Arniston (East Indiaman)

Repulse, an East Indiaman from the same period and similar in size to Arniston
History
Great Britain
Owner
  • Messrs Borradailes of London,[1]
  • 1794–1808: and managed by John Wedderburn
  • 1809–1813:Managed by Robert Hudson[2]
BuilderWilliam Barnard, Deptford
Launched1794
FateWrecked, 30 May 1815 at Waenhuiskrans, South Africa
General characteristics [3]
TypeEast Indiaman
Tons burthen1468, or 1433894[4] (bm)
Length
  • 176 ft 3 in (53.7 m) (overall)
  • 143 ft 10 in (43.8 m) (keel)
Beam43 ft 3+12 in (13.2 m)
Depth of hold17 ft 6 in (5.3 m)
PropulsionSail
Complement120–140 men[5]
Armament
  • 1797: 26 × 9 & 12-pounder guns[5]
  • 1799: 26 × 12-pounder guns[5]
  • 1804: 28 × 12-pounder guns + 10 × 18-pounder carronades[5]
  • 1811: 38 × 12-pounder guns[5]

Arniston was an East Indiaman that made eight voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She was wrecked on 30 May 1815 during a storm at Waenhuiskrans, near Cape Agulhas, South Africa, with the loss of 372 lives – only six on board survived.[6] She had been chartered as a troopship and was underway from Ceylon to England on a journey to repatriate wounded soldiers from the Kandyan Wars.

Controversially, the ship did not have a marine chronometer on board, a comparatively new navigational instrument that was an "easy and cheap addition to her equipment" that would have enabled her to determine her longitude accurately. Instead, she was forced to navigate through the heavy storm and strong currents using older, less reliable navigational aids and dead reckoning.[7] Navigational difficulties and a lack of headway led to an incorrect assumption that Cape Agulhas was Cape Point. Consequently, Arniston was wrecked when her captain headed north for St Helena, operating on the incorrect belief the ship had already passed Cape Point.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference MITCHELL-2007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference BL-1812 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ National Archives: Arniston,[1] – accessed 8 November 2014.
  4. ^ Hackman (2001), p.61.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Letter of Marque, p.50 – accessed 25 July 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference AJ-1816 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference HALL-1833 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).