The ship San Martín was initially the British East Indiaman Cumberland of 1,350 tons, launched on 11 November 1802 for the East India Company

East India Company

The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...

, and purchased in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 by José Antonio Álvarez Condarco for approximately 200,000 pesos.

HEIC career

She sailed seven times between India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 from 1802 to 1815 and fought in the Battle of Pulo Aura

Battle of Pulo Aura

The Battle of Pulo Aura was a minor naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars, fought on 14 February 1804, in which a large squadron of Honourable East India Company East Indiamen, powerful and well armed merchant ships, intimidated, drove off and chased a powerful French naval squadron...

 under the command of Commodore Nathaniel Dance

Nathaniel Dance

Sir Nathaniel Dance was an officer of the Honourable East India Company who had a long and varied career on merchant vessels, making numerous voyages to India and back with the fleets of East Indiamen...

 against the French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 Contre-Admiral Charles-Alexandre Durand Linois.

Chilean career

The purchase by Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

 was arranged by José Antonio Álvarez Condarco, agent of the Chilean government in London, by order of Bernardo O'Higgins

Bernardo O'Higgins

Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme was a Chilean independence leader who, together with José de San Martín, freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. Although he was the second Supreme Director of Chile , he is considered one of Chile's founding fathers, as he was the first holder...

, head of the Chilean government.

After her arrival in May 1818 under the command of William Wilkinson, she was purchased for 210,000 pesos and refitted with 64 guns. Wilkinson continued in charge, and the ship was renamed San Martín to honour José de San Martín

José de San Martín

José Francisco de San Martín, known simply as Don José de San Martín , was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the southern part of South America's successful struggle for independence from Spain.Born in Yapeyú, Corrientes , he left his mother country at the...

, who strongly supported the independence of Chile.

On 25 October 1818 the First Chilean Navy Squadron

First Chilean Navy Squadron

The First Chilean Navy Squadron was the naval force that terminated Spanish colonial rule on the south-west coast of America and protagonaized the most important naval actions in the Latin American wars of independence...

 (San Martín, Lautaro

Chilean ship Lautaro (1818)

The Lautaro was initially the British East Indiaman Windham of 850 tons built in Perry, Wells & Green shipyards for the East India Company and launched 1800. She made seven voyages to the India and China for the HEIC. In 1809-10, the French captured her twice, and the British recaptured her twice...

, and Chacabuco

Chilean corvette Chacabuco (1815)

Chacabuco was a 20-gun corvette of 450 tons built 1815 in Boston, USA. She came to Coquimbo as Avon and was bought by investors of Copiapó, Chile, in order to be used as privateer vessel under the name Coquimbo. But as the businessmen drew back, the Chilean government bought the ship on 20 June...

) commanded by Manuel Blanco Encalada

Manuel Blanco Encalada

Manuel José Blanco y Calvo de Encalada was a Vice-Admiral in the Chilean Navy, a political figure, and Chile's first President .-Biography:...

 defeated a Spanish expedition and captured the Santa Isabel and eight other Spanish transports. One transport with 100 Spanish soldiers reached safety at Callao

Callao

Callao is the largest and most important port in Peru. The city is coterminous with the Constitutional Province of Callao, the only province of the Callao Region. Callao is located west of Lima, the country's capital, and is part of the Lima Metropolitan Area, a large metropolis that holds almost...

.

She sunk in July 1821 off Chorrilos, Peru.