Ceres ( 1787 ) Ceres was an East Indiaman launched in 1787 . She made three trips to China for the Honourable East India Company ( HEIC ) . After the outbreak of war with France in 1793 , the Admiralty , desirous of quickly building up the Royal Navy , purchased a number of commercial vessels , including nine East Indiamen , to meet the need for small two - decker fourth rates to serve as convoy escorts . The Admiralty purchased " Ceres " in 1795 and renamed her HMS " Grampus " . In 1797 the Admiralty converted her to a storeship . That year her crew participated in the Spithead and Nore mutinies . " Grampus " grounded in January 1799 and was abandoned . East Indiaman . " Ceres " made three trips to China for the HEIC . " Ceres " s captain for her first voyage was Captain Thomas Price . He sailed her for the coast of India and China , leaving Portsmouth on 5 April 1788 . She reached Madras on 15 July , and Whampoa on 2 October . On the return leg of her voyage , she crossed the Second Bar on 14 December . She reached Saint Helena on 9 April 1789 and Long Reach on 2 June . Other accounts have her returning to her moorings on 1 September 1789 . In either case , Price died on 20 June . " Ceres " s captain for her second voyage was Captain George Stevens . He too sailed her for the Indian coast and China , leaving Torbay on 6 March 1790 . She reached Madras on 22 June , and Negapatam on 29 July . Two days later she was back at Madras . She then reached Whampoa on 11 October . She crossed the Second Bar on 20 January 1791 , and then stopped at Macao on 17 March . She reached St Helena on 3 July , and Long Reach on 1 September . George Stevens was again captain of " Ceres " for her third voyage . She left Portsmouth on 21 May 1793 , after war with France had begun on 1 February . The HEIC arranged for her to sail under a letter of marque , issued to Stevens , and dated 22 April 1793 . On 24 June 1793 the fleet of Indiamen captured the French brig " Franc " ; the crew of " Ceres " took possession . On 10 November " Ceres " reached Manilla . Then on 20 December she arrived at Whampoa . At Whampoa that December were several other East Indiamen , among which were several that on their return to Britain the Admiralty would purchase : " Warley " , " Royal Charlotte " , " Earl of Abergavenny " , and " Hindostan " . The British Government had chartered " Hindostan " to take Lord Macartney to China in an unsuccessful attempt to open diplomatic and commercial relations with the Chinese empire . For her return trip , " Ceres " crossed the Second Bar on 18 February 1794 and stopped at Macao on 16 March . She reached St Helena on 18 June , and Long Reach on 10 September . Royal Navy service . The Admiralty purchased " Ceres " and commissioned her as HMS " Grampus " in December under Captain Alexander Christie , for the North Sea . ( There was already a frigate in the Royal Navy , and a previous fourth - rate had just been sold for breaking up . ) The new " Grampus " was commissioned on 9 March 1795 . She then spent some two months with Perry at Blackwall being coppered . In September 1795 Captain John Williamson took command , and in March 1796 he sailed her for Jamaica . " Grampus " shared with five other naval vessels in the prize money arising out of the capture on 1 April of the French privateer " Alexander " , and the salvage money from the recapture of her prize , the Portuguese vessel " Nostra Signora del Monte del Carmo " . " Alexander " was armed with ten guns and had a crew of 65 men under the command of M . Petre Edite . She was ten days out of Nantz and the capture took place at 37° 11 ' North , 18° 16 ' West . In May , " Grampus " was among the vessels that took part in the campaign to capture Saint Lucia under Rear Admiral Hugh Cloberry Christian and General Ralph Abercromby . In September " Grampus " returned to Britain and was paid off . Two months later she was at Sheerness being fitted as a storeship . Lieutenant Charles Carne recommissioned her in December , with the refitting lasting until February 1797 . In April and May the Spithead and Nore mutinies broke out . " Grampus " was one of the vessels caught up in the disorder , and is named in the proclamation read out on 10 June . The exact date of her arrival at Sheerness , the date of her joining the mutiny , and the date of her crew returning to duty are not known . Still , she was at Sheerness by 16 May . At the time , " Grampus " was preparing for a voyage to the West Indies . After the reading of the Proclamation on 10 June , the crews of a number of vessels sought to abandon the mutiny . On " Grampus " a fight broke out between loyalists and mutineers , a fight that the mutineer faction won . Under some reports , the mutineers abandoned her . The mutineers on the various vessels involved found " Grampus " particularly useful because as a storeship , stocked for a voyage , she was able to provide them with supplies . Still , after the reading of the proclamation the mutiny collapsed and by mid - June " Grampus " had returned to Royal Navy control . After the end of the mutiny , five men from " Grampus " were sentenced to death . Another account reports that three men were condemned to death and two were confined to solitary cells . " Grampus " then sailed for Jamaica in August . In Jamaica , Admiral Hyde Parker , the commander of the station , was concerned that " Grampus " had brought a disaffected crew that could spread mutiny there too . He identified one agitator , whom he had hanged . By 1798 " Grampus " was under the command of Captain George Hart , serving as a transport . Fate . On the morning of 19 January 1799 , " Grampus " was in the Thames and under the command of Captain John Hall . She weighed at 7a . m . , and took a pilot , Sammuel Richardson , on board . Nevertheless , by 9a . m . she had grounded on the Barking Shelf . She could not be refloated and so for the next three days work went on to remove her stores , her masts , and whatever else could be salvaged . On 21 January the decision was made to abandon her as by then she had 20 feet of water in her hold . The subsequent courtmartial absolved Captain Hall and his officers and crew of any responsibility , instead blaming Richardson ' s ignorance . In April , the Commissioners of the Navy issued a call for proposals to " remove and clear the River Thames of the Wreck of His Majesty ' s late Ship Grampus , now on Shore on Barking - Shelf , opposite the Powder - Houses " .