They were however vulnerable if overmatched. The East Indiaman General Goddard operating with one RN ship of the line and several other company ships captured eight of her Dutch East Indiaman counterparts off Saint Helena in 1795. When actually engaged in battle, the East Indiaman usually performed well if not excessively overmatched. Their large size caused pirates and French naval vessels to oftenmistake them for more heavily armed ships of the line. Originally armed with 26, short-range, but powerful carronade weapons, she was up-gunned by the RN to a total of 56 guns and served in several engagements with French, Dutch, and Danish forces, notably the 1802 Battle of Copenhagen when she was commanded by William Bligh formerly the master of the mutinous Bounty. While designed to carry high value cargo through dangerous waters, they were capable of being quickly up-armed to the point where some could mount as many guns as a major warship.įor example, the British Royal Navy (RN) purchased the British East India Company (EIC) vessel Glatton in 1795 for warship conversion. The East Indiaman was a significant vessel type throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. Such ships could free naval escorts for other combat duties and contribute toward short term sea control while otherwise engaged in logistics operations. If properly armed and crewed, US-owned and US Government-chartered container ships have the potential to become powerful naval auxiliaries capable of defending themselves and presenting a significant risk to those that might attack them. The advent of the large, survivable container ship, with the potential for containerized weapon systems changes the calculus of the last century where merchant ships were soft targets requiring significant protection. The great mercantilist trading companies of the age of sail are long gone, but the idea that a heavily armed merchant ship might again more fully participate in naval warfare has new credence. John Paul Jones’ famous flagship USS Bonhomme Richard was such a vessel, formerly of the French East Indies Company. They were, as a type, powerfully-armed and carried large and well-disciplined crews.” One source defines these vessels as, “large, strongly built vessels specifically designed by the great trading companies of England, France and Spain for the long and dangerous passage to the Far East. The East Indiaman was an iconic vessel from the age of “fighting sail” that combined the features of a robust, long-range cargo ship with the weapons of a frigate-sized combatant.
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