Red Dragon (1595)
 Red Dragon, Captain Lancaster, in the Strait of Malacca, Anno 1602.
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
  England | |
| Name |
|
| Owner | Earl of Cumberland (1595–1600) |
| Operator | East India Company (1601–1619) |
| Builder | Deptford Dockyard |
| Launched | 1595 |
| Honours and awards |
|
| Fate | Sunk by Dutch fleet, 1619 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Armed ship |
| Tons burthen | 600–900, or 960[1] (bm) |
| Propulsion | Sails |
| Armament |
|
Scourge of Malice or Malice Scourge or Mare Scourge was a 38-gun ship ordered by
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.'
Service history
Raiding the Spanish Main (1598)
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
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,
On 5 June, the fleet arrived in the road of
With a letter of reply from the King of
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
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]
Accordingly, on 19 April, Red Dragon prepared to depart for Maquian, an island mostly sworn to the King of Ternate, with the exception of the town of Taffasoa, which was sworn to the King of Tidore. Already in possession of a letter from the Ternate king, the Tidore king also wrote a letter asking the town's governor to trade with the English. With a Dutch fleet closing in on the island of Tidore, intending to take the island from the Portuguese, Red Dragon departed two days later, needing to sound her trumpets as she passed the Dutch fleet at around midnight to identify herself, in case the Dutch thought she was an escaping Portuguese galleon. Safely past the Dutch, the ship and her crew arrived at Maquian at seven the following evening. On their arrival, Middleton sent his brother, along with two Ternatans who had remained with the ship, to present the governor with the king's letters. After a public reading of the letter, the governor announced that the cloves on the island were not ripe yet, but that those that were the English could have the next day. When the next day came however, they were told that there were no ripe cloves on the island, and Middleton, suspecting Ternatan duplicity, decided to sail for Taffasoa. The inhabitants there were more forthcoming, and the English managed to acquire an amount of cloves from them before the Ternatans attacked the town. With the town's governor informing them that there were no more cloves to be had, and receiving word from the fort on Tidore that the Dutch had burnt two galleons, Red Dragon returned to Tidore on 3 May.[36]
In addition to the Dutch fleet, the King of Ternate and all his caracoas were there, as part of the attack on their enemies. Red Dragon received a cold reception from the Dutch, who claimed that a Guzerat had told them that they had assisted the Portuguese during the last battle, a claim the English vehemently denied. The Dutch then described the battle ensuing, and their plans to attack the fort on the next day. That evening Captain de Torres came aboard and told Middleton that they (the Portuguese) were sure of victory against the Dutch, and would trade any remaining cloves with the English. At around one in the afternoon on 7 May, the Dutch and Ternate attacked, firing all their ordnance at the fort. During particularly heavy fire, the attacking forces landed men on the island, a little north of the town, who entrenched themselves there for the night. The attack continued the next morning, and the landed men were now within a mile of the fort and set up a large piece of ordnance to further bombard the fort. The morning of 9 May, the attack began before sunrise, and catching the Portuguese unaware, the Dutch and Ternate scaled the walls and raised their colours in the fort. During the ensuing battle, the Portuguese and Tidorean forces got the upper hand and drove their enemies from the fort, forcing them to drop their weapons and retreat into the sea. Just as the battle seemed won, the fort exploded, and the combined Dutch and Ternatan forces rallied. The Portuguese retreated once more, sacking the town as they did so, burning the factory with the cloves and leaving nothing of worth.[37]
East India Company, Third Voyage (1607–10)
On 12 March 1607, Red Dragon, along with Consent and Hector were ordered to travel to
East India Company, Tenth Voyage (1612–14)
Under the command of Thomas Best, Red Dragon took part in the tenth voyage of the East India Company, securing trading rights for the company at Surat in September 1612, and two months later engaging a Portuguese fleet and driving them from the Gulf of Cambay at the Battle of Swally. Hosiander (or Osiander) assisted Red Dragon in defeating the fleet, which consisted of some 30 vessels.[1][Note 2]
By January of the following year, Best had set up a factory at Surat and extended trade to Ahmedabad, Burhanpur and Agra.[43]
East India Company, Voyage (1615–17)
Red Dragon was again commanded by William Keeling during a voyage that also included Lyon, Peppercorn, and Expedition which sailed from Tilbury in February 1615.[44] Keeling had been asked by the East India Company to restructure their Asian trading links. His wife was pregnant at the time, and Keeling tried to smuggle her aboard the Red Dragon, but was not allowed. He put her ashore after being threatened with dismissal, and the fleet left on 23 February. During the voyage, Keeling set up a factory in Sumatra, and was considered to have worked hard. However, he convinced his bosses to allow him to return home to his wife after he suffered ill health, returning in May 1617.[39]
End (1622)
In October 1619, a Dutch fleet commanded by Willem Jansz attacked the Red Dragon, commanded by Robert Bonner,[45] and three other ships, Expedition, Bear and Rose, all loaded with pepper, near Tecu on the west coast of Sumatra. After a battle all four ships were captured.[46] Captain Bonner was mortally wounded and died on 9 October.[45] Around 300 Englishmen were put on shore and at their request were given back the Rose with food and water. Red Dragon and the other two ships were taken to Batavia (then still called Jacatra). Shortly afterwards the Anglo-Dutch treaty of cooperation took effect in Asia and the Red Dragon and some other captured ships were returned to the English in Bantam, but they refused, being short of sailors to man them. The Red Dragon was later used in the Dutch conquest of the Banda Islands in 1621. In March 1622 Jan Pieterszoon Coen reported that the Red Dragon was worn out and no longer fit to be sailed. It was abandoned on the shore near Batavia.[47]
Ambiguity
Records of the voyages of the East India Company, including those made at the time, often refer to Red Dragon simply as Dragon, familiarity resulting in the shortened title. This however can make tracing the history of the vessel more difficult. Although Sainsbury and Boulger both record the sinking of the vessel in 1619, a later reference is made to a ship named Dragon, commanded by John Weddell in 1637–38.[48] In Jean Sutton's Lords of the East; The East India Company and Its Ships, no fewer than four ships named Dragon are listed, and none named Red Dragon.[49] The first of these, listed as Dragon, 600 tons, six voyages, period of service 1601–18 is almost undoubtedly Red Dragon. The next East India Company ship chronologically is not until 1658, a vessel that undertook only one voyage.[49] That leaves the ship John Weddell commanded in 1637–1638 unaccounted for.
Notes
Citations
- ^ a b Hackman (2001), p. 40.
- ^ Grey (1932), pp36–37.
- ISBN 9780970891365.
- ^ a b c d e f Nichols (1823), pp496–497.
- ^ a b Corney (1855), p1.
- ^ a b c Southey (1834), pp33–34.
- ^ "Second Attempt..... Sir George Clifford (1598)". National Park Service. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
- ^ "1600: British for a while and other battles". Casiano Communications. 2000. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
- ^ Vinay Lal. "The East India Company". University of California, Los Angeles. Archived from the original on 27 April 1999. Retrieved 26 November 2009.
- ^ East India Company (1810). Annals of the East India Company. Black, Parry, and Kingsbury. p. 128.
- ^ East India Company (1897). List of factory records of the late East India Company : preserved in the Record Department of the India Office, London. p. v.
- ^ Foster (1933), p154.
- ^ Markham (1877), p. iv.
- ^ Foster (1933), pp154–155.
- ^ Foster (1933), p155.
- ^ Foster (1933), p156.
- ^ Foster (1933), pp156–157.
- ^ Foster (1933), p157.
- ^ a b Dulles (1969), p106.
- ^ Dulles (1969), pp106–107.
- ^ Dulles (1969), p107.
- ^ Dulles (1969), pp107–108.
- ^ Dulles (1969), p108.
- ^ Foster (1933), p160.
- ^ Foster (1933), pp161–162.
- ^ Corney (1855), pp1–2.
- ^ Corney (1855), p2.
- ^ Corney (1855), pp2–3.
- ^ a b Corney (1855), p3.
- ^ Corney (1855), pp4–5.
- ^ Corney (1855), p5.
- ^ a b Corney (1855), p6.
- ^ Corney (1855), p6–11.
- ^ Corney (1855), pp14–33.
- ^ Corney (1855), pp.33–45
- ^ Corney (1855), pp46–50.
- ^ Corney (1855), pp50–56.
- ^ East India Company (1897). List of factory records of the late East India Company : preserved in the Record Department of the India Office, London. p. vi.
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/15243. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ Barbour (2008), p255.
- ^ Kamps, Singh (2001), p.211.
- ^ Hackman (2001), p.29.
- ^ Riddick (2006), p127.
- ^ Strachan and Penrose (1975), p237.
- ^ a b Sainsbury (1870).
- ISBN 0006380727.
- ^ Colenbrander, H.T. (1921). Jan Pietersz. Coen. Bescheiden rond zijn bedrijf in Indië [Documents regarding his work in India] (in Dutch) (1st ed.). The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. pp. 579, 625 and 714.
- ^ "EAST MEETS WEST: Original Records of Western Traders, Travellers, Missionaries and Diplomats to 1852: Part 4". Adam Matthew Publications Ltd. Archived from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
- ^ a b Sutton (1981), pp.162–168.
References
- Barbour, Richmond (June 2008). "The East India Company Journal of Anthony Marlowe, 1607–1608". Huntington Library Quarterly. 71 (2). Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery: 255–301. ISSN 0018-7895.
- Boulger, Demetrius Charles de Kavanagh. The story of India (1897 ed.). London: H. Marshall & Son.
- Corney, Bolton; Middleton, Sir Henry (1855). The voyage of Sir Henry Middleton to Bantam and the Maluco Islands; being the second voyage set forth by the governor and company of merchants of London trading into the East-Indies (1855 ed.). London: Hakluyt Society.
- Dulles, Foster Rhea (1931). Eastward ho! The first English adventurers to the Orient (1969 ed.). Freeport, New York: Books for Libraries Press. ISBN 0-8369-1256-X.
- Foster, Sir William (1998). England's quest of eastern trade (1933 ed.). London: A. & C. Black. ISBN 9780415155182.
- Hackman, Rowan (2001) Ships of the East India Company. (Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society). ISBN 0-905617-96-7
- Grey, Charles. The Merchant Venturers of London : A Record of Far Eastern Trade & Piracy During the Seventeenth Century (1932 ed.). London: H.F.& G.Witherby.
- Kamps, Ivo; Singh, Jyotsna (13 January 2001). Travel Knowledge: European "Discoveries" in the Early Modern Period (2001 ed.). Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0-312-22299-8.
- Markham, Clements R, ed. (1877). The Voyages of Sir James Lancaster, Kt., to the East Indies. New York: Burt Franklin. OL 23357754M.
- Nichols, John (1823). The progresses and public processions of Queen Elizabeth : among which are interspersed other solemnities, public expenditures, and remarkable events during the reign of that illustrious princess : collected from original MSS., scarce pamphlets, corporation records, parochial registers, &c., &c. : illustrated with historical notes. Vol. 3 (1823 ed.). London: John Nichols and Son.
- Riddick, John F. (2006). The history of British India: a chronology (2006 ed.). Praeger Publishers. ISBN 0-313-32280-5.
- Sainsbury, W. Noel (1870). "East Indies, China and Japan: May 1620" (2). Calendar of State Papers Colonial, East Indies, China and Japan, Volume 3: 1617-1621: 367–375. Retrieved 28 November 2009.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - Sutton, Jean (1981). Lords of the East; The East India Company and Its Ships (1981 ed.). London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-169-6.
- Southey, Robert; Bell, Robert (1834). The British admirals: With an introductory view of the naval history of England. Vol. 3 (1834 ed.). London: Printed for Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green & Longman (etc.).
- Strachan, Michael; Penrose, Boies. The East India Company Journals of Captain William Keeling and Master Thomas Bonner, 1615–17 (1975 ed.). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Further reading
- Purchas, Samuel (1905). Hakluytus posthumus. Vol. 2. Glasgow: James MacLehose and Sons. pp. 502–549.