Scarborough (1740 EIC ship)

For other ships with the same name, see Scarborough (East Indiaman).

Scarborough was an East Indiaman launched in December 1740 that performed four trips to India and China for the British East India Company (EIC). She is most famous for giving her name to Scarborough Shoal (or Scarborough Reef), which she discovered by grounding there on 12 September 1748. She was sold for breaking up in 1753.

History
Name	Scarborough
Owner	John Raymond
Builder	Carter, Limehouse
Launched	December 1740
Fate	Sold 1753 for breaking up
General characteristics ^[1]
Tons burthen	499,^[a] or 545^[3] (bm)
Propulsion	Sail
Complement	99
Armament	30 guns

Repair

In May 1741 Scarborough was at Portsmouth, undergoing repairs that necessitated unloading, repairing her, and reloading her.^[4]

Scarborough was under the command of Captain George Westcott, who had already made two trips to India on her predecessor, Scarborough.

Voyages

Voyage #1 (1741-42)

Captain Westcott left Portsmouth on 4 May 1741, bound for Madras and Bengal. She reached the Cape on 14 August and Vizagapatam on 15 December, before she arrived at Culpee (an anchorage towards Calcutta, on 11 January 1742.^[1] Homeward bound, she reached St Helena on 21 June. The Indiamen Scarborough, Northampton, Queen Caroline, Halifax, Royal George, Kent, and snow Swift left St Helena on 26 June, together with their escorts, HMS Argyl and HMS Lynn. They arrived safe off of Dover on 16 September.^[5] Scarborough arrived at Portsmouth on 19 September, and the Downs on 28 September.^[1]

Voyage #2 (1744-46)

George Westcott was captain of Scarborough, and she sailed from Torbay on 28 February 1744, and Plymouth on 14 March, bound for Madras and Bengal. She reached Madeira on 27 April and the Cape on 13 August, before arriving at Madras on 11 December. Homeward bound, she passed Rogues River, a section of the Hooghly River, on 24 January 1745. Scarborough reached St Helena on 8 July and Lisbon on 17 October, and arrived at the Downs on 21 January 1746.^[1]

Voyage #3 (1748-49) - Grounding on Scarborough Shoal

Captain Philip D'Auvergne left Portsmouth on 25 January 1748, bound for Fort St David and China. Scarborough arrived at Fort St David on 8 June. Continuing on to China, she was at Malacca on 12 August.^[1]

Scarborough grounded on one of the rocks of Scarborough Shoal (15°11′N 117°46′E / 15.183°N 117.767°E / 15.183; 117.767) on 12 September. D'Auvergne first tried to lighten her by throwing her guns overboard and emptying water casks, to no avail. Pulling her with anchors and boats also proved futile. Eventually, tides and swells lifted her off.^[6][7]

She arrived at Whampoa on 21 September. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar (about 20 miles before Whampoa) on 15 December, reached the Cape on 3 March 1749 and St Helena on 1 April, and arrived at the Downs on 20 June.^[1]

Voyage #4 (1751-1753)

Captain Philip D'Auvergne left the Downs on 1 February 1751, bound for Madras and Bengal. Scarborough reached São Tiago, Cape Verde, on 27 February and Fort St David on 7 July. She arrived at Madras on 21 July and Culpee on 6 August. Homeward bound, she was at Barrabulla (or Barra Bulla), which is a sandbank that forms near Kedgeree in the Hooghli River, on 23 February 1852. She had to stop at Mauritius on 15 June for repairs, and did not leave until 20 October. She reached St Helena on 2 December, and arrived at the Downs on 10 February 1753.^[1]

Fate

Her owners sold Scarborough in 1753 for breaking up.^[3]

Notes

1. The registered tonnage is incorrect. Following Queen Anne's charter of 1702, between 1708 and 1747 almost every EIC vessel was registered as being of under 500 tons (bm). The reason was that the charter required every vessel of 500 tons or over to carry a chaplain.^[2] Apparently the Directors of the EIC did not feel this was a worthwhile expense.

Citations

1. British Library: Scarborough (2) - accessed 27 July 2015.
2. Cotton (1949), p.41.
3. Hackman (2001), p. 190.
4. Thomas (1999), pp.187 & 191.
5. "No. 854". The London Gazette. 14 September 1742. p. 6.
6. Wright (1804), p.480-2.
7. Huddart (1801), p.454.

References

• Cotton, Sir Evan (1949). Fawcet, Sir Charles (ed.). East Indiamen: The East India Company's Maritime Service. London: Batchworth Press.
• Hackman, Rowan (2001). Ships of the East India Company. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-96-7.
• Hardy, Horatio Charles (1811). A register of ships, employed in the service of the Honorable the United East India Company, from the year 1760 to 1810: with an appendix, containing a variety of particulars, and useful information interesting to those concerned with East India commerce. Black, Parry, and Kingsbury.
• Joseph Huddart (1801). The Oriental Navigator, Or, New Directions for Sailing to and from the East Indies: Also for the Use of Ships Trading in the Indian and China Seas to New Holland, &c. &c. James Humphreys.
• Thomas, James H. (1999) The East India Company and the Provinces in the Eighteenth Century; Volume 1: Portsmouth and the East India Company 1700-1815 (Edwin Mellen). ISBN 0-7734-8201-6
• Wright, Gabriel, ed., (1804) A New Nautical Directory for the East-India and China Navigation .., (W. Gilbert).