Woodcot (1786 EIC ship)
Woodcot (or Woodcote) was launched in 1786 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made four voyages for the EIC. The French captured her in 1798 at Tellicherry as she was homeward bound from her fifth voyage. American owners purchased her, renamed her "Berkshire", and sailed her to Bombay in 1799. Career. EIC voyage #1 (1787–1788). Captain Ninian Lowis sailed from The Downs on 12 March 1787, bound for Madras and China. "Woodcot" reached Johanna on 12 July and Madras on 12 August, before she arrived at Whampoa Anchorage on 11  December. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 2 April 1788, reached St Helena on 12 August and Carrick Roads on 31 October, and arrived at The Downs on 13 November. EIC voyage #2 (1790–1791). Captain Lowis sailed from The Downs on 20 February 1790, again bound for Madras and China. "Woodcot" reached Madras on 2 July and Penang on 8 August, and arrived at Whampoa on 12 September. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 14 March 1791. The China fleet left Macao on 21 March. and escorted them as far as Java Head. "Woodcot" reached St  Helena on 4 July, and arrived at The Downs on 28 August. EIC voyage #3 (1793–1794). Captain Lowis sailed from The Downs on 14 January 1793, this time bound for Madras and Bengal. "Woodcot" reached Madras on 30 May and arrived at Diamond Harbour on 29 June. She returned to Madras on 7 September, and was back at Diamond Harbour on 2 October. Homeward bound, she was at Saugor on 22 December and Madras on 30 January 1794. She left Madras on 21 February and reached St Helena on 1 May and Galway Bay on 20 July. She arrived at  The Downs on 27 August. EIC voyage #4 (1795–1796). War with France had broken out in 1793 so Captain William Haig acquired a letter of marque on 6 May 1795. He sailed from Portsmouth on 18 June 1795, bound for Bengal. "Woodcot" arrived at Diamond Harbour on 27 October. Captain Haig died on 27 November and was buried in Calcutta. Homeward bound, "Woodcott" was at Saugor on 19 January 1796 and left on 17 May. She reached St Helena on 3 July and Crookhaven on 26 November. She arrived at the Downs on 11 December. EIC voyage #5 (1797–Loss ). Captain Andrew Hannay acquired a letter of marque on 28 February 1797. He sailed from Portsmouth on 5 June, bound for Bombay, and was there in February 1798. "Woodcot" sailed for Tellicherry and on 3 April, on the way there, she picked up the survivors from , which had caught fire at . "Woodcot" arrived at Tellicherry on 16 April and took on a cargo of pepper. On 20 April too arrived from Bombay, and anchored about a mile away. Shortly thereafter the French frigate came up, having been informed that there were two East Indiamen loading there. "Préneuse" launched an attack  sailing between the two vessels and firing a broadside at each. An engagement developed between "Raymond" and "Préneuse" that lasted about 45 minutes, before "Préneuse" sailed and engaged "Woodcot" for some 20 minutes. "Préneuse" only fired small arms at "Woodcot", which could not fire her guns because her decks were encumbered with 100 tons of pepper that she had loaded. The captains of both "Raymond" and "Woodcot" decided to strike as further resistance would be futile. "Raymond" had suffered three killed and four or five wounded, among them a woman passenger grazed by a splinter. Casualties on "Préneuse" were of  the same order. The next day the French, under a flag of truce, sent the captains, crews, and passengers of both ships ashore at Tellicherry with their baggage. At daylight on 22 April both "Raymond" and "Woodcot" sailed westward under prize crews. Early reports were that "Woodcot" had sunk; these reports were not correct. The EIC put a value of £20,621 on the cargo that it had lost on "Woodcot"; the value of the cargo that it had lost on "Raymond", which had not had time to take on cargo at Tellicherry, was £8,963. Postscript. "Woodcot" and "Raymond  were reported to have been at Île de France in September. The French apparently sold Woodcote" to American owners who named her "Berkshire". Captain White sailed her from Île de France on 26 February 1799 and she arrived at Bombay on 29 April. Her subsequent fate is currently obscure. Citations and references. Citations References