Auspicious (1799 ship)

Auspicious was launched at Newcastle in 1799 and was wrecked at Heneaga on 16 August 1801. She was part of a convoy sailing from Jamaica to England when strong, unsuspected currents drove her, five other merchantman, and one of their escorts, the frigate HMS Lowestoffe on to the shore.

For other ships with the same name, see Auspicious (ship).

Great Britain
Name: Auspicious
Owner: J. Lyall[1]
Builder: William Rowe, St Peter's, Newcastle-upon-Tyne[1]
Launched: 1799[2]
Fate: Wrecked 10 August 1801
General characteristics
Tons burthen: 463,[2] or 465[3] (bm)
Armament: 10 × 6-pounder + 2 × 12-pounder guns + 2 × 18-pounder carronades[3]

Auspicious entered Lloyd's Register in 1799 with Stranach, master, J. Lyall, owner, and trade London transport.[2] In 1801 Auspicious was under the command of J. Proctor and sailing to Jamaica, that is, as a West Indiaman.[3]

Loss

In July 1801 Auspicious was part of a convoy sailing back from the West Indies to England. The convoy assembled off Port Antonio and got under way on 27 July.[4] The escorts consisted of HMS Lowestoffe, Acasta, the sloop Bonetta, and the schooners Musquito (or Muskito), and Sting.

On 8 August the convoy was off Môle-Saint-Nicolas and set off for the Caicos Passage. Two days later they sighted Great Inagua. That night a strong current was noted on Lowestoffe. Despite efforts to steer her taking the current into account and dropping her anchors to keep her from grounding, she struck. Her crew cut away masts, threw guns overboard, but the inflow of water overwhelmed the pumps. Her crew took to her boats and landed on the shore. Daybreak revealed that Lowestoffe had been wrecked on Heneaga, and that several merchantmen too had been wrecked. Five men on Lowestoffe were lost when a boat capsized in the surf.[4]

None of the merchantmen suffered any fatalities. The merchantmen that were wrecked were:[5][6]

Vessel Year launched Burthen Master Owner Place launched
Auspicious 1799 463 Proctor Lyall Newcastle
Bushy Park 1792 371 Brown Milligan River Thames
Fanny Melville
Jason 1799 406 W. Watt Hibbert River Thames
Milton 1800 407 Robley, or J. Robby Boltons Hull
Swansea 1798 345 Warden Cox & Co. Yarmouth

In the late afternoon of 11 August Acasta left Bonetta and three of her own boats to help the wrecked vessels and then took command of the convoy.[7] Bonetta took the survivors back to Jamaica.[6]

The subsequent court-martial at Port Royal on 3 September ruled that a sudden change in the current after dark had caused the loss. The board acknowledged that Captain Pamplin of Lowestoffe had sailed in a judicious manner and exonerated him and his officers from blame both for the loss of Lowestoffe and the vessels in convoy.[8]

Citations and references

Citations

  1. Tyne Built Ships: Auspicious.
  2. Lloyd's Register (1799), Seq. №661.
  3. Register of Shipping (1801), seq.№784.
  4. Hepper (1994), pp. 99-100.
  5. Lloyd's List №4190.
  6. Lloyd's List №4197.
  7. Grocott (1997), p. 114.
  8. Naval Chronicle, (1801), Vol. 6, p.422.

References

  • Grocott, Terence (1997). Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary & Napoleonic Eras. London: Chatham. ISBN 1861760302.
  • Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650–1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN 0-948864-30-3.
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