Everything about Arniston Ship totally explained
The
Arniston was an
East Indiaman ship that was wrecked on
30 May 1815 during a storm at
Waenhuiskrans, near
Cape Agulhas,
South Africa with the loss of 372 lives and only 6 survivors.
The
Arniston was heavily armed, with her fifty eight guns
Voyages (1794–1812)
The
Arniston sailed from
Great Britain to the
Far East eight times before her last voyage. On one of her homeward journeys from China, she struck an uncharted rock at, near the island of
Pulo Goondy (modern day
Pulau Legundi), located just south of
Sumatra. She didn't suffer any ill effects as a result of this incident however, which is mentioned in journals of the time only for its noteworthyness as a navigation hazard to other shipping.
A more significant event occurred during her third voyage to the Far East however. On 27 June 1800, the
Arniston had just anchored at
Benkulen when the 26-gun French
privateer Confiance attacked her. The
Arniston cut her anchor and gave chase, firing several
broadsides into the other ship. The faster French ship was able to make an escape however. On 9 October 1800, another East Indiaman, the
Kent, would be less fortunate, being captured after a two hour battle with the same raider.
Apart from these two incidents, the
Arniston's first eight voyages were otherwise uneventful.
(1794/1795) St Helena, Madras, and China
Captain Campbell Marjoribanks:
(1805/1806) China
Captain Peter Wedderburn: and his bosses were also unwilling to purchase one, even threatening to replace him with another captain if he refused to set sail without one.
The Arniston sailed from Port de Galle on 4 April 1815 in a convoy of six other East Indiamen, under the escort of HMS Africaine.
Only 6 men of the 378 people on board survived. who was out hunting.
