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The 1782
Jamaica convoy
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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.
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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.
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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 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.)
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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.
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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. |
(We should 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. The book also confirms a record in an
earlier log, that Captain Curgenwen was superseded before the voyage began –
somewhat at odds with the newspaper account.
A compendium of navy officers records the
year of his death as 1784: confirmation has not yet been found.
Likeliest explanation for these
observations: the Ville de Paris’s captain (whoever he is) 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. We can dismiss an account which says that
only one of the crew survives.
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.
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RELATED TOPICS John Becher and the
American War Thomas Morgan
and the American War |
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