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Sir Edward Hughes (1784 EIC ship)

History
Flag of the British East India Company (1707).svgEast India Company
Name: Sir Edward Hughes
Namesake: Sir Edward Hughes
Builder: Bombay Dockyard
Launched: 22 March 1784, or 1788
Fate: Sold
Royal Navy Ensign (1707–1801)Great Britain
Name: HMS Sir Edward Hughes
Renamed: HMS Tortoise
Fate: Lost in 1859, or broken up in 1860 or 1863
General characteristics
Type: East Indiaman
Tons burthen: 957, or 957 68⁄94, or 960, or 962 5⁄94(bm)
Length:
  • 146 ft 8 in (44.7 m) (overall); or
  • 147 ft 2 in (44.9 m) (overall)
  • 116 ft 10 1⁄2 in (35.6 m) (keel) or
  • 118 ft 4 7⁄8 in (36.1 m) (keel)
Beam:
  • 39 ft 3 in (12.0 m)
  • 39 ft 1 in (11.9 m)
Depth of hold:
  • 14 ft 0 in (4.3 m)
  • 19 ft 4 1⁄2 in (5.9 m)
Sail plan: Full-rigged ship
Complement:
  • 1794: 99
  • 1803:205
  • Storeship:90
Armament:
  • 1794:26 x 9 & 4-pounder guns
  • 1803:40 × 9&12&18-pounder guns
  • Frigate:38 guns
  • Storeship:
    • Upper deck:20 × 9-pounder guns
    • Fc:2 × 9-pounder guns
  • Convict transport:2 × 18-pounder carronades
  • Ascension Island: 10 guns
Notes: Three decks. Teak built.

Sir Edward Hughes was launched in 1784 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She spent four years as a country ship, i.e., sailing in the East Indies but without going to Britain. Then between 1788 and 1803 she made eight voyages to India and China for the EIC. In 1804 the EIC sold Sir Edward Hughes to the British Royal Navy, which commissioned her as a 38-gun frigate. The Navy renamed her Tortoise in 1807 and converted her to a storeship in 1808. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars she became variously a coal depot, a hulk, and then a convict transport. In 1844 she became a receiving ship at Ascension Island. She was lost there in 1859, or broken up there in 1860, or 1863.

Indian shipwrights built water tanks or cisterns into their vessels that made the use of water buts or casks unnecessary. These tanks were perfectly water tight and saved stowage and manual labour. However, in their designs, the shipwrights did not prioritize sailing speed.

Between 1784 and 1788, Sir Edward Hughes traded locally in India. Thereafter she made nine voyages to China or India, with one to the West Indies under contract to the Navy in between the voyages for the EIC.

Captain Joseph Smith left Bombay on 21 August 1788. Sir Edward Hughes arrived at Whampoa anchorage on 14 October. Outward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 26 December, reached St Helena on 19 March 1789, and arrived at the Downs on 17 May.

Captain Robert Anderson left the Downs on 14 March 1790, reached Madras on 1 July and Penang on 15 August, before arriving at Whampoa on 4 October. Homeward-bound, Sir Edward Hughes crossed the Second Bar on 18 December, reached the Cape on 9 April 1791 and St Helena on 28 April, and arrived at the Downs on 28 June.

Captain Anderson left Falmouth on 15 February 1792, reached Madras on 9 June, Penang on 29 July, and Malacca on 30 August. They arrived at Whampoa on 26 September. Homeward-bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 26 November, arrived at St Helena on 19 March 1793, and arrived at Portsmouth on 9 June.

Captain Anderson received a letter of marque on 16 January 1794. However, he did not sail Sir Edward Hughes again. Instead, Captain James Urmston received a letter of marque on 10 May.


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