Arniston (East Indiaman)
Repulse, an East Indiaman from the same period and similar in size to Arniston
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History | |
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Great Britain | |
Owner | |
Builder | William Barnard, Deptford |
Launched | 1794 |
Fate | Wrecked, 30 May 1815 at Waenhuiskrans, South Africa |
General characteristics [3] | |
Type | East Indiaman |
Tons burthen | 1468, or 14338⁄94[4] (bm) |
Length |
|
Beam | 43 ft 3+1⁄2 in (13.2 m) |
Depth of hold | 17 ft 6 in (5.3 m) |
Propulsion | Sail |
Complement | 120–140 men[5] |
Armament |
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Arniston was an
Controversially, the ship did not have a
Overview
East Indiamen operated under charter or licence to the Honourable East India Company, which held a monopoly granted by
Arniston was heavily armed, with her fifty-eight guns
Voyages (1794–1812)
For her first five voyages she sailed under the ownership and management of John Wedderburn (probably John Wedderburn of Ballindean) and the next three EIC voyages under ownership of Robert Hudson.[9]
Arniston sailed from Great Britain to the Far East eight times before her last voyage.[2][non-primary source needed] On one of her homeward journeys from China, she struck an uncharted rock at 5°46′8″S 105°16′43″E / 5.76889°S 105.27861°E, near the island of Pulo Goondy (modern day Pulau Legundi), located just south of Sumatra. She did not suffer any ill effects as a result of this incident however, which is mentioned in journals of the time only for its noteworthiness as a navigation hazard to other shipping.[a]
Apart from this and another incident in 1800, Arniston's first eight voyages were uneventful.
Voyage number 1: St Helena, Madras, and China (1795–1797)
Captain Campbell Marjoribanks:[2]
- 3 April 1795: Portsmouth
- 14 April: Tenerife
- 2 June: St Helena
- 9 August: Cape of Good Hope
- 27 September: Madras
- 14 November: Penang
- 3 December: Malacca
- 11 March 1796: Whampoa
- 23 April: Second Bar
- 29 June: Macau
- 20 November: St Helena
- 1 March 1797: Deptford
While Arniston was at St Helena on her outward journey, she undertook to transport troops from there to join
Arniston was to ferry nine field pieces, as well as a company of artillery and three of infantry (393 men in all), to Elphinstone.[11][non-primary source needed]
Voyage number 2: China (1797–1798)
On this voyage Arniston sailed under a letter of marque in the name of Captain William Macnamara, and dated 13 May 1797.[5] Her itinerary was:[2]
- 5 June 1797: Portsmouth
- 29 August: Cape of Good Hope
- 9 December: Whampoa
- 14 February 1798: Second Bar
- 26 March: Macau
- 5 August: St Helena
- 23 October: Long Reach
Voyage number 3: St Helena, Benkulen, and China (1800–1801)
On this voyage Arniston sailed under a letter of marque in the name of Captain Campbell Marjoribanks, and dated 29 November 1799.[5] Her itinerary was:[2]
- 7 January 1800: Portsmouth
- 4 April: St Helena
- 27 June: Benkulen
- 29 July: Penang
- 27 August: Malacca
- 21 September: Whampoa
- 29 November: Second Bar
- 18 January 1801: Macau
- 15 April: St Helena
- 17 June: Long Reach
During this voyage Arniston had just anchored at
Voyage number 4: St Helena, Benkulen, and China (1801–1803)
Captain Campbell Marjoribanks:[2]
- 31 December 1801: Downs
- 9 March 1802: St Helena
- 10 June: Benkulen
- 12 July: Penang
- 31 August: Whampoa
- 24 October: Second Bar
- 11 February 1803: St Helena
- 26 April: Long Reach
Voyage number 5: China (1804–1805)
On this voyage Arniston sailed under a letter of marque in the name of Captain James Jameson, and dated 24 March 1804.[5] Her itinerary was:[2]
On 9 June 1804, Arniston left
The fleet arrived at
The ships then sailed to Norfolk Island, which was the next rendezvous point after Saint Paul Island, for members that had separated. Taunton Castle had separated in the South Atlantic and although she arrived at Norfolk Island three days after the fleet had sailed on, did not rejoin the rest of the fleet until she arrived at Haerlem Bay, in China.
The arrival of Athenienne and the East Indiamen at Norfolk Island sowed panic among the colonists there who feared that a French flotilla had arrived.[14][non-primary source needed]
The fleet arrived at Whampoa in mid-January 1805. The fleet then returned to England via the Straits of Malacca. Arniston, for example, crossed the second Bar on 14 February, reached Malacca on 21 March and St Helena on 30 June, and arrived at Long Reach on 15 September.[2]
Voyage number 6: China (1806–1807)
On this voyage Arniston sailed under a letter of marque in the name of Captain Peter Wedderburn dated 20 March 1806.[5][b] Her itinerary was:[2]
- 14 May 1806: Portsmouth
- 7 August: Cape of Good Hope
- 10 October: Penang
- 21 January 1807: Whampoa
- 4 May: off Lintin Island
- 1 July: Penang
- 17 July: Acheh
- 19 September: Cape of Good Hope
- 13 October: St Helena
- 6 January 1808: Lower Hope
Voyage number 7: Bombay and China (1810–1811)
Captain Samuel Landon:[2]
- 21 January 1810: Portsmouth
- 9 April: Cape of Good Hope
- 26 May: Bombay
- 1 September: Penang
- 12 October: Whampoa
- 29 December: Second Bar
- 28 May 1811: St Helena
- 13 August: Long Reach
Voyage number 8: Bombay and China (1812–1813)
On this voyage Arniston sailed under a letter of marque in the name of Captain Walter Campbell.[5] Her itinerary was:[2]
- 4 January 1812: Torbay
- 5 April: Johanna
- 7 May: Bombay
- 11 September: Whampoa
- 4 January 1813: Macau
- 27 March: St Helena
- 7 June: Long Reach
The British government then chartered Arniston as a troop transport to the Cape and India.[4]
Voyage number 9: Madeira, Cape, and Ceylon (1814–1815)
Captain George Simpson left England on 8 June 1814. At Ceylon, Arniston embarked soldiers of the
Wreck (1815)
Critically, the ship did not have a
Arniston sailed from Port de Galle on 4 April 1815 in a convoy of six other East Indiamen, under the escort of HMS Africaine and HMS Victor.[6][17] Among her 378 passengers were many invalid soldiers and sailors, plus 14 women and 25 children.[7][1]
During the passage from Ceylon, at one o'clock every day, the ships signalled each other their longitude that they calculated using their chronometers. In this way, the ships were able to compare their respective instruments, and the master of the Arniston was able to learn his longitude too, as long as he remained in the convoy.[7][16]
On 26 May, while rounding the southern tip of Africa, Arniston separated from the convoy in bad weather after her sails were damaged.
On 29 May, land was sighted to the north at 7 am, and given the dead reckoning estimates, was presumed to be the
Only six men (the ship's carpenter and five sailors[18] of the 378 people on board survived, after reaching the shore only with great difficulty through the high surf.[6][1] The following morning the sternpost was the only part of the vessel still visible.[17] The ship and her passengers had been lost for lack of a chronometer,[16] or as an officer from the same convoy later wrote:[7]
[T]his valuable ship, and all the lives on board of her, were actually sacrificed to a piece of short-sighted economy. That they might have been saved, had she been supplied with the worst chronometer that was ever sent to sea, is also quite obvious.
Aftermath
The six survivors buried the bodies found on the beach, then travelled east along the beach, expecting to reach Cape Town. However, after four and a half days, they realised their error and returned to the site of the wreck. Here they subsisted off a cask of oatmeal, while trying to effect repairs to the ship's pinnace, which had been washed ashore.[17] They were discovered six days later on 14 June by a farmer's son,[c] who was out hunting.[6][19][non-primary source needed]
- Among the victims were: Captain George Simpson, Lieutenant Brice, the 6th Viscount Molesworth and Viscountess Molesworth.[6]
- The six survivors were: Dr. Gunter (boatswain), John Barrett (carpenter), Charles Stewart Scott (carpenter's mate), William Grung (second class), Gibbs (third class), Robinson (fourth class).[6]
A memorial, a replica of which can be seen today, was erected on the beach by the wife of Colonel
Erected by their disconsolate parents to the memory of Thomas, aged 13 years, William Noble, aged 10, Andrew, aged 8 and Alexander McGregor Murray, aged 7 (the four eldest sons of Lieut Colonel Andrew Giels of H.M. 73rd Regiment) who, with Lord and Lady Molesworth unfortunately perished in the Arniston Transport, wrecked on this shore on 30th May, 1815.
Over time, the seaside village of
Thirty seven years later, the 73rd Regiment once again suffered hundreds of casualties on this coast when HMS Birkenhead was wrecked 50 miles (80 km) away at Gansbaai.
Archaeological excavation
The wreck, which lies in about 6 metres (20 ft) of water, was surveyed by an archaeological team from the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 1982.[21] The National Monuments Council issued a permit to UCT student Jim Jobling to conduct an underwater survey of the site, as well as a limited excavation. A number of artefacts were recovered, which were donated to the Bredasdorp Shipwreck Museum.[21]
Notes
- ^ The date of the incident is not documented. Murray et al., primary sources.
- John Wedderburn of Ballendean, led the family business.
- ^ The farmer's son probably had the Afrikaans name "Jan Zwartz" or perhaps "Jan Swart". The earliest report consulted referred to him as "John Swastry" (AJ 1816:34), but this seems an Anglicisation or phonetic corruption of an oral account. A later report names him "Jan Zwartz" (George Thompson, 1827, Travels and Adventures in Southern Africa, 2nd edition, Vol. 2, p. 405, quoting the account of survivor C. S. Scott in a version slightly different from AJ 1816:34). Later again, we have him as "young Schwartz" (Raikes 1846:527).
- ^ Note the incorrect date on the memorial, which should be 30 May.
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f Mitchell 2007, tertiary sources.[self-published source?]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l BL 1812, primary sources.[non-primary source needed]
- ^ National Archives: Arniston,[1] – accessed 8 November 2014.
- ^ a b Hackman (2001), p.61.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Letter of Marque, p.50 – accessed 25 July 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i AJ 1816, primary sources.[non-primary source needed]
- ^ a b c d e f g Hall 1833, primary sources.[non-primary source needed]
- ^ a b Port Cities UK, secondary sources [dead link]
- ^ "British Merchant east indiaman 'Arniston' (1794)".
- ^ Vancouver (1798), Vol. 3, p.476.[non-primary source needed]
- ^ Hardy (1835), p.163.[non-primary source needed]
- ^ Lindsay 1874, primary sources.[non-primary source needed]
- ^ James, 1837, primary sources.[non-primary source needed]
- ^ a b c Evans: Finding my ancestors: Voyage of the Athenienne to China in 1804/1805.[non-primary source needed]
- ^ Lee (2003).
- ^ a b c Hall 1820, primary sources.[non-primary source needed]
- ^ a b c d Grocott 1997, primary sources[non-primary source needed]
- ^ "British Merchant east indiaman 'Arniston' (1794)".
- ^ Raikes, Henry (1846). Memoir of the Life and Services of Vice-admiral Sir Jahleel Brenton. Hatchet & Son. pp. 527.
arniston wreck giels.
[non-primary source needed] - ^ Proposals for a Lighthouse at L'Agulhas, secondary sources.
- ^ ISBN 0-306-46345-8. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
References
- Primary sources consulted
- AJ (1816). "Nautical Notices: Loss of the Arniston, Cape Lagullas". The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register. Ser. 1, Vol. 2 (7, July 1816). London: Black, Parbury, & .
- BL (1812). "Ship's Journals: Arniston". India Office Records: Marine Department Records. British Library. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2007.
- Hackman, Rowan (2001) Ships of the East India Company. (Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society). ISBN 0-905617-96-7
- OCLC 1567491. Retrieved 12 November 2007 – via Google Books. – The Arniston cautionary tale (concluding an exposé of dead reckoningwith a map p. 276).
- Gutenberg.org. – Chapter reprinted from his Fragments of Voyages and Travels, 3rd series (1833).
- Hardy, Charles (1835) 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.
- Lee, Ida (2003). Early Explorers in Australia. Project Gutenberg.
- Grocott, Terence (1997). Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary & Napoleonic Eras. Caxton Editions. ISBN 0-8117-1533-7. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
- James, William (1835). "Light Squadrons and Single Ships: Kent and Confiance". The Naval History of Great Britain From the Declaration of War by France in 1793, to the Accession of George IV. London: Richard Bentley. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
- Lindsay, William Schaw (1874). History of Merchant Shipping and Ancient Commerce. London: S. Low, Marston, Low, and Searle. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
arniston.
- Hugh Murray; John Crawfurd; Peter Gordon; Thomas Lynn; William Wallace; Gilbert Burnet (1843). An Historical and Descriptive Account of China. London: Oliver & Boyd, Tweeddale Court, Simpkin, Marshal & Co.
- Vancouver, George (1798) A voyage of discovery to the North Pacific Ocean and round the world. (London: G.G. and J. Robinson).
- Secondary sources consulted
- "History: Proposals for a Lighthouse at L'Agulhas". L'Agulhas. 29 July 2005. Archived from the original on 19 October 2007. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
- "The East India Company". Port Cities UK. Archived from the original on 13 January 2008. Retrieved 18 January 2008. (A partnership of websites with material from the heritage organisations of the five key maritime cities in the UK – Bristol, Hartlepool, Liverpool, London and Southampton)
- Tertiary sources consulted
- Mitchell, Peter (2007). "Special South Africa: Arniston". Scuba diving reports and wreck histories. Submerged.co.uk. Archived from the original on 19 October 2007. Retrieved 9 November 2007. – Citing [2]: Wexham, Brian. Shipwrecks of the Western Cape. And: Turner, Malcolm. Shipwrecks and Salvage in South Africa.