Pondichéry (1754 ship)

Pitt engaging St Louis, by Lawson Dunn, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.
History
France
Name:	Pondichéry
Namesake:	Pondicherry
Builder:	Gilles Cambry (fils), Port l'Orient
Laid down:	March 1754
Launched:	December 1754
Fate:	Captured 23 December 1756
British East India Company
Name:	Pitt
Namesake:	Pitt the Elder
Owner:	Charles Raymond
Operator:	East India Company
Acquired:	By purchase 1757
General characteristics
Type:	East Indiaman
Tons burthen:	800, or 600, (bm)
Length:	128'9" (keel 111'8")
Beam:	34'6"
Draught:	14'6"
Propulsion:	Sail
Complement:	Pondichéry: 11 officers and 154 men Pondicherry:220 Pitt (as warship):250 Pitt (as merchantman):120
Armament:	Pondichéry: 20 × 8-pounder guns, pierced for 56 Pondicherry: 24 × 6 & 9-pounders Pitt (as warship):50-4 guns Pitt (as merchantman):30 guns
Armour:	Timber

Pondicherry (or Pondichéry) was a French East Indiaman, launched in December 1754, that the Royal Navy captured in 1756, early in the Seven Years' War with France. She was then sold and her new owners, who renamed her Pitt, proceeded to charter her to the British East India Company (EIC), for three voyages. During her first voyage she engaged a French warship, and then went on to chart a new route, Pitt's Passage, through the East Indies on the way to China. The EIC found this new route of the utmost importance as it was faster than their existing route, and was navigable in all seasons. After her return from her third voyage Pitt disappears from readily available online sources.

It is her first voyage for the EIC, under the command of Captain William Wilson, that is of the greatest significance. Wilson sailed Pitt to China via a route between Java and New Guinea. The EIC had avoided sailing through the East Indies since the 1623 Amboyna massacre. The Dutch East India Company was hostile towards the EIC, fearing that the EIC would compete with them in sourcing pepper and spices. Throughout his voyage via the East Indies, Wilson kept extensive notes, made charts, and on them corrected the location of several islands and other geographical features. When he arrived in Canton, he had two sets of his charts prepared, one for the EIC governor at Madras and one that the EIC representatives at Canton could copy for their vessels.

The direct route through the Sunda Strait to Macao is 1800 nautical miles; the route via Pitt's Passage is 3725 nautical miles, but quicker. Furthermore, the route via the Sunda Strait depended on the southwest monsoon in the China sea.

Pondichéry sailed for China on 15 January 1755 under the command of Captain Pierre de Sanguinet.

HMS Dover, under the command of Captain Christopher Hill, captured "Pondicherry" on 23 December 1756 after an engagement of two hours. She lost her second captain and 11 men killed, and 18 wounded; the British sustained no casualties. Pondicherry had been sailing from Canton when Dover intercepted her in "the Bay", and brought her into Cork.Dover then brought Pondicherry into the Nore. She was valued at £160,000, though given what she herself sold for, almost all the value rested in her cargo.