Royal Captain (East Indiaman)

The Royal Captain was a British East Indiaman launched in 1772 and lost in 1773 in the South China Sea. In 1999 an expedition discovered the wreck and salvaged some of her cargo.

Randall built the three-decker, which her managing owner, Sir Richard Hotham, chartered to the East India Company. The ship measured 43.6 metres from bow to rudder, 11 metres across the beam and had a burthen of 864 tons (bm).

Contents

The voyage

Her first and only voyage took her to China via St Helena. Captain Edward Berrow (or Barrow) sailed from Portsmouth on 30 Jan 1773, reached St Helena on 11 April St Helena and arrived at Whampoa on 23 August. She crossed the Second Bar on 28 November on her way home.

Loss

On 17 December 1773 she struck an uncharted reef in the South China Sea at 2:30 in the morning. The place where she struck is now known as Royal Captain Shoal and is some 46 miles (76 kilometers) from Palawan.

When she struck, in addition to her captain, Royal Captain was carrying six passengers and 99 crew members. Her cargo consisted of 100,000 pieces of Chinese porcelain, as well as tea, silk, glass beads and gold.[1]

Even though the crew managed to free the ship twice, a third collision with the reef sealed her fate and she sank with the bulk of her cargo.[1] All but three crewmen survived the sinking; the three sailors who drowned were apparently drunk and refused to take to the lifeboats.[1]

The British ship Union picked up the survivors and carried them to Balambangan Island where, between 1761 and 1805, the East India Company maintained a free port.[1] The crew returned home on Syren.

Discovery and Salvage

In 1999, an expedition led by Franck Goddio located the wreck in a depth of about 330 meters and salvaged a large part of the remaining stage freight.[2] Goddio utilised the Ocean Voyager as well as two high-tech 2-person submarines of the Deep Rover class, capable of diving 1000 metres.

Documentary

The treasure of the Royal Captain, Discovery Channel June 2000.[3]

References

Goddio, Frank (1998) Discovery and archaeological excavation of a 16th century trading vessel in the Philippines. (Manila). Goddio, Franck, Christophe Gerick, Miguel Mollkraft, Christoph Gerigk and Miguel Moll Kraft. (2000) Royal Captain, A ship lost in the Abyss. (London: Periplus Publishing Ltd.). ISBN 1-902699-19-X