 and purchase
|commissioned=
|recommissioned=
|decommissioned=
|maiden_voyage=
|in_service=
|out_of_service=
|renamed=
|reclassified=
|refit=
|struck=
|reinstated=
|homeport=
|identification=
|motto=
|nickname=
|honours=
|honors=
|captured=May 1794
|fate=
|notes=
|badge=
}}

|section4={{Infobox ship/career
|hide_header=title
|country={{nowrap|United Kingdom}}
|flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|civil}}
| name = ''Princess Royal''
| owner =
| ordered =
| builder =
| original_cost =
| laid_down =
| launched =
| acquired = By capture and purchase 1794
| commissioned =
| decommissioned =
| in_service =
| out_of_service =
| renamed =
| struck =
| reinstated =
| honours =
| captured =
| fate = Captured October 1799
| notes =
}}

|section5={{Infobox ship/characteristics
|hide_header=
|header_caption=<ref name=BL>[http://searcharchives.bl.uk/IAMS_VU2:IAMS045-001115589 British Library: ''Princess Royal'' (3).]</ref>
|class=
|type=East Indiaman
|tonnage=
|displacement=
|tons_burthen=805{{small|{{frac|48|94}}}}<ref name=Hackman/> ([[Builder's Old Measurement|bm]])
|length={{convert|143|ft|7+1/2|in|m|1|abbr=on}} (overall); {{convert|116|ft|0+1/2|in|m|1|abbr=on}} (keel)
|beam={{convert|36|ft|1+1/2|in|m|1|abbr=on}}
|hold_depth={{convert|14|ft|9|in|m|1|abbr=on}}
|draught=
|sail_plan=
|speed=
|endurance=
|boats=
|capacity=
|troops=
|complement=*1794: 403 men <ref name="Demerliac409" />
*1793:99<ref name=LoM>{{cite web|url=http://www.1812privateers.org/Great%20Britain/marque1793-1815.pdf|title=Letter of Marque, p.83 – Retrieved 25 July 2017.|access-date=27 October 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 }}</ref>
*''Duguay Trouin'': 403
*1798:95<ref name=LoM/>
|crew=
|armament=*1793: 26 × 9- & 4-pounder guns<ref name=LoM/>
*''Duguay Trouin'': 26 × 12-pounder + 2 × 9-pounder + 4 × 6-pounder guns{{sfnp|Winfield|Roberts |2015|p=134}}{{efn|Captain Newcome of HMS ''Orpheus'', see text, reported that ''Duguay Truin'' carried twenty-six 18-pounder guns.<ref name=LG13738/> James believed that her main guns were 12-pounders, arguing that that was what she carried as an East Indiaman, and that her gunports were not fitted for 18-pounders.<ref>James (1837), Vol. 1, pp.226-7.</ref> Demerliac gives twenty-six 12-pounders, two 9-pounders and six 4-pounders.<ref name="Demerliac409" />}}
*1798: 12 × 9-pounder guns<ref name=LoM/>
|notes=
}}
}}

'''''Princess Royal''''', launched in 1786, was an [[East Indiaman]]. She made two complete trips to India for the British [[East India Company]] (EIC) and was on her third trip, this one to China, when French privateers or warships captured her on 27 September 1793. The [[French Navy]] took her into service in the Indian Ocean as a 34-gun frigate under the name ''Duguay Trouin''. The [[Royal Navy]] recaptured her and she returned to British merchant service. In 1797 she performed one more voyage for the EIC. She received a [[letter of marque]] in July 1798 but was captured in October 1799 off the coast of Sumatra.

==EIC==
Captain James Horncastle commanded ''Princess Royal'' on all three of her voyages, including her last.<ref name=BL/>

===EIC voyage #1 (1787-88)===
Horncastle left [[The Downs (ship anchorage)|the Downs]] on 6 January 1787, bound for [[Chennai|Madras]], [[Bengal]], and [[Mumbai|Bombay]]. Capt James Horncastle. ''Princess Royal'' reached [[Cape colony|the Cape]] on 3 April, and arrived at Madras on 6 June. From there she sailed to [[Kolkata|Calcutta]], arriving at [[Diamond Harbour]] on 18 June. For her return trip, she passed [[Sagar Island|Saugor]] on 16 November, and reached Bombay on 12 February 1788. She reached [[Saint Helena|St Helena]] on 12 June and arrived at the Downs on 22 August.<ref name=BL/> During this voyage Horncastle and ''Princess Royal'' reportedly fought an action in the [[Straits of Malacca]],<ref>Hardy (1835), p.160.</ref> though it is not clear against whom.

===EIC voyage #2 (1790-91)===
Horncastle left the Downs on 26 April 1790, bound for Bombay. ''Princess Royal'' reached [[Anjouan|Johanna]] on 12 August and arrived at Bombay on 3 September. From there she sailed to [[Thalassery|Tellicherry]], which she reached on 7 October, [[Anchuthengu|Anjengo]] (27 October), and Tellicherry again (14 November), before returning to Bombay on 30 November. For her return trip she reached Tellicherry on 7 January 1791, the Cape on 3 March, and St Helena on 22 March. She arrived at the Downs on 13 May.<ref name=BL/>

===EIC voyage #3 and capture (1793-capture)===
Horncastle left the Downs on 5 April 1793, bound for St Helena and China. The [[French Revolutionary Wars]] had begun two months earlier so Horncastle received a [[letter of marque]] dated 28 February 1793.<ref name=LoM/> This would permit him to engage in offensive action against the French should the opportunity present itself. ''Princess Royal'' reached St Helena on 11 July.<ref name=BL/> Unfortunately, on 29 September three French warships captured her off [[Anyer|Anger]] (or Anjere) Point while she was still on her way to China.<ref name=BL/>

H. Couperus, the Dutch governor of [[Malacca]], wrote a letter on 15 December 1793 to the English captains there that a letter from [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies|Batavia]] dated 29 September reported that three French warships had attacked and captured ''Princess Royal''. The letter further reported that the French ships mounted about 120 guns between them. Captain Bampton, of ''Hormazeer'', arrived with a cargo of sugar from Batavia that he picked up after delivering a cargo to [[Botany Bay]]. He reported that he had seen three French ships at Batavia, two of 50 guns and one of 44 guns. Another report, this by Captain Simpson of ''Carron'', stated that three French warships were cruising off the coast of Canton. He described them as a 64-gun, a 44-gun, and a 20-gun vessel; they had a large number of troops aboard and were believed responsible for ''Princess Royal{{'}}''s capture.<ref name=Prize>Houghton, Roger - ''A Peoples' History 1793 – 1844 from the newspapers: Prize-taking'',[http://www.houghton.idv.hk/?p=218] - accessed 29 December 2014.</ref>

A later account reports that the three privateers were the 36-gun ''Dumouriez'', 32-gun ''La Liberté'', and 28-gun ''Égalité''. Horncastle fought for an hour before [[striking the colours|striking]]. ''Princess Royal'' had two men killed and three wounded.<ref>Biden (1830), pp203-4.</ref>

Her captors took ''Princess Royal'' to [[Mauritius|Île de France]]. There she was sold; reportedly, "Prize-taking has become so lucrative on Mauritius that bidding for the fast-sailing Princess Royal was fierce and she sold for 2,400,000 livres."<ref name=Prize/>{{efn|Even if the currency was the [[French colonial livre]] (1.5Fcl/1[[French livre]]), this is quite a sum, especially as the EIC reported the value of its cargo on board ''Princess Royal'' as only £1,800.<ref>''Reports from the Select Committee of the House of Commons appointed to enquire into the present state of the affairs of the East India Company, together with the minutes of evidence, an appendix of documents, and a general index'', (1830), Vol. 2, p.976.</ref>}} ''Lloyd's List'' reported that she was in Mauritius being fitted out as a privateer.<ref>''Lloyd's List'', no.2589,[http://www.1812privateers.org/LLOYDS/1794/02-25-1794.jpg] - accessed 30 December 2014.</ref> The French Navy requisitioned her and renamed her ''Duguay Trouin''.{{sfnp|Winfield|Roberts |2015|p=134}}

==French naval service==
{{main|Sunda Strait campaign of January 1794}}

On 25 January 1794, ''Duguay Trouin'', under the command of Julien Thérouart, was in the [[Sunda Strait]] as part of a French naval squadron from Île de France, that also included the frigates [[French frigate Prudente (1790)|''Prudente'']] and [[French frigate Cybèle (1789)|''Cybèle'']], and the brig [[French brig Prudente|''Vulcain'']], all four vessels under the overall command of Captain [[Jean-Marie Renaud]]. There they engaged a squadron of EIC ships consisting of the East Indiamen {{ship||William Pitt|1785 EIC ship|2}}, {{ship||Houghton|1782 EIC ship|2}}, and {{ship||Britannia|1772 EIC ship|2}}, the country ship {{ship||Nonsuch|1781 ship|2}}, the [[Bombay Marine]] (EIC) 14-gun brig ''Nautilus'', and two recently captured French privateers, all under the overall command of Commodore Charles Mitchell. (The two privateers were the corvettes [[French privateer Vengeur|''Vengeur'']] and [[French ship Résolue#Privateers and other ships|''Résolue'']]. On 17 January they had attacked the EIC [[Factory (trading post)|factory]] at [[Bengkulu (city)|Bencoolen]], where the East Indiaman [[Pigot (1780 Indiaman)|''Pigot'']] had repelled them. Mitchell's squadron encountered the two on 22 January and captured them.)

For an hour the two squadrons continued a general exchange of fire at long-range, before Mitchell turned ''William Pitt'', ''Houghton'' and ''Nonsuch'' towards the French at 09:30, the latter two both managing to hit ''Cybèle'' with destructive [[Broadside (naval)|broadside]]s. Firing continued for another 18 minutes as Renaud withdrew, eventually anchoring off the island of Pulau Baby. Neither commander was keen to continue the action, Mitchell fearing that his undermanned ships would not be able to properly engage the better armed French vessels. Casualties among the French squadron are not known, but the only loss on the British ships was on ''Nonsuch'', which had a man killed in combat with ''Cybèle''.<ref name="WJ199">James (1837), Vol. 1, p. 199.</ref>

In need of reinforcement and resupply, Mitchell drew his squadron back to [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies|Batavia]] and was there joined by the 36 gun Dutch frigate [[Dutch ship Amazone|''Amazone'']] under Captain Kerwal and an armed merchant ship. Mitchell's ships then cruised the Sunda Strait for another two weeks without discovering any enemy vessels, before concluding the operation on 8 February and returning to the Indian Ocean via Bencoolen.<ref name="WJ199"/>

Renaud used Mitchell's retreat to withdraw also into the Indian Ocean via Bencoolen. His squadron reached the British trading post on 9 February, where ''Pigot'' was still undergoing repairs. The French vessels' arrival took ''Pigot'' by surprise and they captured her. As the merchant ship was manoeuvred out of the bay, Renaud demanded the surrender of the small Fort Marlborough nearby and was informed that the fort was well armed and that the arrival of Mitchell's squadron was expected at any moment. Unwilling to reengage with Mitchell, Renaud withdrew immediately without assaulting the fort.<ref name="WJ199"/> The French squadron subsequently returned to Île de France.

==Recapture==
{{main|Action of 5 May 1794}}

{{HMS|Orpheus|1780|6}}, Captain Newcome, captured ''Duguay Trouin'' on 5 May 1794. In the action, ''Orpheus'' had a midshipman killed, and nine men wounded. French casualties amounted to 21 men killed and 60 wounded.<ref name="Demerliac409">Demerliac, p.74, no 409</ref> Many of the French crew were ill and Newcome believed that they would not survive the voyage to Madras. Instead, he sailed to [[Mahé, Seychelles]], where he arrived on 16 May. It was a French possession but it made no resistance when he arrived.

Newcome landed 200 sick and wounded prisoners, as well as the rest of ''Dugay Trouin''{{'}}s crew on [[Ste. Anne Island]], from where a brig later carried them to at [[Port-Louis]], [[Mauritius]]. Newcome wrote to [[Anne Joseph Hippolyte de Maurès, Comte de Malartic|Malartic]], the governor of Mauritius, asking him to release British prisoners equal in number and rank to those Newcome had landed.

While it was in the Seychelles, the British squadron also captured the brig ''Olivette'', which belonged to the French privateer [[Jean-François Hodoul]], and ''Deux Andrés'', a slaver from Mozambique under the command of Captain Hardy, with 408 slaves on board.<ref name=LG13738>{{London Gazette|issue=13738|page=17|date=6 January 1795}}</ref> On 20 May Newcome sent ''Olivette'' to [[Praslin]] to gather supplies for the squadron,

Newcome left Mahé on 1 June and arrived at Madras on 18 June, together with ''Duguay Trouin'' and ''Deux Andrés''.

==Merchantman and capture==
On 2 August 1794, it was announced that friends of Captain Reid, of Madras, had purchased ''Duguay Trouin'' and appointed him her captain.<ref>Houghton, Roger - ''A Peoples' History 1793 – 1844 from the newspapers: Asia 1796 - 1809, Part 2'',[http://www.houghton.idv.hk/?p=176] - accessed 29 December 2014.</ref> ''Duguay Trouin'' sold for £2900. Her purchasers renamed her ''Catherine'' and employed her in the coastal trade.<ref name=Hackman>Hackman (2001), p.179.</ref> John Reid had left ''Princess Royal'' by 4 May 1797. (He shipped on board the country ship ''Pearl'' for [[Basra|Bussora]] and may have died later that year.)<ref>Jackson (1799), pp.1, 104, & 108.</ref>

She made one more voyage for the EIC. At some point ''Catherine'' reverted to the name ''Princess Royal''.{{efn|Hackman implies that the name change occurred after ''Catherine'' returned to Bombay from England.<ref name=Hackman/> However he appears to have mixed up the name of the captains on ''Princess Royal'' of 805 tons (bm), and on [[Princess Royal (1794 ship)|''Princess Royal'']] of 405 tons (bm). Registers of [[Letters of marque]] and entries in ''[[Lloyd's Register]]'' provide the evidence for the occurrence of a mix-up.}} It is most likely that the name reversion occurred before she left for England.

Captain John Wedgborough (or Wedgebrough) left Bombay on 9 August 1797. ''Princess Royal'' reached the Cape on 16 October and St Helena on 3 December. She arrived at the Downs on 31 January 1798.<ref name=BL2>[http://searcharchives.bl.uk/IAMS_VU2:IAMS045-001115591 British Library: ''Princess Royal'' (5).]</ref> Wedgebrough received a letter of marque on 14 July 1798.<ref name=LoM/>

''Lloyd's List'' reported in 1800 that a privateer had captured ''Princess Royal'', "late Company's ship", in November 1799 off the coast of Sumatra.<ref>[http://www.1812privateers.org/LLOYDS/1800/04-11-1800.jpg ''Lloyd's List'', no.4040- accessed 6 September 2015.]</ref> The captor was reported to be the privateer [[Malartic (1799 ship)|''Malartic'']], of 12 guns.<ref>''The Asiatic Annual Register: Or a View of the History of Hindustan and of the Politics, Commerce and Literature of Asia'', (1801; Cadell and Davies), "Chronicle for October 1799", p.41.</ref> ''Malartic{{'}}''s captain was the noted French privateer [[Jean-Marie Dutertre]]. ''[[Le Moniteur Universel]]'' reported on 2 floréal an VIII (22 April 1800) that two privateers had captured ''Princess Royal'' and 15 lesser vessels, with a note stating that the 120-man ''Malartic'' had alone captured ''Princess Royal''.{{efn|Gallois stated that ''Princess Royal'' would have carried 24 to 30 guns, with a crew of 200 to 250 men.<ref>Gallois, vol.2, p.405.</ref> This represents a more than doubling of both guns and men.}}

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==Citations==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==
* {{cite book |last=Biden |first=Christopher |year=1830 |title=Naval Discipline : Subordination Contrasted with Insubordination: Or, A View of the Necessity for Passing a Law Establishing an Efficient Naval Discipline on Board Ships in the Merchant-service ... |publisher=J.M. Richardson}}
* {{cite book|title=Nomenclature des navires français|last=Demerliac|first=Alain|year=2003|publisher=Éditions A.N.C.R.E.|location=Nice|url=http://ancre.fr/en/ouvrages-de-base-en/42-nomenclature-des-navires-francais.html|language=French|volume=1792-1799}}
* {{cite book|title=Les Corsaires français sous la République et l'Empire|first=Napoléon|last=Gallois|publisher=Julien, Lanier et compagnie|year=1847|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dVMI4l8LN0gC|language=French|volume=2}} (Volume 1 and 2 in a single file)
* {{cite book |last1=Hackman |first1=Rowan |year=2001 |title=Ships of the East India Company |location=Gravesend, Kent |publisher=World Ship Society |isbn=0-905617-96-7}}
* {{cite book |last=Hardy |first=Horatio Charles |year=1835 |title=Supplement to a Register of Ships Employed in the Service of the ... East India Company from 1760 to the Conclusion of the Commercial Charter, Etc. }}
*[[John Jackson (travel writer)|Jackson, John]] (1799) ''Journey from India, towards England, in the year 1797, through countries not much frequented, and unknown to Europeans''.
*{{cite book| last = James| first = William| authorlink = William James (naval historian)| year = 1837| title = The Naval History of Great Britain, from the Declaration of War by France in 1793, to the Accession of George IV.| url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_PSwOAAAAQAAJ| publisher = R. Bentley}}
* {{cite book|last1=Winfield |first1=Rif|last2=Roberts |first2=Stephen S. |year=2015 |title=French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786–1861: Design Construction, Careers and Fates |publisher=Seaforth Publishing |isbn=978-1-84832-204-2}}
{{italic title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Princess Royal (1786 Indiaman)}}
[[Category:Ships of the British East India Company]]
[[Category:1786 ships]]
[[Category:Captured ships]]
[[Category:Age of Sail merchant ships]]
[[Category:Merchant ships of the United Kingdom]]

Princess Royal (1786 EIC ship) - Revision history

Raunak Shankhwar: put up...