Lord Nelson (East Indiaman)
Bellone captures Lord Nelson, by Auguste Mayer
|
|
| History | |
|---|---|
.svg){kind=small} .svg){kind=small} United Kingdom
|
|
| Name: | Lord Nelson |
| Owner: |
|
| Ordered: | c. 1798 |
| Builder: | Barnard’s Yard, Deptford |
| Launched: | 29 October 1799 |
| Captured: | 14 August 1803 but recaptured 27 August 1803 |
| Fate: | Foundered 1808 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | East Indiaman |
| Tons burthen: | 818, or 819 25⁄94 (bm) |
| Length: | 146 ft 2 in (44.55 m) (overall); 118 ft 8 1⁄2 in (36.182 m) (keel) |
| Beam: | 36 ft 0 1⁄4 in (10.979 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 14 ft 9 in (4.50 m) |
| Armament: |
|
Lord Nelson was an East Indiaman, launched in late 1799, sailing for the East India Company. She made five voyages, of which she completed four. On her second voyage the French privateer Bellone captured her, but the Royal Navy recaptured her within about two weeks. On her fifth voyage Lord Nelson foundered in 1808 with the loss of all aboard.
Under Captain Robert Spottiswoode she sailed to the coast of India and to China, leaving on 17 March 1800 and returning on 17 June 1801. Spottiswoode had made at least five prior cruises to India or the Far East for the East India Company, starting as a fourth lieutenant in 1784. This was his first voyage as captain. Before she sailed Spottiswoode arranged for a letter of marque for Lord Nelson, the warrant being dated 14 February 1800.
Lord Nelson left on 17 March 1800 and reached Madras on 13 July. She went on to Penang, which she reached on 27 August, Malacca (23 September), Whampoa anchorage (2 November), and Second Bar (of the Pearl River; 29 December). On her return leg she arrived at St Helena on 16 April and on 11 June she arrived at the Downs.
Under Captain Robert Spottiswoode she left Britain on 14 March 1802 for the coast of India and the Bay of Bengal.
Lord Nelson was on her return voyage when on 14 August 1803 she encountered the French three-masted privateer Bellone off Cape Clear, Ireland. Bellone, of Saint Malo, had had some success privateering in the Indian Ocean towards the end of the French Revolutionary Wars. When the Napoleonic Wars commenced she took to the sea again under the command of her former captain, Jacques François Perroud. She was on her first cruise of the new wars when she encountered Lord Nelson.Bellone had 34 guns, including 24 long 8-pounder guns, and though she had more guns, her broadside was inferior to that on Lord Nelson. What made the difference was that Bellone had a crew of 260 men, versus the 102 men, exclusive of passengers, on Lord Nelson. However, Bellone also had on board some 56 prisoners from various captures.
...
Wikipedia