Ceres (1787 ship)
 The East Indiaman Ceres off the Spithead Depicted in Four Different Views, by Thomas Luny, 1788; Sir Max Aitken Museum, Cowes, Isle of Wight
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| History | |
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.svg){kind=small} East India Company
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| Name: | Ceres |
| Owner: | Thomas Newte, Esq. |
| Builder: | Perry & Co., Blackwall Yard |
| Launched: | 28 November 1787 |
| Fate: | Sold to the Royal Navy in 1795 |
 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Grampus |
| Acquired: | 1795 by purchase |
| Fate: | Grounded and abandoned January 1799 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Fourth rate in Royal Navy service: Storeship from December 1797 |
| Tons burthen: | 1180 89⁄94 (bm) |
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| Beam: | 41 ft 3 in (12.6 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 15 ft 6 1⁄2 in (4.7 m) |
| Sail plan: | Full-rigged ship |
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| Armament: |
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Ceres was an East Indiaman launched in 1787. She made three trips to China for the British East India Company (EIC). After the outbreak of war with France in 1793, the Admiralty, desirous of quickly building up the Royal Navy, purchased a number of commercial vessels, including nine East Indiamen, to meet the need for small two-decker fourth rates to serve as convoy escorts. The Admiralty purchased Ceres in 1795 and renamed her HMS Grampus. In 1797 the Admiralty converted her to a storeship. That year her crew participated in the Spithead and Nore mutinies. Grampus grounded in January 1799 and was destroyed.
Ceres made three trips to China for the EIC.
Ceres's captain for her first voyage was Captain Thomas Price. He sailed her for the coast of India and China, leaving Portsmouth on 5 April 1788. She reached Madras on 15 July, and Whampoa on 2 October. On the return leg of her voyage, she crossed the Second Bar on 14 December. She reached Saint Helena on 9 April 1789 and Long Reach on 2 June. Other accounts have her returning to her moorings on 1 September 1789. In either case, Price died on 20 June.
Ceres's captain for her second voyage was Captain George Stevens. He too sailed her for the Indian coast and China, leaving Torbay on 6 March 1790. She reached Madras on 22 June, and Negapatam on 29 July. Two days later she was back at Madras. She then reached Whampoa on 11 October. She crossed the Second Bar on 20 January 1791, and then stopped at Macao on 17 March. She reached St Helena on 3 July, and Long Reach on 1 September.
George Stevens was again captain of Ceres for her third voyage. She left Portsmouth on 21 May 1793, after war with France had begun on 1 February. The EIC arranged for her to sail under a letter of marque, issued to Stevens, and dated 22 April 1793.Ceres was part of a convoy that also included the East Indiamen Prince William, Lord Thurlow, William Pitt, Barwell, Earl of Oxford, Osterley, Fort William, London, Glatton, Houghton, Marquis of Landsdown, Hillsborough, Pigot, and Earl of Abergavenny, amongst numerous other vessels, merchant and military, most of the non-Indiamen travelling to the Mediterranean.
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