Chapter XXIII: Appendix: Sails of the Essex East Indiaman

The following is a list of the sails which the _Essex_ could set, and it is worth placing on record now that the sailing ship is so rapidly becoming a rarity. These details have been taken from a contemporary manuscript which has been kindly sent me by Colonel E. B. Urmston, C.B., whose great-grandfather served in East Indiamen from the time when he joined as a midshipman in 1763, and afterwards commanded several of these ships between 1783 and 1803. In 1795 he brought home, as Commodore, a fleet of thirty East Indiamen without a convoy of any of H.M. ships, and later in the same year was Commodore of the East Indiamen fleet which accompanied Sir Ralph Abercrombie’s expedition to the West Indies. His eldest son, Sir James Urmston, joined the company’s service as a “writer” in 1798, and became President of the company’s factory and affairs in China.

This memorandum, already turning yellow with age, was made in 1816, at the time Lady Urmston came home in the _Essex_, and with the aid of existing pictures of East Indiamen it would not be impossible to reconstruct a model on fairly accurate lines. It will be seen that she was able to set twenty-seven sails on her foremast, twenty-one on her mainmast, and seventeen on her mizzen: total sixty-five. It is interesting as showing that at least one of these Indiamen was a real sail-carrier. She was commanded by Captain Nisbett.

ON THE FOREMAST 26. ON THE MAINMAST 21. ON THE MIZZENMAST 17.

Fore course Main course Square cross jackyard
” topsail ” topsail Mizzen topsail
” t’gallant sail ” t’gallant sail ” t’gallant sail
” royal ” royal ” royal
” skysail ” skysail ” skysail
” moon-raker ” moon-raker ” moon-raker
” cloud-scraper ” cloud-scraper
” star-gazer ” star-gazer
” storm staysail ” staysail Driver
” topmast staysail ” topmast staysail Ring-tail
Jib ” middle ” Watersail
Inner jib ” t’gallant ” Gaff topsail
Flying ” ” royal ” Upper ”
Outer ” ” upper ” Mizzen staysail
Cutter’s topmast jib ” topmast staysail
Upper ” ” t’gallant ”

_On the bowsprit_:

Sprit sail Mizzen royal staysail
Sprit topsail ” topmast stuns’l
” outer topsail ” t’gallants’l

_Studding sails_:

Common lower studding sail Lower studding sail
Outer lower studding sail Common topmast studding sail
Common topmast studding sail Outer topmast studding sail
Outer topmast studding sail Common t’gallant studding sail
Common t’gallant studding sail Outer t’gallant studding sail
Outer t’gallant studding sail Royal t’gallant studding sail
Royal t’gallant studding sail Upper t’gallant studding sail

INDEX

Aaron Manby, 183

Abell, Sir Westcott, 240

Abercrombie, Sir Ralph, 246

Ability of an East Indiaman navigator, 142

_Acadia_, 178

Acre, 15

_Active_, 145

_Admiral Watson_, 94

Adriatic, The, 9

_Agincourt_, 148

_Ajax_, 92

_Albert Webb_, 118

_Alfred_, 98, 99, 100, 148

Allan Line, 197, 230

_Alnwick Castle_, 147

American clippers, 151

American Line, 183, 195

American Mercantile Marine, 152, 220, 244

American packets, 123

American trade, 104, 151

American War, 117

_Anglesey_, 147, 148

Anglo-Dutch wars, 66

_Ann McKim_, 150

_Aquila_, 25

_Aquitania_, 170, 173, 199, 200, 201

_Arabic_, 196

_Archimedes_, 184, 185

_Arctic_, 124

_Ariel_, 161, 162, 164

_Arizona_, 192

“Art of Seafighting, The,” 95

_Astell_, 112

_Aventurier_, 100, 101

_Audacious_, H.M.S., 216

_Auguste Victoria_, 211

_Austral_, 192

Australian Black Ball Line, 157

Australian gold discovery, 156

Australian Royal Mail Steam Navigation Co., 187

_Austria_, 211

Austrian Lloyd Company, 235

Baden-Powell, Sir Robert, 142

Baines, James, 135, 157

Balearic Isles, 5

Ballasting, 26

_Baltic_, 188

Barcelona ordinance, 22

_Barham_, 148

Beatty, Earl, 2

_Belle-Poule_, 100

_Bellone_, 112

Benbow, Admiral, 88

_Berceau_, 100

_Berengaria_, 170, 199, 202, 203, 217

_Berlin_, 216

Berthing a big liner, 198

Big Ship Masters, 208

_Bismarck_, 202, 218

Black Ball Line, 117, 123

“Black Book of the Admiralty,” 31

Black Sea, 16

Blackwall, 77, 80, 82, 92, 103, 115, 117, 134, 136, 146, 148, 172,
182, 188

_Blenheim_, 147

Blohm & Voss, 202

_Boddam_, 97

_Bombay Castle_, 93, 98, 99

Bombay Insurance Society, 102

_Bona Confidentia_, 58

_Bona Esperanza_, 58

_Borussia_, 210

Boulton & Watt, 170, 173

_Bremen_, 214

_Britannia_, 178

_Britannic_, 196, 200

British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Co., 178

British crews in American packets, 124

British Navigation Laws, Repeal of, 152, 212

_British Queen_, 174

Brunel, 174, 185, 187, 188

Brunswick Basin, 92, 93

_Buckinghamshire_, 135

_Buenos Ayrean_, 190

Burns, George, 177, 178

Cabot, John, 205

Cabot, Sebastian, 49, 55, 59

Caird of Greenock, 210, 214

_Caledonia_, 171, 178

_Campania_, 195, 196, 214

_Canada_, 123

_Canton_, 97

_Cap Trafalgar_, 197

Cargatores, 24

_Carlisle Castle_, 148

_Carmania_, 197, 198

_Carn Brae Castle_, 115

_Caroline_, 111, 112

Carthaginians, 5

_Cedric_, 196

_Celtic_, 196

_Ceylon_, 112

_Challenge_, 153, 154, 156

_Challenger_, 153

Chancellor, Richard, 58

_Charlotte Dundas_, 169, 170

Chaucer, 42

_Chile_, 179

“China Clippers, The,” 164

China fleet, 100

_Christiana_, 25

_Chrysolite_, 153

_Cidona_, 25

Cilicians, 5

City of Dublin Steam Company, 123

_City of Edinburgh_, 172, 173

_City of Glasgow_, 191

_City of Manchester_, 191

_City of New York_, 193

_City of Paris_, 193, 194

_Claremont_, 170

_Clarence_, 147

Clark, Captain A. H., 123, 155

_Clermont_, 170, 171

“Clipper Ship Era, The,” 123, 155

Clipper ships, 151

Clyde, The, 161

Coal brigs, 130

_Cogge_, 39

Collins Line, 124, 182, 195

_Columbia_, 178, 211

Columbus, 14, 48

_Comet_, 170

Communal idea, 22, 27, 56

Continental Service, 119

Convoy of East Indiamen, A, 112

Convoy system, 12, 15, 23

_Conway_, 243

Cook, Captain, 130

Cort, Henry, 189

Cost of building ships, 103

_Coutts_, 98

“Cracking-on,” 150, 158

Cramp shipyard, 223

Cretans, 5

Crutchley, Commander, R.N.R., 144

_Cumberland_, 98

Cunard Company, 178, 186, 190, 192, 195, 197, 202

Cunard losses, 198

Cunard, Mr., 177

_Cutty Sark_, 162, 166, 181

_Cybèle_, 97

Dalmatia, 8

Dance, Commodore, 98, 100, 122

Demand for merchant shipping, 7

Denny, William, 171

Deptford, 81

Desertion, 27

_Deutschland_, 210, 213

Devitt & Moore, 149

Diesel Engines, 240, 243

Discipline, 20

_Dogger_, 40

_Dorsetshire_, 98

Downie, W. I., 138, 166

Drake, Francis, 50

Dramatic Line, 118, 123

_Dreadnought_, 156

_Drottningholm_, 197

_Duchess of Atholl_, 172

_Duke of Marlborough_, 122

_Duke of Richmond_, 94

Dunbar, 135, 144, 147

Dutch East India Company, 73

_Earl of Abergavenny_, 98

_Earl of Balcarres_, 135

_Earl Camden_, 98, 100

_Earl of Hardwicke_, 145, 148

East India Company, 9, 73, 76, 78, 81, 104, 116, 137, 175, 176,
177, 242

East India Docks, 103

East Indiamen, 18, 73, 76, 77, 79, 90, 92, 93, 97, 98, 99, 103,
130, 145, 147, 148, 172, 246

_Edward Bonaventure_, 58, 77

Efficiency of the old-time mariner, 132

Egyptians, 3

_Elbe_, 214

_Elizabeth_, 171, 176

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 125

Emigrant traffic, 212

_Emmanuel_, 72

_Ems_, 214

_Emu_, 145

Enemies, attacks by, 94

English Maritime Law, 31

_Enterprise_, 173

Ericsson, John, 184

_Essex_, 246

_Etruria_, 192

_Europe_, 111, 112

Evolution of the ship, 3, 7, 17, 32, 45, 168

_Exeter_, 98

_Falcon_, 168, 173

_Falmouth_, 92

Falmouth, 179

Falmouth packet service, 119, 122

_Fawkener_, 120

_Ferreira_, 168

_Fiery Cross_, 139, 164

Fishermen and Merchantmen, 62

Fishermen’s quarrels, 70

Fishery Department, Board of Trade, 128

_Flying Cloud_, 143

Forrest, Captain Thomas, 90

_Forte_, 97

_Fortima_, 149

Forwood, Sir William B., 157, 160

Fowler, Lieut. Robert, R.N., 99, 102

_Francis B. Ogden_, 184

Free Trade, 222

Free trade vessels, 135

French Mercantile Marine, 231, 232

French Naval Architects, 93

Fulton, Robert, 170

Future of the Mercantile Marines, 246

_Ganges_, 98, 99, 100

Geary, Captain, R.N., 115

General Steam Navigation Company, 145, 172, 182

Genoa, 13

_Geordie_, 130

_George Washington_, 216

German Australian Line, 208

German East Africa Line, 208

German liners, 195

_Giulio Cesare_, 233

_Godezere_, 38

_Grâce Dieu_, 53

_Great Britain_, 183, 185, 186

_Great Eastern_, 188, 190, 196

_Great Republic_, 156

_Great Western_, 174, 183

Great Western Steamship Company, 185

Greeks, 3

Greens, The, 77, 94, 104, 115, 116, 135, 136, 138, 144, 145, 146,
153, 172

Grotius, 64

Growth of the Mercantile Marine, 42

Guion Line, 183, 192

“Gulliver’s Travels,” 84, 86

_Guy Mannering_, 118

Hakluyt, 50, 55

Hall, Messrs., 153

Hamburg-America Line, 208, 209, 211

Hamburg-Bremen-Africa Line, 208

Hamburg-South America Line, 208

Hansa Line, 208

Hanseatic League, 34, 41, 62, 65

Harland, Sir Edward, 187

Harland & Wolff, 187, 190

Hawkins, 51

Hay, Captain, 113, 114

Heligoland, 41

_Hellenis_, 170

_Henry Addington_, 98

Herbert, of Cherbury, Lord, 84

Herring exports in 1913, 129

_Highflyer_, H.M.S., 215

_Himalaya_, 188

_Hindostan_, 180

Holy Land, The, 11

_Homeric_, 199, 201

_Hope_, 98, 99

Hornby, Admiral Phipps, 201

_Hotspur_, 141, 142

Hour-glasses, 85

Huddart, Captain Joseph, F.R.S., 122

Hulls, Jonathan, 169

Illyrians, 5

_Imperator_, 202, 217

Indian Empire, 9

_Indomitable_, 166, 199

Inman, William, 191

Inman Line, 183

Ionians, 5

Iron and Steel, 182

Iron Mast, The first, 185

_Isaac Webb_, 118

Ismay, T. H., 190

Istria, 8

Italian Mercantile Marine, 233

_Ivernia_, 196

James, Sir William, Bart., 98

_James Baines_, 143

_James Watt_, 173

Japanese Merchant Fleet, 233

Jardine, Mattheson & Co., 146

_John Tutteburie_, 39

Jouffroy, Marquis de, 169

_Judith_, 51

_Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse_, 196, 214, 215, 216

_Kaiser Wilhelm II._, 215

_Kaiserin Auguste Victoria_, 214

_Kate Carnie_, 161

_Kent_, 146, 147, 148

_King of the Netherlands_, 172

Kosmos Line, 208

_La France_, 232

_Lady Jocelyn_, 164

_Lady Lansdowne_, 183

_Lady Melville_, 104, 135

Laird & Co., 183, 184, 211

Laws of Oleron, 30

_Leicester_, 78

Lennox, Captain Charles, 97

Letters of Marque, 96, 129

_Leviathan_, 203, 217

Linois, Admiral, 99, 100, 120

Liparian Isles, 5

Liverpool, Port of, 80, 104, 164

Lloyd’s Register, 91, 173, 176, 240

London, Port of, 80, 104, 117

_Lord Keith_, 111, 112

_Lord Macartney_, 93

Lowell, James Russell, 126

Lubbock, Basil, 164

_Lucania_, 195, 196, 214

_Lucie Woermann_, 231

Lucy, Sir Thomas, 85

_Lusitania_, 198, 199

Lycians, 5

MacIver, David, 177, 178

McKay, Donald, 156

_Macquarie_, 136, 149

_Madagascar_, 148

_Madre de Dios_, 50

_Majestic_, 170, 194, 199, 202, 203, 204, 206, 218

Malocello, 46

Manby, Aaron, 183

_Marco Polo_, 143, 157

_Marengo_, 100

Marine Insurance Company, The first, 91

“Mariner’s Jewel, The,” 84

Maritime Acts, 65

Maritime Law, 19, 30

_Marlborough_, 147

_Martaban_, 160

Mastery of the Sea, 88

_Mauritania_, 198, 199, 200, 205

Mediterranean, 7, 17

Merchant Shipping Act of 1854, 160

Merchant Ships of the North, 30

Merchantman as privateer or pirate, 87

Melbourne, 136, 148

Melbourne trade, 147

_Memnon_, 151

Mercantile Marine of the Sixteenth Century, 53

Mercantile Marines, The Minor, 229

Mercantile Supremacy at Sea, 90

Meriton, Captain, 112, 113

Messageries Maritimes, 231

Michelson, Godeke, 40

Middle Ages, 10, 13, 21, 37, 52

“Midshipman, Reminiscences of a Blackwall,” 138

Midshipmen, 137

Mighty Merchantmen, 103

Milford steam packets, 124

Miller, Patrick, 169

_Minerve_, 112

_Moa_, 145

Modern Merchant Ship, The, 194

Modern Navigation, 200

Moffat, Captain H. Y., 131

_Monarch_, 148

Moneys, The, 94, 104, 116, 146

Monson, Sir William, 82

Moodie, Captain, 166

Moslem power, 10, 11

_Mount Vernon_, 221

Mourning, sign of, 141

Napier, Robert, 171, 177, 178

Navigation Acts, 65, 67

Navigation Laws, Repeal of, 176

_Neptune_, 145

_New World_, 118

Nisbett, Captain, 247

_Nordamerika_, 210

_Norfolk_, 148

North German Lloyd, 196, 208, 209, 214, 215

North Sea fisheries, 32

_Northumberland_, 144

_Novelty_, 184

_Ocean_, 97, 98

_Oceanic_, 190, 196

O’Halloran, Captain, 158

_Oliva_, 25

_Olympic_, 170, 199, 200

Opium trade, 151

_Oregon_, 192

_Orient_, 192

Orient Line, 192

_Oriental_, 152, 154

_Orinoco_, 170

_Osterley_, 92

Owen, Sir Douglas, 31

_Owen Glendower_, 145, 148

Pacific Steam Navigation Company, 179

Packet Ships and Brigs, 119

Panama Canal, 223, 224

_Paris_, 232

Park, Robert, 95

Patriotic Fund Committee, 101

Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company, 77, 124, 179, 188

Pepys, Samuel, 81, 84

_Persia_, 186

_Peru_, 179

Peters, Andrew, 114

Pett, Phineas, 80

Phœnicians, 3

_Piémontaise_, 108, 110

Piracy, 5, 37

Pisa, 13

Plimsoll mark, 25

Polar Expedition, The first, 67

Poplar Fund, 106

Portsmouth, Admiral of, 115

_Premium_, 131

_President_, 175

_Prince of Wales_, 146, 148

Prince Henry the Navigator, 47, 75, 76, 77

_Princess Royal_, 182

_Prinzessin Charlotte_, 171

Privateer, 96

Quadruple-Expansion Engine, 197

_Queen_, 146, 148

Rabelais, 54

_Rainbow_, 151

Rainier, Rear-Admiral, 97

_Red Dragon_, 78

_Red Jacket_, 157

Red Star Line, 123

_Regent_, 53

_Rhein_, 210

Rhodian sea-law, 19, 30

Richard Cœur de Lion, 11, 30

Rise and Fall of the German Mercantile Marine, 208

_Rob Roy_, 171

_Robert F. Stockton_, 184

Rogers, Captain W., 122

Roland Line, 208

_Roman_, 144

Roman merchant ships, 4, 17

Ross & Primrose, 177

Royal Fishery Company, 69

_Royal George_, 98, 99, 100, 101

Royal Mail Line, 124, 179

_Royal Oake_, 81

_Royal William_, 173, 174, 177

Russell, John Scott, 187, 188

_St. Blazius_, 25

_St. Louis_, 223

_St. Paul_, 223

Sail-Carriers, The, 134

_Samuel Russell_, 151

_San Felipe_, 50

_Savannah_, 171

_Saxonia_, 196, 211

“School and Sea Days,” 141

_Scotia_, 186

Screw Propeller, The, 183

Sea Fisheries Act of 1868, 128

Sea language, 82

Seamanship, Fine, 118

Seamen as authors, 54

_Sea Witch_, 151

Selden, 64

_Sémillante_, 100

Sercey, Rear-Admiral, 97

_Serica_, 161, 164

_Seringapatam_, 135, 136, 145

_Servia_, 190

Seventeenth-Century Seafaring, 74, 75

Ship-money, Levying of, 65

Shipbuilding in America, 224, 225

_Shipper Berline of Prussia_, 39

Ship’s bell, Introduction of, 53

Shipwrights Company, 80

Side-lights, 123

Signal code, 74

_Silenus_, 111

Simon of Utrecht, 41

_Sir Edward Paget_, 115, 116

_Sir Lancelot_, 161, 164, 166

_Sirius_, 173, 174

Smith, Francis, 184

Smith, T. & W., 116, 136, 144, 147

Somes, 135, 147

Southampton, 179

_Sovereign of the Seas_, 66, 143

_Spain_, 194

Spanish Armada, 63, 67

Spars and Stays, 160

_Speculum Nauticum_, 72

State post-office, 119

Steam, Iron and Steel, 168, 182

Steele of Greenock, 161, 164

Stertebeker, 40

Stevens, John, 184

Stokehold of an Oil-Fuel Cunarder, 216

Stone ballast, 60

_Stornoway_, 153

_Streatham_, 111, 112

_Sylph_, 146

Suez Canal, 167, 180, 182, 194

_Sultan_, 192

_Superb_, 148

Swift, Dean, 84, 86

Symington, William, 169

_Taeping_, 139, 161, 164

_Taitsing_, 165

_Taunton Castle_, 97

_Teutonic_, 194

_Thames_, 135

_Thermopylae_, 162, 165, 166, 167, 181

_Three Brothers_, 130

_Tilbury_, 92

Timmins, Captain, 101

_Titanic_, 200

_Townshend_, 120

Toynbee, Arnold, 141

Toynbee, Captain Henry, F.R.G.S., F.R.A.S., 141

_Trades Increase_, 79

Traditions, 243

_Trafalgar_, 138, 139

_Trident_, 182

Triple-Expansion Engine, 197

Triumph of Steam, The, 168

_Truelove_, 129

Turbine, The, 197

_Turbinia_, 197

_Umbria_, 192

Union Line, 144

United States Merchant Marine Act, 227

United States Shipping Board, 225

Urmston, Sir James, 246

Urmston, Colonel E. B., C.B., 246

_Urso_, 25

_Valentine_, 92

Vasco da Gama, 47, 75, 77

_Vaterland_, 202, 217

Venetian Statutes, 21, 25

Venetians, 8, 11, 13, 29

_Vesta_, 124

_Victor_, 110, 112

_Victoria_, 187

_Victorian_, 197

Victual Brothers, 40

_Virginia_, 220

_Virginian_, 197, 230

Vivaldi, 47

Walpole, Capt. Hon. Richard, 98

_Warley_, 98, 100

_Warren Hastings_, 93, 98, 107

_Washington Irving_, 125

_Waterloo_, 104

West Indiamen, 90

West Indies Service, 121

_Wexford_, 98

Whall, Captain W. B., 141, 142, 143

White Star Line, 157, 183, 187, 188, 191, 194, 196, 198, 200, 202, 211

Wigrams, The, 77, 94, 104, 115, 116, 135, 144, 145, 146, 172

_William Fawcett_, 180

Willoughby, Sir Hugh, 59

Wilson, Captain Henry, 98

_Windham_, 112

_Windsor Castle_, 147

Woermann Line, 208

_Woodford_, 97

_Worcester_, 146, 243

World’s Biggest Ship, 206

Wreckers, 23

MADE AND PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN.
RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED,
PRINTERS, BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.

Transcriber’s Notes

pg 43 Changed: pilgrim trade to Santiago de Campostela
To: pilgrim trade to Santiago de Compostela

pg 122 Changed: between Yarmouth and Helvoetsluis in Holland
To: between Yarmouth and Hellevoetsluis in Holland

pg 128 Changed: Inverness, Brassey Sound, Kirkwall, Oban
To: Inverness, Bressay Sound, Kirkwall, Oban