Henry Cort

		Henry Cort Inventor - Creator of puddled iron - Father of iron trade
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The 1782 Jamaica convoy

Graves was still at Jamaica when Rodney came in with the fleet after the battle of 12 April 1782; and was ordered to take command of a squadron, consisting principally of prizes, bound for England. They sailed on 25 July, the craziest squadron perhaps that ever put to sea. Some of them parted company at a very early stage of the voyage, and returned to Port Royal or bore up for Halifax; the rest got into a violent storm in mid-ocean on 16 Sept. when several of them went down, some with all hands. Of nine ships of the line that left Jamaica, two only got to England, and those with much difficulty.

From Old DNB's entry for Thomas Graves, taken from the Nautical Magazine of September 1880, xlix.719.

This is Thomas Morgan's voyage home, as purser on the captured Ville de Paris. Although he will have missed the thick of any fighting, he was aboard Russell when bad weather forced her home on that venture into the Atlantic under Byron, and again when sickness obliged her to leave Charleston. On the Alfred there was action at the Chesapeake, St Kitts and The Saints. He deserves a restful trip home.

And he still owes £3,500 to Henry Cort. Will he get home safely?

Judging from my research, no account of the voyage is completely accurate; but at least they guide towards the ships' books that have survived. Not many of those: if the ship perishes, what chance for the books on board? Logs, musters, pay books all go to the bottom.

If a log is preserved at the National Archives (PRO), that is a good indication that the ship has survived. Pay books we can find for all the Royal Navy's vessels on the voyage, but they may have been compiled afterwards: not an easy task, and likely to omit many men who have perished.

By my reckoning, nine ships of the line start on the voyage (though many accounts say ten). Four survive, but only one makes it home this trip. A story that 3,500 lives are lost looks wildly exaggerated, unless it includes losses from merchantmen. An account by Breen gives a vivid and plausible description of Graves's experience on his flagship Ramillies, but its references to other ships are less reliable.

At the end of June 1782, the waters around Jamaica are thronged with shipping, including British merchantmen heading home. The escorting squadron under Graves's command comprises five prizes - Hector, Caton, Ardent, Glorieux and Ville de Paris; and four British warships - Ramillies, Pallas, Canada and Centaur.

Graves's convoy leaves Bluefields Bay on 26 July 1782. The first setback occurs the same day, causing Ardent to head back prematurely to Port Royal.

At half past 1pm the Centaur in getting underweigh got athwart our hawse & carrd away the Jibb Boom & sprung the Bowsprit.

From Ardent log, 26 July 1782.

The ship very leaky obligd to Rigg a third Pump.

From Ardent log, 28 July 1782.

Fresh Breezes & Clouds the Spitsail wash'd away from the Bows, the Pump Continually working.

From Ardent log, 1st August 1782.

The convoy proceeds to Bermuda, where Hector loses contact. Continuing on her own across the Atlantic, her fate is evident from the later court martial of her captain John Bourchier. A French attack on 5th September causes severe damage, and she is "quitted in a sinking state" a month later. Over a hundred of her crew are picked up.

Beyond Bermuda, Caton springs a leak and is escorted away to Halifax.

At 3 finding the Leak increase Fired a 12 pounder as a Sign of distress, at 6 Spoke his Majs Ship the Pallas at 10 Came on bd an officer from the Pallas. Parted Comp with the Convoy bound to England In Company with his Majs Ship Pallas.

From Caton log, 8 September 1782.

Five warships are left: we deduce their fate from Breen's account, Canada's log (the only one that survives), ships' paybooks and newspaper accounts.

The storm strikes after dark on the 17th. Breen tells how Graves tries to ride it out by ordering all ships to lie to the wind with only the mainsail hoisted. This stratagem is thwarted by a sudden reversal in wind direction, causing many masts to snap off. (A suggestion that "corroded bolts caused the tragedy" appears well wide of the mark.)

Strong Gales from the NW carried away the maintop mast & mizen mast. Empd cleaning the Wreck. At 6 observd the Glorieux wth her Foremt main topmst & Bowsprit. At 1 Mod cloudy observd the Adm wth his main & mizen masts & foretop mst gone.

From Canada log, 17 September 1782.

Counted 24 Sail in Compy at 10 PM Strong Gales & Squally with very heavy Seas from the NW. At 11 lost a Lay of three lines at 1 frmast went over the Side the Foretopmt which carried away the Crosstrees.

From Canada log, 18 September 1782.

The convoy is scattered, and for a while Canada loses all contact. Eventually she picks up with a few of the stragglers, and anchors off the Isle of Wight on 2nd October.

Ramillies, badly damaged in the storm, limps on for three days before Graves and the crew abandon her. They are picked up by the Belle merchantman. The Oxford DNB's commendation of Graves's "superb feat of seamanship" is backed by Breen's account, while Ramillies's paybook records only one death. The Belle reaches Cork on 10 October.

Centaur is less fortunate. She goes down on 24 September. Ten men, including her captain, get away in a boat. Over 400 perish. The column in her paybook recording the pay's recipients is replete with widows, relatives and executors.

The fates of Glorieux and Ville de Paris are less certain.

The men of war which sailed from Portsmouth on Friday last, are supposed to be gone to the Western Islands, in order to search for the Ville de Paris, as there is every reason to believe the French have dispatched some ships to sea for the purpose of intercepting her, in consequence of the information which they had received from the Ariel frigate, that captured the Hector, Cox, on the 26th of September, in lat. 44-54, long. 39, which was four days after the Hector parted from her. Captain Cox fell in with the Ville de Paris the 19th of September, and kept company with her till the 26th, when, at ten o'clock that night, they lost sight of her. She was then 130 leagues to the westward of Carvo; the preceding day she hoisted signals of distress, but it being blowing weather, and the Hector dismasted, she was not able to go near enough to speak with her; but they understood it was Captain Curgenwen's intention to make the Azores, if possible. It is melancholy to observe, that neither the Centaur not Glorieux were in company with her, therefore most probable they are both foundered. The Ville de Paris did not lose her masts during the hurricane, but rolled them away two days afterwards.

From Hampshire Chronicle, 5th November 1782.

The article is evidently mistaken in identifying Ville de Paris's commander as Captain Curgenwen. The ship's paybook reveals he was superseded before the voyage began, while information on the Web reveals that his successor was George Wilkinson. We should also note that "the Hector, Cox" is not the ship commanded by John Bourchier that parted from the convoy in August. Probably a merchantman from the same convoy, "dismasted" in the same storm.

Ville de Paris's paybook shows 406 of the crew collecting their pay, 168 presumed dead (pay collected by a relative or executor). Since the ship's compliment is 800, it seems that over 200 (including most of the officers) have been swallowed into oblivion. However, accounts elsewhere on the Web that there are few if any survivors are wrong.

The likeliest narrative is that Captain Wilkinson looks at the damage caused by the hurricane, packs half of his crew on a neighbouring merchantman and tries unsuccessfully to make port with the rest.

Glorieux's fate may be similar. Her paybook shows over 220 survivors collecting their pay.

Thomas Morgan is one of Ville de Paris's survivors. On 28 October 1782, he attends a meeting of Gosport trustees for the first time. Nevertheless it is nearly a year before he collects his pay for service on the ship.

RELATED TOPICS

Main sources of information

John Becher and the American War

Ships' pursers

Life of Thomas Morgan

Thomas Morgan and the American War

Dundas and Trotter

Sandwich and Middleton

The Arethusa, Sandwich and Keppel

Sinking of the Royal George

Fact, error and conjecture

The pages on this site are copied from the original site of Eric Alexander (henrycort.net) with his allowance.
Eric passed away abt 2012
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