Henry Addington (1796 EIC ship)

Henry Addington was an East Indiaman in the service of the British East India Company (EIC). She made one voyage for the EIC and was only five days into her second when she wrecked in 1798 at the Isle of Wight.

History
Great Britain
NameHenry Addington
NamesakeHenry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth
OwnerSir Alexander Hamilton
BuilderWells, Deptford
Launched10 March 1796[1]
FateWrecked 9 December 1798
General characteristics
Tons burthen1200, or 1432,[2] or 1432794,[1] or 1477[3] (bm)
Length176 ft 9+12 in (53.9 m) (overall), 144 ft 2+12 in (44.0 m) (keel)
Beam43 ft 2+12 in (13.2 m)
Depth of hold17 ft 6 in (5.3 m)
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Complement150[3]
Armament36 × 12& 9-pounder guns[3]
NotesThree decks

Only voyage (1796–1798)

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Captain Richard Atherton Farington received a letter of marque on 4 May 1796.[3] He sailed from Portsmouth on 27 June, bound for China. Henry Addington reached the Cape of Good Hope on 29 September and arrived at Whampoa Anchorage on 2 February 1797. On the homeward-bound leg, she was at Bally Town, which is slightly up river from Calcutta, on 14 September. She was at the Cape on 2 December, and arrived on 17 May 1798 at the Downs.[2]

Loss

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Captain Thomas Wakefield received a letter of marque on 9 November 1798. On 4 December he sailed from the Downs, bound for Bombay and China. Only five days later, on 9 December, Henry Addington struck the Bembridge Ledge on the Isle of Wight, during a heavy fog. When the tide went out the next day she bilged. Five crew member drowned while trying to reach shore on a raft. Also, a block falling from the mizzen mast hit a boy on the head, killing him. By 16 December all that was left standing was the forepart of the vessel's upper works.[4] Some casks were saved, but the EIC put the value of the cargo it lost at £29,222.[5]

Citations

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  1. ^ a b Hackman (2001), p. 125.
  2. ^ a b "British Library: Henry Addington". searcharchives.bl.uk. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d Gules, transcribed by Michael Dun (4 August 2010). "Marque1793-1815" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  4. ^ Grocott (1997), p. 64.
  5. ^ 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.

References

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  • Grocott, Terence (1997). Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary & Napoleonic Eras. London: Chatham. ISBN 1861760302.
  • Hackman, Rowan (2001). Ships of the East India Company. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-96-7.