Scourge of Malice or Malice Scourge or Mare Scourge was a 38-gun ship ordered by
East Indies. The first recorded non-European performance of the play Hamlet took place on Red Dragon in 1607 while she was anchored off the coast of Sierra Leone.[3]
Construction
In the 1590s, the Earl of Cumberland's passion for nautical adventure was at its peak. He lacked a vessel able to support his hired fleet; the only option he had to get a sufficiently well-armed vessel was to borrow from the Queen, something which would give her significant control over his actions. As a result, he declared that he would have his own ship built, 'the best and largest ship that had been built by any English subject.'
Having had Scourge of Malice built, the Earl then departed in his new ship, along with three smaller vessels, on another expedition to raid the Spanish Main. However, the fleet had only travelled as far as Plymouth when the Queen recalled him to London.[6] He returned, leaving the remainder of the small fleet to continue without him. On their return, he travelled out with them again; however on this voyage, Scourge of Malice was badly damaged in a violent storm only forty leagues from England,[4] her mainmast being damaged,[6] and he was once more forced to return to seek repairs.[4]
With the repairs completed, the Earl set sail yet again on 6 March 1598. Scourge of Malice was now the flagship of a fleet numbering twenty vessels.[4]
After Sir
castle of El Morro rather than destroy it, and on 29 June allowed the Spanish commander and troops to leave.[7] During the attack on the town, the English had only lost 200 men, but over the next two months they lost 400 to an epidemic of dysentery, and after occupying the island for only 65 days, Cumberland abandoned the fort. Before they left, Cumberland's men sacked the town, making off with the cathedral bells, 2,000 slaves and a marble windowsill that caught the eye of Cumberland.[8]
The fleet continued to raid Spanish settlements in the West Indies, achieving far more for Cumberland's country than his own pocket. The sale of his captures garnered him about a tenth of the money that he had invested in the voyage. In addition, the fleet had lost two vessels and over a thousand men.[4]
East India Company, First Voyage (1601–1603)
Formed on 31 December 1600,
Doldrums, where they remained for a month. They replenished their provisions from a captured Portuguese vessel en route, but much of the fleet was affected by scurvy by the time they arrived at Table Bay on 9 September. Lancaster had managed to prevent the sailors on his own ship from being so stricken by regularly dosing them with lemon juice, and he was forced to send members of his own crew to help man the other ships into the harbour. They stayed at Table Bay for seven weeks before departing, navigating along the eastern side of Madagascar. Since leaving England, they had lost more than a fifth of their crew complement across the fleet, but those that remained were fit and healthy. Adverse wind conditions, and a second bout of scurvy, forced the fleet to drop anchor in Antongil Bay, where they remained from Christmas Day through until 6 March 1602. On the resumption of their journey, they reached the Nicobar Islands after two months further travel, and took the opportunity to take on water and trim their vessels, staying for three weeks.[15]
Bantam, the two ships set sail on their return journey to England on 20 February 1603. The return journey proceeded without incident until they had rounded the Cape of Good Hope, when they were caught in a heavy and sudden storm.[19] During the storm, Red Dragon's rudder broke off, leaving the ship at the mercy of the ocean.[20] The ship's carpenter tried to build an improvised rudder to try to steady the ship's course, but in the rough seas it provided no relief. In spite of his crew's pleas to transfer to Hector, Lancaster insisted that the crew remain on Red Dragon, telling his crew that they would "yet abide Gods leisure." Despite the confidence he had shown his crew, he ordered Hector to leave them and return to England.[21] When morning broke, the storm cleared as suddenly as it had appeared, and Hector was not yet over the horizon; their captain having been reluctant to leave Red Dragon while she was in distress.[22] Another new rudder was made, this time using wood from the mizzenmast, and the best swimmers and divers from the two ships hung it securely in place. After undergoing further repairs at St Helena, Red Dragon and Hector eventually arrived back in England on 11 September 1603,[23] three months after Ascension.[24] Lancaster was knighted by the newly crowned King James I most likely upon his presentation of the letters from the Kings of Achin and Bantam, for his duties, but the profits from the voyage were minimal, the sheer quantity of goods making them hard to find buyers for.[25]
East India Company, Second Voyage (1604–1605)
The Second Voyage of the East India Company to the East Indies was made by the same four ships that had made the previous voyage, with Red Dragon now under the command of
Gravesend on 25 March 1604 during the night, but when they stopped at the Downs, it was discovered that they were forty men short of their complement, and so had to wait for the remaining men.[26] On 1 April, Red Dragon took on twenty-eight men, and despite this, Middleton was determined to set sail to make use of the beneficial wind conditions.[27] When a new muster of the men was taken, it was found that they were now twenty-eight men over their complement; and on contacting the other vessels, they found the same trend amongst them also.[28] Angry that he had lost use of a fair wind waiting for men he had not needed, and now would have to lose further use of it due to having to deposit those same men back to land, Middleton ordered that they should sail on to Plymouth and discharge the men there.[29] Despite these delays, the fleet passed Cabo da Roca on 7 April, and by 15 April had reached the Canary Islands.[29] They anchored at Maio, Cape Verde on 24 April, and set ashore in search of fresh food and water.[30] The following day, Middleton did not go ashore, but sent the three other captains to keep their men from straggling, an order reiterated by Captain Stiles, and then by master Durham, a merchant.[31] They were due to set sail early the next morning, but before the anchor had been raised, Captain Stiles sent word to Red Dragon that master Durham was missing.[32] A search party numbering 150 men was sent out to search for him, but after a day's hunting failed to find the missing merchant, Middleton resolved to leave without him.[32]
The fleet crossed the equator on 16 May, and sighted the Cape of Good Hope just under two months later, 13 July. By this stage at least eighty of Red Dragon's crew were suffering from scurvy, and although Middleton wanted to press on with the voyage and round the Cape, his crew protested and asked to put ashore to recover. The weather played against them, and it was six days before they could get their sick on land. Having landed at Table Bay, the company traded successfully with the local inhabitants, securing over two hundred sheep, a number of beeves, kine and a bullock. On 3 August, the general (Middleton) took Red Dragon's pinnace and a company of men in other boats to hunt whales in the bay. The first harpoon to take a solid hold came from the pinnace of Susan, which was then dragged up and down the bay for half an hour until they were forced to cut the rope to ensure their own safety. The next shot that held came from the general's pinnace, and had this time struck a younger, smaller whale. As with Susan's pinnace before it, the boat was towed back and forth in the bay, while the larger whale stayed with them, harrying the boats with blows. One such blow on the general's pinnace broke the timbers, causing the boat to flood and Middleton to take refuge on another of the boats. With great difficulty, the pinnace was rescued and brought ashore where it took the ship's carpenters three days to repair. Eventually the larger whale abandoned its companion, which took until sunset to die from its wounds, after which it was dragged to shore. The oil from the whale was intended for their lamps, but a combination of the small size of the whale and bad casks provided the company with less than they would have liked.[33]
Following attacks from the native population, the fleet's company returned to their ships on 14 August, and then, with fair winds, set sail five days later. On 21 December, the fleet anchored within the islands of Sumatra, having lost a number of men to scurvy, and with a number of those that remained weakened. Due to illness, Middleton was unable to land and present the King of Bantam with a letter from King James until 31 December. It was then decided that Red Dragon and Ascension would proceed to the Maluku Islands, while Hector and Susan would return to England with their cargoes. The ships departed on 16 January, and just under a month later on 10 February made anchor off Ambon Island; having lost a number of men to flux during their journey from Java. Here they gained permission from the Portuguese commander to trade on the island. Soon after their arrival however, a Dutch fleet arrived and took the fort by force. As a result of this, the natives refused to trade with the English company until permission had been granted by the Dutch. Middleton was now troubled: the Dutch were cutting off his opportunities to trade. In addition to Ambon Island, they had also beaten the English to the Banda Islands, where they were offering the same commodities as Red Dragon and Ascension had to offer. In view of this, Middleton declared that the only way they could acquire the necessary quantity of goods was for the two vessels to split up, with Red Dragon doing her best to go to the Maluku Islands, while Ascension made for the isles of Banda. The decision was not well received among the crews of the two ships, due to the weakness they were suffering from due to dysentery, and the fact that travelling to the Maluku Islands would mean sailing against both wind and current. Despite these issues, the plan was carried out, Red Dragon sailing for a month before sighting the Maluku Islands.[34]