Editing East India Company (section)

== Ships ==
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{{See also|East Indiaman|List of ports of call of the British East India Company}}
[[File:Ships in Bombay Harbour, 1731.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|right|Ships in [[Bombay Harbour]], c. 1731]]
Ships of the East India Company were called [[East Indiaman|East Indiamen]] or simply "Indiamen".<ref>Sutton, Jean (1981) ''Lords of the East: The East India Company and Its Ships''. London: Conway Maritime</ref> Their names were sometimes prefixed with the initials "HCS", standing for "Honourable Company's Service"<ref>{{cite web| title=Dictionary & Glossary| website=India Office Family History Search| publisher=[[British Library]]| url=https://indiafamily.bl.uk/ui/Dictionary.aspx| access-date=5 August 2021| archive-date=3 September 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210903005354/http://indiafamily.bl.uk/UI/Dictionary.aspx| url-status=live}}</ref> or "Honourable Company's Ship",<ref>{{cite journal | last=Anderson | first=Ross | title=New source for EIC vessel and crew lost on the Western Australian coast | journal=[[Australian Association for Maritime History|The Great Circle]] | publisher=[[Australian Association for Maritime History]] | volume=36 | issue=1 | year=2014 | issn=0156-8698 | jstor=24583017 | pages=33–38 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/24583017 | access-date=5 August 2021 | archive-date=5 August 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210805060906/https://www.jstor.org/stable/24583017 | url-status=live }}</ref> such as {{ship|HCS|Vestal|1809}} and {{ship|HCS|Intrepid|1780}}.
[[File:Indiaman Royal George.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|right|{{ship||Royal George|East Indiaman|2}} was one of the five East Indiamen the Spanish fleet captured in 1780]]

During the [[French Revolutionary Wars|French Revolutionary]] and [[Napoleonic Wars]], the East India Company arranged for [[Letter of marque|letters of marque]] for its vessels such as ''Lord Nelson''. This was not so that they could carry cannon to fend off warships, privateers, and pirates on their voyages to India and China (that they could do without permission) but so that, should they have the opportunity to take a prize, they could do so without being guilty of piracy. Similarly, ''Earl of Mornington'', an East India Company [[packet ship]] of only six guns, also sailed under a letter of marque.

In addition, the company had its own navy, the [[History of the Indian Navy|Bombay Marine]], equipped with warships such as {{ship|HCS|Grappler|1804|2}}. These vessels often accompanied vessels of the Royal Navy on expeditions, such as the [[Invasion of Java (1811)|Invasion of Java]].

At the [[Battle of Pulo Aura]], which was probably the company's most notable naval victory, [[Nathaniel Dance]], Commodore of a convoy of Indiamen and sailing aboard the {{ship||Warley|1796 ship|2}}, led several Indiamen in a skirmish with a French squadron, driving them off. Some six years earlier, on 28 January 1797, five Indiamen, ''Woodford'', under Captain Charles Lennox, ''Taunton-Castle'', Captain Edward Studd, ''Canton'', Captain Abel Vyvyan, ''Boddam'', Captain George Palmer, and {{ship||Ocean|1788 EIC ship|2}}, Captain John Christian Lochner, had encountered Admiral [[Pierre César Charles de Sercey|de Sercey]] and his squadron of frigates. On this occasion the Indiamen succeeded in bluffing their way to safety, and without any shots even being fired. Lastly, on 15 June 1795, ''General Goddard'' played a large role in the capture of seven Dutch East Indiamen off [[Saint Helena|St Helena]].

[[East Indiamen]] were large and strongly built, and when the [[Royal Navy]] was desperate for vessels to escort merchant convoys, it bought several of them to convert to warships. ''Earl of Mornington'' became HMS ''Drake''. Other examples include:

{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
* {{HMS|Calcutta|1795|6}}
* {{HMS|Glatton|1795|6}}
* {{HMS|Hindostan|1795|6}} (1795)
* {{HMS|Hindostan|1804|6}} (1804)
* {{HMS|Malabar|1804|6}}
* {{HMS|Buffalo|1813|6}}
{{div col end}}

Their design as merchant vessels meant that their performance in the warship role was underwhelming and the Navy converted them to transports.