HMS Cornwallis (1801)
Encyclopedia
HMS Cornwallis was a Royal Navy
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...
54-gun fourth rate. Jemsatjee Bomanjee built the Marquis Cornwallis of teak 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...
. The Company sold her to the Royal Navy in 1801 shortly after she returned from an expedition against the Mahe Islands. In August 1806 the Admiralty renamed her Akbar, though the new name appears not to have taken for some years.
East Indies
Cornwallis was constructed by the Honourable East India Company in India as a ship that could be easily converted from an East Indiaman merchant ship to a large frigate. As a result she was much stronger in construction than equivalent size Royal Navy frigates. In 1801 the Royal Navy purchased her. In 1805 was under the command of Captain Charles James Johnson, serving off Bombay and engaged in the long-distance blockade of Île de FranceMauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
.
On 11 November 1806, and Cornwallis sailed into Saint Paul's Bay, on Île Bonaparte, in an attempt to cut out vessels there, which consisted of the French frigate Sémillante
French frigate Sémillante (1792)
The Sémillante was a 32-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She was involved in a number of multi-vessel actions against the Royal Navy, particularly in the Indian Ocean. She captured a number of East Indiamen before the she became so damaged that the French disarmed her and...
, three other armed ships and twelve captured British ships. (The eight ships that were prizes to Sémillante had a collective value of ₤1.5 million.) They fired on the French and took fire in return. However, when the slight breeze failed, Sceptre and Cornwallis found themselves unable to maneuver. They therefore left without having accomplished anything, but apparently also without having suffered damage or losses.
Pacific
In February 1807, Cornwallis was ordered to 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 reached Port Jackson
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...
by sailing through the Bass Strait
Bass Strait
Bass Strait is a sea strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland, specifically the state of Victoria.-Extent:The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Bass Strait as follows:...
, which made her the first Royal Navy ship to traverse the strait. After visiting Port Jackson, Cornwallis sailed to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and subsequently crossed the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
to the Juan Fernández Islands
Juan Fernández Islands
The Juan Fernández Islands are a sparsely inhabited island group reliant on tourism and fishing in the South Pacific Ocean, situated about off the coast of Chile, and is composed of three main volcanic islands; Robinson Crusoe Island, Alejandro Selkirk Island and Santa Clara Island, the first...
in the vain hope of finding enemy shipping.
Off Valparaiso
Valparaíso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...
, an accidental explosion caused serious damage and a number of casualties aboard the frigate, but she was still able to raid Spanish settlements in the region, capturing a number of sheep and pigs
PIGS
PIGS is a four letter acronym that can stand for:* PIGS , Phosphatidylinositol glycan anchor biosynthesis, class S, a human gene* PIGS , the economies of Portugal, Italy , Greece and Spain...
and a few small vessels on the Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
vian coast. In September, Cornwallis raided Spanish settlements and shipping near Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
and subsequently visited Acapulco
Acapulco
Acapulco is a city, municipality and major sea port in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico, southwest from Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semi-circular bay and has been a port since the early colonial period of Mexico’s history...
and Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
before returning to Madras.
In 1808, command passed to Captain Fleetwood Pellew
Fleetwood Pellew
Admiral Sir Fleetwood Broughton Reynolds Pellew CB KCH was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He was the son of Captain Edward Pellew, who later became an admiral and first Viscount Exmouth...
. In 1808, Cornwallis, in company with Sceptre, engaged and damaged Sémillante, together with the shore batteries whose protection she had sought.
In 1809 Captain William Montague took command. Montague was engaged in a number of operations off the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
, attacking forts on Celebes
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...
and Amboyna
Amboyna
Amboyna can refer to:* Ambon, Maluku, a city in Indonesia* Ambon Island, sometimes named Amboyna, part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia* Amboyna burl of Pterocarpus trees* Amboyna , a moth genus* Amboyna , a play by John Dryden...
.
In February 1810, the British attacked Amboyna
Amboyna
Amboyna can refer to:* Ambon, Maluku, a city in Indonesia* Ambon Island, sometimes named Amboyna, part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia* Amboyna burl of Pterocarpus trees* Amboyna , a moth genus* Amboyna , a play by John Dryden...
. In the campaign, Akbar captured the ship Mandarine, of 16 guns and 66 men, Captain Besman, on February 3 after a chase of four hours. Madarine had been out for four weeks but had captured nothing. Akbar suffered only one man wounded in the action. Mandarine then served as a tender to Cornwallis.Mandarine is not , which the British also captured during the same campaign.
On 28 March Akbar and Dovers shared in 's capture of the Dutch brig Recruiter.
In 1810, William Fisher took command and Akbar was deployed with Albemarle Bertie's
Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet
Admiral Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet, KCB, was a long-serving and at time controversial officer of the British Royal Navy who saw extensive service in his career but also courted controversy with several of his actions....
squadron that forced the surrender of Île de France. Over the next four years, Akbar remained in the Indian Ocean under various commanders.
On 29 June 1811 captured the slaver Expedition off Mauritius. The prize crew took the ship and the slaves on her to the Portuguese colony of Goa because selling slaves was illegal in British India, but not Goa. Salsette shared the prize money with the crews of and Cornwallis/Akbar.
Between 4 August and 19 September 1811, Akbar participated in the capture of Java. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Java" to all surviving claimants from the campaign.
On 15 May 1814, Akbar was under the command of Captain Archibald Duncan when she captured the Indian Lass. In 1814 Cornwallis travelled to Britain for the first time.
The court martial of captain, officers and men of for the loss of for the loss of their vessel took place on board Akbar at Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
on 28 June 1815. Then on 11 August Akbar and captured the Hannah.
Fate
Akbar was laid up at PlymouthPlymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
and was on harbour service from 1824 but was out of commission by January 1840. She was broken up in 1862.