HMS Calcutta (1795)
Encyclopedia
HMS Calcutta was an East Indiaman converted to a Royal Navy
56-gun fourth rate. This ship of the line
served for a time as an armed transport. She also transported convicts to Australia in a voyage that became a circumnavigation of the world. The French 74-gun Magnanime
captured Calcutta in 1805. In 1809, after she ran aground during the Battle of the Basque Roads
and her crew had abandoned her, a British boarding party burned her.
in 1788, the first vessel of the name that Perry built for the East India Company
. She made two trading voyages to the Far East (1789–90 and 1792–94). Warley' s captain for her two voyages was Charles Wilson. Her letter of marque
was issued on 7 September 1793.
(The second Warley
, also an East Indiaman, was larger and was built in 1795 at the same yard as her predecessor. Her captain for her first five voyages was also Henry Wilson. While under his command on her fourth voyage, Warley participated in Nathaniel Dance
's victory at the Battle of Pulo Aura
.)
In July 1793, Triton, Warley, and Royal Charlotte participated in the capture of Pondicherry by maintaining a blockade of the port, together with . The Indiamen then sailed for China in early September.
On their way to China, the same East Indiamen participated in an action in the Straits of Malacca. They came upon a French frigate, with some six or seven of her prizes, replenishing her water casks ashore. The three British vessels immediately gave chase. The frigate fled towards the Sunda Strait
. The Indiamen were able to catch up with a number of the prizes, and after a few cannon shots, were able to retake them. Had they not carried letters of marque, such behavior might well have qualified as piracy.
escorts.
Captain William Bligh
was her first commander, assigned to her in order to supervise her conversion. He took command on 16 April 1795 and commissioned her in May. In October 1795, the crew of the 74-gun HMS Defiance
(then commanded by Captain Sir George Horne) mutinied. Bligh, in Calcutta, was ordered to embark 200 troops and take them alongside Defiance so that they might board her and regain control. The threat of the soldiers ended the mutiny for the time being, though the crew of the Defiance mutinied again in 1797 and 1798. Bligh continued to command Calcutta until she was paid off in 1796 and transferred to the Transport Board
.
In order for her to fulfill her new role, the Transport Board had the guns on her lower deck removed. As a result she no longer needed as large a crew and her complement fell to 160 officers and men. Calcutta served in the transport role under Lieutenant
s Robert Arnold (June 1796-August 1797), Edward Jekyll Canes (August 1797-January 1798), Richard Pouldon (or Poulden, or Polden; January 1798-December 1799). and John Anderson (December 1799-May 1802).
Under Poulden Calcutta was at the capture of Minorca
in December 1798. On 11 November she was part of a squadron that unsuccessfully chased four Spanish frigates, though two days later recaptured the sloop , which the Spaniards had captured on the 11th.
Lieutenant John Anderson (December 1799-May 1802) replaced Pouldon. On 6 June 1800 he sailed Calcutta to Gibraltar, carrying the Banffshire
Fencibles
.
. She received new armament in the form of sixteen 24-pounder carronade
s on her upper deck and two six-pounder guns on the forecastle. Captain Daniel Woodriff recommissioned her in November 1802 and sailed her from Spithead on 28 April 1803, accompanied by the Ocean
, to establish a settlement at Port Phillip
. Calcutta carried a crew of 150, together with 308 male convicts, along with civil officers, marines, and some wives and children.
She reached Rio De Janeiro
on 19 July, and the Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope
on 16 August. While Calcutta was at the Cape, a vessel arrived with news that Britain was now at war with the Batavian Republic
. The colony's Dutch commodore sent a representative aboard Calcutta to demand her surrender and that of her contents. While the representative waited, Woodriff spent two hours preparing her for battle. He then showed the representative her sailors and marines at their guns, and told the Dutchman to inform the commodore that "if he wants this ship he must come and take her if he can". To speed up the preparations, William Gammon, the master's mate, had asked the convicts if any would volunteer to fight and work the ship. All volunteered. The commodore gave Woodriff 24 hours to leave, saying that he "did not wish to capture such a large number of thieves".
On 12 October, she reached her destination. However, David Collins
, the commander of the expedition, found that the poor soil and shortage of fresh water made the area unsuitable for a colony. Collins wanted to move the colony to the Derwent River on the south coast of Tasmania
(then Van Diemens Land) to the site of current-day Hobart. Woodriff refused the use of Calcutta, arguing that the Ocean
was large enough to transport the colony, and that he was under orders to pick up naval supplies for transport to England. In December Woodriff sailed to Sydney
where he took on a cargo of lumber. At midnight on 4 March, Woodriff landed 150 of his crew and marines
to assist the New South Wales Corps
and the Loyal Association, a local militia, in suppressing a convict uprising in support of the Castle Hill convict rebellion
, a revolt by some 260 Irish convicts against Governor King
. Afterward, the commander of the marine detachment on Calcutta, Charles Menzies, offered his services to the governor as superintendent of a new settlement at Coal Harbour
, an offer Governor King accepted. Another Calcutta officer, Lieut. John Houston, accepted an appointment as acting Lieutenant Governor of Norfolk Island
while Major Joseph Foveaux
was on leave.
Calcutta left on 17 March 1804, doubled Cape Horn
and reached Rio on 22 May. In reaching Rio, she had thus circumnavigated the world in ten months three days. She arrived at Spithead
on July 23.
On 14 September, the brig Brothers, of London, from Tobago, joined the convoy. She had gotten separated from her convoy in a gale. Unfortunately, she was leaky and a very slow sailer.
On 25 September 1805, the convoy was in the Channel south of the Isles of Scilly
when lookouts spotted a number of unknown vessels in the distance. Calcutta moved to position herself between the convoy and the unknown flotilla.
Next morning it became clear that the unknown vessels were probably French so Calcutta signaled the convoy to make sail without her and moved to intercept the French vessels. She sailed towards the nearest vessel, which turned out to be the 40-gun frigate Armide
. The engagement was desultory but Calcutta succeeded in luring the French southward and away from the convoy. As a result, the French detached the brig Sylph which captured only the slow-sailing Brothers.
However, eventually the rest of the French squadron started to arrive. It turned out this was Allemand's squadron
, which included the 74-gun Magnanime
. Woodriff brought Calcutta alongside Magnanime, but after a battle of some three-quarters of an hour was forced to strike. The French had shot high, bringing down Calcuttas rigging, disabling her. Because they fired high, Calcutta suffered only six dead and six wounded out of a crew of 350. The French brought Calcutta into French service.
Woodriff was imprisoned at Verdun and appealed to Talleyrand for release, without success until in early 1807 the French sent him to Saint Malo. There the French government provided him a vessel under cartel to take him to England. The British government immediately reciprocated by releasing a French officer of equal rank.
The court-martial on , on 1 January 1808, for Woodriff and his officers acquitted all, praising the captain for his gallantry and skillful maneuvering, which had allowed the convoy to escape.
under captain Jean Baptiste Lafon. During the Battle of the Basque Roads
, Calcutta ran aground on the shoals of Les Palles, as did most of the other French ships. Under fire from Imperieuse under Captain Lord Cochrane
, Calcuttas crew panicked and abandoned ship without orders. A midshipman with a small party from Imperieuse took over Calcutta, but then set her afire to prevent her re-capture, causing her to explode.
A court-martial held Lafon responsible for the loss of his ship, and deemed his behaviour to have been cowardly. In a five to four vote, the court sentenced him to death; a firing squad executed him on the deck of the Océan
on 9 September.
has three oil paintings by Thomas Whitcombe
of the battle between Calcutta and Magnanime and Armide .
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
56-gun fourth rate. This ship of the line
Ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...
served for a time as an armed transport. She also transported convicts to Australia in a voyage that became a circumnavigation of the world. The French 74-gun Magnanime
French ship Magnanime (1803)
The Magnanime was a Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.Her keel was laid in June 1802, and she was launched in Rochefort on 18 August 1803.She took part in Allemand's expedition of 1805 under Captain Pierre-Francois Violette...
captured Calcutta in 1805. In 1809, after she ran aground during the Battle of the Basque Roads
Battle of the Basque Roads
The Battle of the Basque Roads, also Battle of Aix Roads was a naval battle during the Napoleonic Wars off the Island of Aix...
and her crew had abandoned her, a British boarding party burned her.
East Indiaman
Originally Calcutta was the 1176-ton East Indiaman Warley, built at John Perry's Blackwall YardBlackwall Yard
Blackwall Yard was a shipyard on the Thames at Blackwall, London, engaged in ship building and later ship repairs for over 350 years. The yard closed in 1987...
in 1788, the first vessel of the name that Perry built 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...
. She made two trading voyages to the Far East (1789–90 and 1792–94). Warley
Letter of marque
In the days of fighting sail, a Letter of Marque and Reprisal was a government licence authorizing a person to attack and capture enemy vessels, and bring them before admiralty courts for condemnation and sale...
was issued on 7 September 1793.
(The second Warley
Warley (East Indiaman)
The Warley was a 1475-ton East Indiaman and one of the East India Company's larger and more famous vessels. She made nine voyages to the East between 1796 and 1816, most direct to China. In 1804 she participated in the Battle of Pulo Aura...
, also an East Indiaman, was larger and was built in 1795 at the same yard as her predecessor. Her captain for her first five voyages was also Henry Wilson. While under his command on her fourth voyage, Warley participated in 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...
's victory at 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...
.)
In July 1793, Triton, Warley, and Royal Charlotte participated in the capture of Pondicherry by maintaining a blockade of the port, together with . The Indiamen then sailed for China in early September.
On their way to China, the same East Indiamen participated in an action in the Straits of Malacca. They came upon a French frigate, with some six or seven of her prizes, replenishing her water casks ashore. The three British vessels immediately gave chase. The frigate fled towards the Sunda Strait
Sunda Strait
The Sunda Strait is the strait between the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra. It connects the Java Sea to the Indian Ocean...
. The Indiamen were able to catch up with a number of the prizes, and after a few cannon shots, were able to retake them. Had they not carried letters of marque, such behavior might well have qualified as piracy.
Cruiser and Armed Transport
In early 1795, the Royal Navy purchased the first Warley and had her original builders, Perry & Co., refit her as a 56-gun fourth rate, under the name Calcutta, at a cost of £10,300. She was one of nine large merchantmen that the Navy Board purchased that year for conversion to convoyConvoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
escorts.
Captain William Bligh
William Bligh
Vice Admiral William Bligh FRS RN was an officer of the British Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. A notorious mutiny occurred during his command of HMAV Bounty in 1789; Bligh and his loyal men made a remarkable voyage to Timor, after being set adrift in the Bounty's launch by the mutineers...
was her first commander, assigned to her in order to supervise her conversion. He took command on 16 April 1795 and commissioned her in May. In October 1795, the crew of the 74-gun HMS Defiance
HMS Defiance (1783)
HMS Defiance was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Randall and Co., at Rotherhithe on the River Thames, and launched on 10 December 1783.-History:...
(then commanded by Captain Sir George Horne) mutinied. Bligh, in Calcutta, was ordered to embark 200 troops and take them alongside Defiance so that they might board her and regain control. The threat of the soldiers ended the mutiny for the time being, though the crew of the Defiance mutinied again in 1797 and 1798. Bligh continued to command Calcutta until she was paid off in 1796 and transferred to the Transport Board
Transport Board
The Transport Board was the British Royal Navy organisation responsible for the transport of supplies and military. It is also referred to as the Board of Transport and Transport Office....
.
In order for her to fulfill her new role, the Transport Board had the guns on her lower deck removed. As a result she no longer needed as large a crew and her complement fell to 160 officers and men. Calcutta served in the transport role under Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
s Robert Arnold (June 1796-August 1797), Edward Jekyll Canes (August 1797-January 1798), Richard Pouldon (or Poulden, or Polden; January 1798-December 1799). and John Anderson (December 1799-May 1802).
Under Poulden Calcutta was at the capture of Minorca
Minorca
Min Orca or Menorca is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. It takes its name from being smaller than the nearby island of Majorca....
in December 1798. On 11 November she was part of a squadron that unsuccessfully chased four Spanish frigates, though two days later recaptured the sloop , which the Spaniards had captured on the 11th.
Lieutenant John Anderson (December 1799-May 1802) replaced Pouldon. On 6 June 1800 he sailed Calcutta to Gibraltar, carrying the Banffshire
Banffshire
The County of Banff is a registration county for property, and Banffshire is a Lieutenancy area of Scotland.The County of Banff, also known as Banffshire, was a local government county of Scotland with its own county council between 1890 and 1975. The county town was Banff although the largest...
Fencibles
Fencibles
The Fencibles were army regiments raised in the United Kingdom and in the colonies for defence against the threat of invasion during the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary Wars in the late 18th century...
.
Convict transport
Between May 1802 and February 1803, the Navy had Calcutta fitted out as a transport for convicts being sent to Britain's penal colonies in AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. She received new armament in the form of sixteen 24-pounder carronade
Carronade
The carronade was a short smoothbore, cast iron cannon, developed for the Royal Navy by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, UK. It was used from the 1770s to the 1850s. Its main function was to serve as a powerful, short-range anti-ship and anti-crew weapon...
s on her upper deck and two six-pounder guns on the forecastle. Captain Daniel Woodriff recommissioned her in November 1802 and sailed her from Spithead on 28 April 1803, accompanied by the Ocean
Ocean (convict transport ship)
Ocean was an English transport ship and whaler. In 1803 she accompanied HMS Calcutta to Port Phillip , the vessels supporting the establishment of a settlement under the leadership of Lt Col David Collins. Calcutta transported convicts, with Ocean serving to transport supplies...
, to establish a settlement at Port Phillip
Port Phillip
Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...
. Calcutta carried a crew of 150, together with 308 male convicts, along with civil officers, marines, and some wives and children.
She reached Rio De Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
on 19 July, and the Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
on 16 August. While Calcutta was at the Cape, a vessel arrived with news that Britain was now at war with the Batavian Republic
Batavian Republic
The Batavian Republic was the successor of the Republic of the United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on January 19, 1795, and ended on June 5, 1806, with the accession of Louis Bonaparte to the throne of the Kingdom of Holland....
. The colony's Dutch commodore sent a representative aboard Calcutta to demand her surrender and that of her contents. While the representative waited, Woodriff spent two hours preparing her for battle. He then showed the representative her sailors and marines at their guns, and told the Dutchman to inform the commodore that "if he wants this ship he must come and take her if he can". To speed up the preparations, William Gammon, the master's mate, had asked the convicts if any would volunteer to fight and work the ship. All volunteered. The commodore gave Woodriff 24 hours to leave, saying that he "did not wish to capture such a large number of thieves".
On 12 October, she reached her destination. However, David Collins
David Collins (governor)
Colonel David Collins was the first Lieutenant Governor of the Colony of Van Diemens Land, founded in 1804, which in 1901 became the state of Tasmania in the Commonwealth of Australia.-Early life and military career:...
, the commander of the expedition, found that the poor soil and shortage of fresh water made the area unsuitable for a colony. Collins wanted to move the colony to the Derwent River on the south coast of Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
(then Van Diemens Land) to the site of current-day Hobart. Woodriff refused the use of Calcutta, arguing that the Ocean
Ocean (convict transport ship)
Ocean was an English transport ship and whaler. In 1803 she accompanied HMS Calcutta to Port Phillip , the vessels supporting the establishment of a settlement under the leadership of Lt Col David Collins. Calcutta transported convicts, with Ocean serving to transport supplies...
was large enough to transport the colony, and that he was under orders to pick up naval supplies for transport to England. In December Woodriff sailed to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
where he took on a cargo of lumber. At midnight on 4 March, Woodriff landed 150 of his crew and marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
to assist the New South Wales Corps
New South Wales Corps
The New South Wales Corps was formed in England in 1789 as a permanent regiment to relieve the marines who had accompanied the First Fleet to Australia. The regiment, led by Major Francis Grose, consisted of three companies...
and the Loyal Association, a local militia, in suppressing a convict uprising in support of the Castle Hill convict rebellion
Castle Hill convict rebellion
The Castle Hill Rebellion of 4 March 1804, also called the Second Battle of Vinegar Hill, was a large-scale rebellion by Irish convicts against British colonial authority in Australia...
, a revolt by some 260 Irish convicts against Governor King
Philip Gidley King
Captain Philip Gidley King RN was a British naval officer and colonial administrator. He is best known as the official founder of the first European settlement on Norfolk Island and as the third Governor of New South Wales.-Early years and establishment of Norfolk Island settlement:King was born...
. Afterward, the commander of the marine detachment on Calcutta, Charles Menzies, offered his services to the governor as superintendent of a new settlement at Coal Harbour
Newcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
, an offer Governor King accepted. Another Calcutta officer, Lieut. John Houston, accepted an appointment as acting Lieutenant Governor of Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...
while Major Joseph Foveaux
Joseph Foveaux
Joseph Foveaux was a soldier and convict settlement administrator in colonial New South Wales, Australia.Foveaux was baptised on 6 April 1767 at Ampthill, Bedfordshire, England, the sixth child of Joseph Foveaux and his wife Elizabeth, née Wheeler...
was on leave.
Calcutta left on 17 March 1804, doubled Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
and reached Rio on 22 May. In reaching Rio, she had thus circumnavigated the world in ten months three days. She arrived at Spithead
Spithead
Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds, except those from the southeast...
on July 23.
Ship of the line
In September 1804 the Admiralty again fitted out Calcutta for duty as a cruiser, re-arming her as a 56-gun fourth rate.Capture
On 3 August 1805, Calcutta, still under the command of Captain Woodriff, left St Helena as escort of a motley convoy to England. The convoy consisted of the East India company's "extra-ship" Indus, from Madras, the southern whaler African from Desolation, the whaler Fox from the Mozambique channel, the whaler Grand Sachem from the Peruvian coast and bound to Milford, the Prussian ship Wilhelmina, which Calcutta had detained on her way out to St Helana, and the large Swedish ship Carolina, which was sailing from China and asked to join.On 14 September, the brig Brothers, of London, from Tobago, joined the convoy. She had gotten separated from her convoy in a gale. Unfortunately, she was leaky and a very slow sailer.
On 25 September 1805, the convoy was in the Channel south of the Isles of Scilly
Isles of Scilly
The Isles of Scilly form an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula of Great Britain. The islands have had a unitary authority council since 1890, and are separate from the Cornwall unitary authority, but some services are combined with Cornwall and the islands are still part...
when lookouts spotted a number of unknown vessels in the distance. Calcutta moved to position herself between the convoy and the unknown flotilla.
Next morning it became clear that the unknown vessels were probably French so Calcutta signaled the convoy to make sail without her and moved to intercept the French vessels. She sailed towards the nearest vessel, which turned out to be the 40-gun frigate Armide
French frigate Armide (1804)
Armide was a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class, and launched in 1804 at Rochefort. She served briefly in the French navy before the British captured her in 1806. She went on to serve in the British Navy until 1815 when she was broken up.-French service:She took part in...
. The engagement was desultory but Calcutta succeeded in luring the French southward and away from the convoy. As a result, the French detached the brig Sylph which captured only the slow-sailing Brothers.
However, eventually the rest of the French squadron started to arrive. It turned out this was Allemand's squadron
Allemand's expedition of 1805
Allemand's expedition of 1805, often referred to as the Escadre invisible in French sources, was an important French naval expedition during the Napoleonic Wars, which formed a major diversion to the ongoing Trafalgar campaign in the Atlantic Ocean...
, which included the 74-gun Magnanime
French ship Magnanime (1803)
The Magnanime was a Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.Her keel was laid in June 1802, and she was launched in Rochefort on 18 August 1803.She took part in Allemand's expedition of 1805 under Captain Pierre-Francois Violette...
. Woodriff brought Calcutta alongside Magnanime, but after a battle of some three-quarters of an hour was forced to strike. The French had shot high, bringing down Calcuttas rigging, disabling her. Because they fired high, Calcutta suffered only six dead and six wounded out of a crew of 350. The French brought Calcutta into French service.
Woodriff was imprisoned at Verdun and appealed to Talleyrand for release, without success until in early 1807 the French sent him to Saint Malo. There the French government provided him a vessel under cartel to take him to England. The British government immediately reciprocated by releasing a French officer of equal rank.
The court-martial on , on 1 January 1808, for Woodriff and his officers acquitted all, praising the captain for his gallantry and skillful maneuvering, which had allowed the convoy to escape.
French service
On 12 April 1809, Calcutta was part of the squadron of La RochelleLa Rochelle
La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a bridge completed on 19 May 1988...
under captain Jean Baptiste Lafon. During the Battle of the Basque Roads
Battle of the Basque Roads
The Battle of the Basque Roads, also Battle of Aix Roads was a naval battle during the Napoleonic Wars off the Island of Aix...
, Calcutta ran aground on the shoals of Les Palles, as did most of the other French ships. Under fire from Imperieuse under Captain Lord Cochrane
Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald
Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, 1st Marquess of Maranhão, GCB, ODM , styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, was a senior British naval flag officer and radical politician....
, Calcuttas crew panicked and abandoned ship without orders. A midshipman with a small party from Imperieuse took over Calcutta, but then set her afire to prevent her re-capture, causing her to explode.
A court-martial held Lafon responsible for the loss of his ship, and deemed his behaviour to have been cowardly. In a five to four vote, the court sentenced him to death; a firing squad executed him on the deck of the Océan
French ship Océan (1790)
Océan was a 118-gun first-rate three-decker ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class.She was ordered as États de Bourgogne and was launched at Brest in 1790...
on 9 September.
Other information
The National Library of AustraliaNational Library of Australia
The National Library of Australia is the largest reference library of Australia, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the...
has three oil paintings by Thomas Whitcombe
Thomas Whitcombe
Thomas Whitcombe was a prominent British maritime painter of the Napoleonic Wars. Among his work are over 150 actions of the Royal Navy, and he exhibited at the Royal Academy, the British Institution and the Royal Society of British Artists...
of the battle between Calcutta and Magnanime and Armide .