HCS Aurora (1809)

Mahratta grabs and gallivats attacking the sloop Aurora of the Bombay Marine[Note 1]
History
Great Britain
Name: Aurora
Owner: British East India Company
Operator: Bombay Marine
Builder: Bombay Dockyard[1]
Launched: 1809
Fate: Last listed 1828
General characteristics
Type: Sloop
Tons burthen: 217[2] or 247[3] (bm)
Sail plan: sloop
Armament: 14 guns

HCS Aurora, the Honourable East India Company's Ship Aurora, was a sloop-of-war launched at Bombay for the Bombay Marine, the naval arm of the British East India Company (EIC), to protect the trade in the Indian Ocean from pirates. The French captured her in late September 1810, only to have the British recapture her in early December. She returned to the service of the Bombay Marine, assisting the British Government and the Royal Navy in various campaigns in the East Indies and the Persian Gulf. She was still listed on the rolls of the Bombay Marine on 1 January 1828.

Career

Aurora went into active service shortly after she was launched. Under the command of Lieutenant Conyers, she participated the Persian Gulf campaign of 1809.[4] The Royal Navy and the EIC sent a large force to the Persian Gulf to force the Al Qasimi (or Joasmi) to cease their raids on British ships, particularly on the Persian and Arab coasts of the Straits of Hormuz. The operation's success was limited as British were unable to suppress permanently the strong fleets of the Al Qasimi of Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah.

Capture and recapture

Aurora, under the command of Lieutenant Watkins, left Bombay on 16 August 1810 on a cruise. Lloyd's List reported that the French frigates Iphigenia and Astree had captured Aurora, of 10 guns and 100 men, in October.[5] French records reveal that Iphigénie, under Acting Captain Bouvet, and Astrée captured Aurora, of 16-guns, on 20 September 1810. Both reports agree that her captors took her to Île de France. The French Navy then took Aurora into service as the corvette Aurore.[6]

The British recaptured Aurora, and several other EIC vessels, as a consequence of their successful invasion of Isle de France in November–December 1810.[7] Aurora then returned to Bombay and the EIC's service.

When the French captured British vessels they tried to get sailors, marines, and in the case of EIC ships, lascars, to join the French Navy. Apparently they generally had some success, particularly with Irishmen and lascars. However, in the case of Aurora, her marine detachment of 16 or 17 sepoys, recruited from among the Concanny Purwarries and serving in the Marine Battalion of the Bombay Marine, were steadfast in resisting first blandishments and then harsh treatment.[Note 2]

Invasion of Java and punitive expeditions

In 1811, the Royal Navy and the EIC combined to launch an invasion of Java. The EIC contributed several warships, including Aurora, under the command of Commander Watkins, and several East Indiamen and other transports.[10]

In December Aurora was in Calcutta when the news arrived that a large group of Burmese had invaded the area of Chittagong. Captain Macdonald of Aurora assembled a force consisting of Aurora and the EIC's cruizers Phoenix, Thetis, and Vestal, as well as a 900 troops. The Troops disembarked at Chittagong on 6 December, at which point the Burmese retreated.[11]

In 1812, Palimbang was under British control, with Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles as the governor of British Java. The ex-sultan of Palimbang established a stockade a few miles up from the city. From there he intercepted supplies and threatened the new sultan. Major Mears of the Bombay Army and Captain MacDonald of Aurora sent 200 men in boats to capture the stockade. They were able to do so, though not without the loss of Major Mears.[12]

That same year, HMS Phoenix, HMS Procris, and HMS Barracouta, and a detachment of 100 men from the 48th Highlanders set out on a punitive expedition against the Sultanate of Sambas, along the Sambas River in western Borneo. Barracouta was unable to force the river defenses and the expedition retreated after she suffered some casualties.[13]

From January Aurora and some gunboats then maintained a blockade until a second punitive expedition arrived in June 1813. While she maintained the blockade, Aurora recaptured some valuable Chinese junks, and unsuccessfully chased the ship Coromandel, up the river.[13]

For the second punitive expedition against Sambas, the Royal Navy contingent consisted of Leda, Hussar, Malacca, Volage, Hecate, and Procris, with Captain Sayer of Leda as the senior naval officer.[13] The EIC contributed the cruisers Malabar, Teignmouth, and Aurora, seven gunboats, the transport Troubridge, and the East Indiaman Princess Charlotte of Wales. The army contingent consisted of the 14th Regiment of Foot, a company each from the Bengal artillery and the HEIC's European Regiment, and the 3rd Bengal Volunteer Battalion. Eventually the British vessels, except the frigates, were able to cross the bar in front of the river and move towards the town of Sambas. Capturing two forts yielded over 70 brass and iron guns of mixed calibers, but the town of itself yielded little booty. The expedition was able to recapture the Portuguese brig Coromandel, which the pirates had captured the year before. British casualties from combat were relatively low, but casualties from fever and disease were high.[13]

In early 1814 the British Army officer in charge at Palimbang replaced the current sultan with the old sultan, in retirement in the interior. Raffles sent Captain MacDonald and Aurora, to investigate the situation. The old sultan was deposed and the his predecessor reinstated.[14]

In April, the EIC put together a small force consisting of Malabar, under Captain Robert Deane, the overall naval commander, Teignmouth, Aurora, and some gunboats, and an Army contingent under the command of Major-General Miles Nightingale. On 7 June the British attacked Makassar, burning the rajah's palace. The rajah fled and the British were able to impose a new rajah. Shortly thereafter, Aurora returned to Calcutta, carrying the Army staff and several officials.[15]

Incident in 1816

Maratha raiders posed a longstanding problem for the EIC. Apparently in 1816 Aurora engaged in combat with a flotilla of these raiders, supposedly in the Bay of Bengal. The painting above shows Aurora engaging two grabs and numerous gallivats.[Note 3]

The problem with Mahrata pirates ended with the British victory in the Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–18), which brought the Maratha Empire under EIC control.

Incident in 1817

In January 1817 Aurora was under the command of Captain Jeakes. She was towing a large "baghalah', which carried treasure from Kuwait and destined for the Imaum of Muscat. As they were sailing down the Gulf, 15 "dhows and trankies" manned by Jaoasmi pirates attacked them, attempting to capture the baghalah. Jeakes managed by skilful sailing to maneuver Aurora to bring her guns to bear and sink many of the dhows. When Aurora and the baghalah arrived at Muscat, the Imaum presented Captain Jeakes with a valuable sword and an Arabian horse. Aurora then continued her journey onto Bombay.[16]

Punitive expedition against Ras-al-Khaima

In late 1819 Captain Francis Augustus Collier of Liverpool to command the naval portion of a joint navy-army punitive expedition against the pirates at Ras al-Khaimah in the Persian Gulf. The naval force consisted of Liverpool, Eden, Curlew, several EIC cruisers including Aurora, and a number of gun and mortar boats.[17] Aurora was under the command of Lieutenant Maillard.[18] Later several vessels belonging to the Sultan of Muscat joined them. On the army side, Major General Sir William Keir commanded some 5,000 troops in transports.[17] Aurora and Nautilus supported the landing of the troops with a "well-directed fire".[19]

After destroying Ras-al-Khaima, the British then spent the rest of December and early January moving up and down the coast destroying forts and vessels. The capture and destruction of the fortifications and ships in the port was a massive blow for the Gulf pirates. British casualties were minimal.

Fate

The last readily available online mention of Aurora notes that she was still listed as serving the Bombay Marine on 1 January 1828.[20]

Notes, citations and references

Notes

  1. ↑ The title of the picture gives the date as 1812, but the year 1816 is more probable. In 1812 Aurora was in the East Indies, and other versions of related pictures give the year as 1816, though attributing the action to an engagement against Joasmi pirates. However, the vessels are grabs and gallivats, not dhows, suggesting that a combination of 1816 and Mahratta pirates is more plausible.
  2. ↑ Purwarry was a term for low-caste Indians, possibly pariahs or Paraiyars.[8] When Aurora returned to Bombay, the Government promoted each man one grade, gave all the men a medal inscribed on one side in English and the other in Konkani, and had the order commending the marines read to every Native regiment in the Bombay army.[9]
  3. ↑ A grab (from the Marathi gurab), was a two or three-masted ship generally found on the Malabar Coast. A gallivat was a small vessel resembling a Mediterranean felucca, and like a felucca carried a triangular sail.

Citations

  1. ↑ Hackman (2001), p.325.
  2. ↑ Phipps (1840), p.165.
  3. ↑ Colledge (1969), p.58.
  4. ↑ Low (1877), p.330.
  5. ↑ Lloyd's List, no.4525, – accessed 12 March 2015.
  6. ↑ Winfield and Roberts (2015), p. 183.
  7. ↑ Low (1877), p.230.
  8. ↑ United Service Magazine (February 1850), p.295.
  9. ↑ Low (1877), pp.227-8.
  10. ↑ Low (1877), p.238.
  11. ↑ Low (1877), pp.275-76.
  12. ↑ Low (1877), p.252.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Low (1877), p.256-60.
  14. ↑ Low (1877), p.250; footnote.
  15. ↑ Low (1877), pp.260-1.
  16. ↑ Low (1877), pp.239-41.
  17. 1 2 United service magazine Part 1, pp. 711–15.
  18. ↑ Low (1877), p.351.
  19. ↑ Low (1877), pp. 353-5.
  20. ↑ Low (1877), p.479.

References

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