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HMS Malabar (1804)

History
Flag of the British East India Company (1707).svg Flag of the British East India Company (1801).svgUK
Name: Cuvera
Namesake: Hindu god of wealth
Owner: Lambert, Ross, & Co.
Builder: Calcutta
Launched: 12 September 1798
Fate: Sold 30 May 1804
Royal Navy EnsignUK
Name: HMS Malabar
Namesake: Malabar Coast
Acquired: 30 May 1804
Renamed: HMS Coromandel on 7 March 1815
Reclassified:
Fate: Broken up in December 1853
General characteristics
Class and type: 56-gun fourth rate
Tons burthen: 935  56⁄94 (bm)
Length:
  • 168 ft 6 in (51.4 m) (overall)
  • 127 ft 4 in (38.8 m) (keel)
Beam: 37 ft 2 in (11.3 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Complement:
  • 130 as East Indiaman;
  • 150 as storeship
Armament:
  • As East Indiaman: 24 x 6-pounder guns
  • As fourth rate:
  • Lower deck: 28 × 18-pounder guns
  • Upper deck (UD): 24 × 24-pounder carronades
  • As storeship:
  • UD: 10 × 24-pounder carronades
  • QD: 6 × 24-pounder carronades
  • Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns

HMS Malabar was a 56-gun fourth rate of the Royal Navy. She had previously been the East Indiaman Cuvera, launched at Calcutta in 1798. She made one voyage to London for the British East India Company and on her return to India served as a transport and troopship to support General Baird's expedition to Egypt to help General Ralph Abercromby expel the French there. The Navy bought her in 1804 and converted her to a storeship in 1806. After being renamed HMS Coromandel she became a convict ship and made a trip carrying convicts to Van Diemen's Land and New South Wales in 1819. She spent the last 25 years of her career as a receiving ship for convicts in Bermuda before being broken up in 1853.

Malabar was originally built as the East Indiaman Cuvera at Calcutta in 1798. She was a two-decker vessel built of teak from Pegue.

Cuvera made one round trip to England and back under Captain John Lowe. Cuvera was at Calcutta on 19 November 1798. She left Calcutta on 12 January, and passed Saugor on 28 January 1799. She left Bengal on 10 February, and reached St Helena on 10 May. She arrived at London on 26 July, with 2313 bales of cotton from Bengal. She also carried one French officer who had been taken prisoner in the Nizzam's service in 1798. For this service she earned passage money of Rs 1,000.

Because she sailed in wartime, i.e., during the French Revolutionary Wars, in England Captain John Lowe applied for and received a letter of marque, which was dated 5 December 1799. Acquiring a letter of marque was usual practice for captains in the EIC's service as it authorised them to engage in offensive action against the French, or their allies, and not just defend themselves.


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