Seringapatam (1799 ship)

History
Great Britain
NameSeringapatam
NamesakeSiege of Seringapatam (1799)
OwnerP. Mellish & Co.[1]
BuilderBombay Dockyard[2]
Launched23 July 1799[1]
FateCaptured July 1813
United States
NameUSS Seringapatam
AcquiredJuly 1813 (by capture)
FateTaken by mutineers and prisoners of war in May 1814
United Kingdom
NameSeringapatam
Owner
  • 1815: Mellish & Co.
  • 1833: Creighton, or Chrichton
  • 1850-1869: Various
AcquiredSeized by mutineers and prisoners of war in May 1814
FateNo longer listed in 1870
General characteristics
TypeShip
Tons burthen336,[3][4][2] or 357[5] or 25732⁄94,[1] (bm)
Complement
Armament
  • 1800: 14 × 9- & 18-pounder guns[5]
  • 1804: 16 × 6&9-pounder guns + 4 × swivel guns[5]
  • 1806: 0 × 6-pounder guns + 4 × 18-pounder carronades + 4 × swivels[5]
  • 1810: 14 × 9-pounder guns + 6 × swivels[5]
  • US service: 22 cannon
NotesTeak-built

Seringapatam was built in 1799, of teak, as a warship for Tippu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore. However, the British stormed his citadel at Seringapatam that year and he was killed in the action. The vessel was sailed to England in the hopes that the Admiralty would buy it. The Admiralty did not, and British merchants bought her to use as a whaler. She made six voyages to the Southern Atlantic and the Pacific until 1813, on her sixth voyage, when during the War of 1812, a US frigate captured her. She served briefly as a tender to the frigate before mutineers and British prisoners recaptured her and sailed to Australia. After her return to her owners, she returned to whaling until 1846, making another nine voyages. She then sailed between London and New South Wales until 1850. In the 1850s and 1860s she sailed to Aden and Hamburg, ending her years trading between Shields and Quebec. She is no longer listed in 1870.

  1. ^ a b c Hackman (2001), p. 243.
  2. ^ a b Wadia (1986), p. 336.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference LR1800 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Phipps (1840), p. 168.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Letter of Marque, p.86 - accessed 25 July 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference BSWF was invoked but never defined (see the help page).