Ships Associated With Lachlan Macquarie and His Travelling Companions in 1807:
Benares - Sloop of War - Bombay Marine (HEIC)
Built in Bombay, launched in early 1807. 14 guns.
Employed in expeditions against Joasmi pirates in the Persian Gulf in 1809-1810 and in the capture of Ile de France [Mauritius] from the French in November 1810. In 1816 the Benares was on station at Macassar on the island of Celebes and took part in naval/military action against the local ruler, the Rajah of Boni. Between 1829-1834 the Benares assisted in a nautical survey of the Red Sea route to India, and the Maldives in 1834-1836, and the Chagos Archipelago in 1837.
Lachlan Macquarie sailed from Bombay to Basra on board the Benares in March - April 1807.
[Sources: Low, C.R. The History of the Indian Navy 1613-1863. Vols. 1-2; Bombay Courier 1807].
HMS Calypso - Brig Sloop [Cruiser/Cruizer Class] (Royal Navy).
Built: 1804-1805 at Deptford.
Dimensions: length, 100 ft. [approx] breadth, 30 ft. 6 inches. Guns: 2 x 6 Pounders + 16 x Pounder Carronades. Crew: 121 men. Tonnage: 382 tons.
The Cruiser/Cruizer Class was the most numerous class of warships built in the age of sail. Served in the North Sea and the Baltic. The Calypso was eventually broken up in March 1821.
Lachlan Macquarie sailed on board H.M.S. Calypso from the Kronstadt [Russia] to Yarmouth [England] in September/October 1807, briefly visiting Copenhagen whilst in transit.
[Source: Winfield, Rif. British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793-1817: design, construction, careers and fates. London: Chatham Publishing, 2005 p.292].
Grappler Brig - Bombay Marine (HEIC).
12 guns. The Grappler appears to have been the 150-ton brig built at Kiddapore Dockyards, Calcutta, by A. Wadell and launched in 1804. Captured by the French frigate la Piemontaise on 31 August 1806 off the Malabar coast near Quilon. Amongst those on board at the time were Lieut. G. W. Brande and Assistant
Surgeon William Thomas. They were subsequently released on parole by the French and after travelling to Madras and Calcutta met Macquarie in Bombay in February 1807 and joined him on his overland journey to Britain.
The Grappler was eventually recaptured from the French in September 1809 in a daring military/naval raid on the Ile de Bourbon (Reunion) from the nearby British-held island of Rodriguez. A force of approximately 400 men under the command of Lieut. Colonel Henry Sheehy Keating (56th Regiment of Foot) seized the port of St. Paul at Bourbon, destroyed its defences and recovered a number of British vessels, including the Grappler.
[Sources: Shipping and Ship Building in India 1736-1839: a checklist of ship names. London: India Office Records, 1995 p.36; Bombay Courier 1806-1807; Calcutta Gazette 1806.]
HMS Little Belt - Danish Lille Belt - Corvette (Sixth Rate).
Built: Copenhagen 1801-1802 [Hohlenberg design].
Dimensions: length, 116 ft. [approx] breadth, 30 ft. [approx]; 460 tons. Guns: 18 x 32 Pounder Carronades; 2 x 9 Pounders. Crew: 121 men. Tonnage: 460 tons.
Taken as a prize ship during the British seizure of Copenhagen 1807 and sailed in convoy with HMS Calypso to Britain; sent to North America in June 1809; later captured by the USS President on 16 May 1811 - in time of peace, as a reprisal for the earlier Leopard/Chesapeake affair; returned to the Royal Navy and eventually sold at Deptford in November 1811.
[Source: Winfield, Rif. British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793-1817: design, construction, careers and fates. London: Chatham Publishing, 2005 p.241].
Prince of Wales - Sloop of War - Bombay Marine (HEIC)
Built in Bombay Dockyard; launched in 1805. Guns: 14. Tonnage: 248 tons.
[Source: Low, C.R. The History of the Indian Navy 1613-1863. Vol. 1, p. 539].
Princess Augusta - Grab - Bombay Marine (HEIC)
Built in Bombay Dockyard; launched in 1768. Guns: 14.
[Source: Low, C.R. The History of the Indian Navy 1613-1863. Vol. 1, pp. 215 and 539].
HMS Railleur - Sloop [1804-1810] - Royal Navy
Built: 1804, ex mercantile Henry, purchased by Royal Navy in June 1804.
Dimensions: length, 96 ft. [approx] breadth, 26 ft. [approx]; 271 tons. Guns: 14 x 18 Pounder Carronades; 2 x 9 Pounders. Crew: 65. Tonnage: 271 tons.
Served in North Sea and the Baltic 1804-1810. Sold at Sheerness: 22 December 1810.
[Source: Winfield, Rif. British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793-1817: design, construction, careers and fates. London: Chatham Publishing, 2005 pp.271-272].
HMS Spitfire - Brig Sloop [1790-1825] - Royal Navy
Built at Sheerness: 1780-1790. Commissioned as a fireship; rated at 14 guns when used as sloops.
Dimensions: length, 90 ft. 8 ins.; breadth, 29 ft. 7ins.; 422 tons. Guns: 14.
Served in Irish Sea and the Channel 1791-1806; recommissioned as a fireship under Cmdr. Henry Butt in February 1807; under Cmdr. John Ellis 1808-1814: sailed with a convoy to Quebec in 1810; at Portsmouth 1811-1812; on Greenland station in 1813. In 1814 under Cmdr. James Dalton off West Africa. Laid up at Portsmouth in May 1815; sold in July 1825 and broken up.
[Source: Winfield, Rif. British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793-1817: design, construction, careers and fates. London: Chatham Publishing, 2005 p.378].
Stanislaff Scout - Russian ship
Two-masted vessel. [Caspian Sea fleet]
Wolga [Volga] - Russian Navy
Brig. [Caspian Sea fleet]
