Sylph (1831 ship): Difference between revisions

	The opium clipper Sylph off Macao, circa 1838 by William John Huggins, she was owned by Mr. Alexander Robertson, supercargo for the firm of Jardine and Matheson
History
Name	Sylph
Namesake	Mythological creature in Western tradition, the Sylph
Owner	Rustomjee Cowasjee
Builder	Currie & Co., Sulkea, Calcutta
Launched	1831
Acquired	Jardine Matheson, 1833
In service	1832
Homeport	Hongkong
Fate	Disappeared en route to Singapore, 1849
General characteristics
Class and type	Opium clipper
Tons burthen	304 (bm)
Length	Hull, 100 ft (30.48 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Complement	70

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Sylph was a clipper ship built at Sulkea, opposite Calcutta, in 1831 for the Parsi merchant Rustomjee Cowasjee.^[2] After her purchase by the Hong Kong-based merchant house Jardine Matheson, in 1833 Sylph set a speed record by sailing from Calcutta to Macao in 17 days, 17 hours.^[2]^[3] Her primary role was to transport opium between various ports in the Far East.^[4] She disappeared en route to Singapore in 1849.

History

Sylph was designed in London by Sir Robert Seppings, surveyor of the Royal Navy, to the order of a consortium of Calcutta merchants headed by Rustomjee Cowasjee. Two contemporary paintings of Sylph show her to have been a heavily rigged ship with trysails on each mast and a tall, high-peaked spanker.^[2]

Sleek, elegant, functional and devoid of ornament, Sylph did not have the rakish lines of the later clippers, yet proved to be particularly swift. She is supposed to have run from the Sandheads to Macao in sixteen days.^[5]

Arriving at Macao in September 1832, Sylph unloaded some of the opium she had transported from Calcutta.

William Jardine and James Matheson chartered four vessels to sail north to explore the possibility of new markets for opium. Sylph, Wallace, master, left Lintin on 20 October 1832.^[6] Sylph departed with the German Protestant missionary Karl Gützlaff on board as translator.^[7] Sylph returned on 29 April 1833.^[6]

Jamesina, James Innes, master, left Lintin on 8 November and returned in early spring 1833. The next two vessels were John Biggar, William Makay, master, and Colonel Young, John Rees, master.^[6]

During the First Opium War (1839–1842) Jardine Matheson & Co. were offered a premium price for Sylph, an offer they declined on the basis of the huge profits she made from transporting opium.^{[citation needed]}

Sylph and another well-known clipper, Cowasjee Family, were fitted out with extra guns and full European crews during the war, and were joined by the Lady Hayes, belonging to Jardine, Matheson & Co., the three ships sailing in company. While they were sailing among the islands Chinese war junks surrounded them and a fierce battle ensued. But Captains Wallace and Vice, of Sylph and Cowasjee Family, were two of the most experienced captains in the trade, celebrated for their daring and success in dealing with pirates, and the war junks suffered a severe defeat, many of them being sunk; after which the opium clippers had no more trouble.^[5]

While sailing from Calcutta to China and carrying 995 chests of opium, Sylph ran aground on a shoal off the Malay Peninsula on 30 January 1835.^[2]^[8] According to the Canton Register dated 14 April 1835, Captain Wallace told the vessel's insurers that she had been swamped, then beached by the northeast monsoon.^[9] The East Indiaman Clive came to the rescue and the ship and all but two chests of opium were recovered.^[2]^[8]

Fate

After undergoing re-rigging in Hong Kong in 1848 at a cost of 11,166.22 Mexican dollars, Sylph disappeared en route to Singapore the following year, possibly captured and burned by pirates based on Hainan Island.^[2]^[10]

In a brief to the International Court of Justice, the Republic of Singapore stated Sylph was wrecked on the rocks of Pedra Branca off the coast of Singapore whilst carrying a cargo of opium to the value of 557,200 Spanish dollars.^[11] As Sylph disappeared while en route from Hong Kong to Calcutta, she would not have been carrying opium.

Citations

^ ^a ^b Phipps (1840), p.113.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Hunt 1999, p. 88.
^ Denis Leigh (January 1974). "Medicine, the City and China". Med Hist. 18 (1): 51–67. doi:10.1017/s0025727300019219. PMC 1081522. PMID 4618583.
^ "Opium Hall of Fame". Retrieved 13 October 2010.
^ ^a ^b Lubbock, Basil (1914). The China clippers (2nd ed.). Glasgow: James Brown & Son. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
^ ^a ^b ^c Le Pichon (2006), p. 145, Fn9.
^ Jason A. Karsh (2008). "The Root of the Opium War:Mismanagement in the Aftermath of the British East India Company's Loss of its Monopoly in 1834". Retrieved 13 October 2010.
^ ^a ^b "(untitled)". The Times. No. 15855. London. 30 July 1835. col A, p. 5.
^ Canton Register (Vol. 8 No. 15), Tuesday, 14 April 1835 p. 62
^ Le Pichon (2006), p. 254, Fn73.
^ "Memorial of Singapore" (PDF)., Sovereignty Over Pedra Branca I Pulau, Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge (Malaysia/Singapore), 2008 I.C.J. Rep. 12 (May 23, 2008).

References

Hunt, Janin (1999). The India-China opium trade in the nineteenth century. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-0715-6. Online version at Google Books
Le Pichon, Alain (2006). China trade and empire: Jardine, Matheson & Co. and the origins of British rule in Hong Kong, 1827-1843. OUP/British Academy. ISBN 978-0197263372.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Lubbock, Basil (1914). The China clippers (2nd ed.). Glasgow: James Brown & Son. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
Phipps, John, (of the Master Attendant's Office, Calcutta), (1840) A Collection of Papers Relative to Ship Building in India ...: Also a Register Comprehending All the Ships ... Built in India to the Present Time .... (Scott),

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|Clipper ship}}
 {{About|the ship|other uses|Sylph (disambiguation)}}
-{{Use British English|date=November 2017}}
+{{EngvarB|date=August 2022}}
-{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
+{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
 {|{{Infobox ship begin}}
 {{Infobox ship image
+|Ship image=William John Huggins - The barque ‚Sylph‘.jpg
-|Ship image= National Maritime Museum BHC3649 - The opium clipper Sylph salvaged by the sloop Clive, William John Huggins.jpg
 |Ship image size= 250px
-|Ship caption= The opium clipper ''Sylph'' salvaged by the sloop ''Clive'', William John Huggins, in the [[National Maritime Museum]]
+|Ship caption= The opium clipper ''Sylph'' off Macao, circa 1838 by [[William John Huggins]], she was owned by Mr. Alexander Robertson, [[supercargo]] for the firm of Jardine and Matheson
 }}
 {{Infobox ship career
@@ Line 20: / Line 21: @@
 | Ship launched            = 1831<ref name=Phipps113/>
 | Ship acquired            = [[Jardine Matheson]], 1833
-| Ship homeport = [[Hong Kong]]
+| Ship homeport = Hong Kong
 | Ship commissioned        =
 | Ship decommissioned      =
@@ Line 30: / Line 31: @@
 | Ship honours             =
 | Ship captured            =
-|Ship fate=Disappeared en route to [[Singapore]], 1849
+|Ship fate=Disappeared en route to Singapore, 1849
-| Ship status              =
 | Ship notes               =
 }}
@@ Line 52: / Line 52: @@
 |}
-'''''Sylph''''' was a [[clipper]] ship built at Sulkea, opposite Calcutta, in 1831 for the [[Parsi]] merchant Rustomjee Cowasjee.{{sfn|Hunt|1999|p=88}} After her purchase by the [[Hong Kong]]-based [[The Hongs|merchant house]] [[History of Jardine, Matheson & Co.|Jardine Matheson]], in 1833 ''Sylph'' went on to set an unbroken speed record by sailing from Calcutta to [[Macao]] in 17 days, 17 hours.{{sfn|Hunt|1999|p=88}}<ref>{{cite journal|pmc= 1081522|title=Medicine, the City and China|author=Denis Leigh | pmid=4618583|volume=18|issue=1|date=January 1974|journal=Med Hist|pages=51–67|doi=10.1017/s0025727300019219}}</ref> Her primary role was to transport [[opium]] between various ports in the Far East.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://shudian001.com/bbs/redirect.php?tid=317&goto=lastpost|title=Opium Hall of Fame|accessdate=13 October 2010}}</ref> She disappeared  en route to [[Singapore]] in 1849.
+'''''Sylph''''' was a [[clipper]] ship built at Sulkea, opposite Calcutta, in 1831 for the [[Parsi]] merchant Rustomjee Cowasjee.{{sfn|Hunt|1999|p=88}} After her purchase by the Hong Kong-based [[The Hongs|merchant house]] [[History of Jardine, Matheson & Co.|Jardine Matheson]], in 1833 ''Sylph'' set a speed record by sailing from Calcutta to [[Macao]] in 17 days, 17 hours.{{sfn|Hunt|1999|p=88}}<ref>{{cite journal|pmc= 1081522|title=Medicine, the City and China|author=Denis Leigh | pmid=4618583|volume=18|issue=1|date=January 1974|journal=Med Hist|pages=51–67|doi=10.1017/s0025727300019219}}</ref> Her primary role was to transport [[opium]] between various ports in the Far East.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://shudian001.com/bbs/redirect.php?tid=317&goto=lastpost|title=Opium Hall of Fame|access-date=13 October 2010}}</ref> She disappeared en route to Singapore in 1849.
 ==History==
 ''Sylph'' was designed in London by Sir [[Robert Seppings]], surveyor of the [[Royal Navy]], to the order of a consortium of Calcutta merchants headed by Rustomjee Cowasjee. Two contemporary paintings of ''Sylph'' show her to have been a heavily rigged ship with [[trysail]]s on each mast and a tall, high-peaked [[Spanker (sail)|spanker]].{{sfn|Hunt|1999|p=88}}
-Sleek, elegant, functional and devoid of ornament, ''Sylph'' did not have the rakish lines of the later clippers, yet proved to be particularly swift.<ref>{{Cite web|url=|title= Shanghai And The West: First Contact|accessdate=13 October 2010|author= J J Spigelman AC}}</ref> She is supposed to have run from the Sandheads to [[Macau|Macao in sixteen days]].<ref name = "China clippers">{{Cite book
+Sleek, elegant, functional and devoid of ornament, ''Sylph'' did not have the rakish lines of the later clippers, yet proved to be particularly swift. She is supposed to have run from the Sandheads to [[Macau|Macao in sixteen days]].<ref name = "China clippers">{{Cite book
 | edition = 2nd
 | publisher = James Brown & Son
 | last = Lubbock
 | first = Basil
-| authorlink = Basil Lubbock
+| author-link = Basil Lubbock
 | title = The China clippers
 | location = Glasgow
+| access-date = 21 March 2013
-| accessdate = 2013-03-21
 | date = 1914
 | url = https://archive.org/stream/cu31924024151957#page/n59/mode/2up/search/eamont
 }}</ref>
+Arriving at Macao in September 1832, ''Sylph'' unloaded some of the opium she had transported from [[Calcutta]].
-In 1833 Jardines sent ''Sylph'' to explore the profitability of trading along the Chinese coast. Arriving at Macao in September, ''Sylph'' unloaded some of the opium she had transported from [[Calcutta]] and immediately departed northwards with the German Protestant missionary [[Karl Gützlaff]] on board as translator.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=hist_honors|title=The Root of the Opium War:Mismanagement in the Aftermath of the British East India Company's Loss of its Monopoly in 1834|author=Jason A. Karsh|year=2008|accessdate=13 October 2010}}</ref>
-During the [[First Opium War]] (1839–1842) Jardines were offered a premium price for the ship, an offer that was declined on the basis of the huge profits she made from transporting opium.{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}}
+William Jardine and James Matheson chartered four vessels to sail north to explore the possibility of new markets for opium. ''Sylph'', Wallace, master, left Lintin on 20 October 1832.{{sfnp|Le Pichon|2006|p=145|loc=Fn9}} ''Sylph'' departed with the German Protestant missionary [[Karl Gützlaff]] on board as translator.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=hist_honors|title=The Root of the Opium War:Mismanagement in the Aftermath of the British East India Company's Loss of its Monopoly in 1834|author=Jason A. Karsh|year=2008|access-date=13 October 2010}}</ref> ''Sylph'' returned on 29 April 1833.{{sfnp|Le Pichon|2006|p=145|loc=Fn9}}
+[[HMS Curlew (1812)|''Jamesina'']], James Innes, master, left Lintin on 8 November and returned in early spring 1833. The next two vessels were ''John Biggar'', William Makay, master, and ''Colonel Young'', John Rees, master.{{sfnp|Le Pichon|2006|p=145|loc=Fn9}}
+During the [[First Opium War]] (1839–1842) Jardine Matheson & Co. were offered a premium price for ''Sylph'', an offer they declined on the basis of the huge profits she made from transporting opium.{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}}
 ''Sylph'' and another well-known clipper, ''Cowasjee Family'', were fitted out with extra guns and full European crews during the war, and were joined by the ''Lady Hayes'', belonging to Jardine, Matheson & Co., the three ships sailing in company. While they were sailing among the islands Chinese war junks surrounded them and a fierce battle ensued. But Captains Wallace and Vice, of ''Sylph'' and ''Cowasjee Family'', were two of the most experienced captains in the trade, celebrated for their daring and success in dealing with pirates, and the war junks suffered a severe defeat, many of them being sunk; after which the opium clippers had no more trouble.<ref name = "China clippers"/>
+[[File:The opium clipper 'Sylph' salvaged by the sloop 'Clive', 1835 BHC3649.jpg|thumb|The opium clipper ''Sylph'' salvaged by the sloop ''Clive'', by Huggins]]
+While sailing from Calcutta to China and carrying 995 chests of opium, ''Sylph'' ran aground on a [[shoal]] off the [[Malay Peninsula]] on 30 January 1835.{{sfn|Hunt|1999|p=88}}<ref name=Times300735>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=(untitled) |date=30 July 1835 |page=5 |issue=15855 |column=A }}</ref> According to the [[Canton Register]] dated 14 April 1835, Captain Wallace told the vessel's insurers that she had been swamped, then beached by the northeast [[monsoon]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=fQrmAAAAMAAJ&q=canton+register Canton Register (Vol. 8 No. 15), Tuesday, 14 April 1835 p. 62]</ref> The [[East Indiaman]] ''Clive'' came to the rescue and the ship and all but two chests of opium were recovered.{{sfn|Hunt|1999|p=88}}<ref name=Times300735/>
+==Fate==
-While sailing from Calcutta to China and carrying 995 chests of opium, ''Sylph'' ran aground on a [[shoal]] off the [[Malay Peninsula]] on January 30, 1835.{{sfn|Hunt|1999|p=88}}<ref name=Times300735>{{Cite newspaper The Times |articlename=(untitled) |day_of_week=Thursday |date=30 July 1835 |page_number=5 |issue=15855 |column=A }}</ref> According to the [[Canton Register]] dated April&nbsp;14, 1835, Captain Wallace told the vessel's insurers that she had been swamped, then beached by the northeast [[monsoon]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=fQrmAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=canton+register&hl=zh-CN&ei=JEPtTazBD4SivgPJu4ncDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false Canton Register (Vol. 8 No. 15), Tuesday, 14 April 1835 p. 62]</ref> The [[East Indiaman]] ''Clive'' came to the rescue and the ship and all but two chests of opium were recovered.{{sfn|Hunt|1999|p=88}}<ref name=Times300735/>
+After undergoing re-rigging in Hong Kong in 1848 at a cost of 11,166.22 [[Mexican peso#Use outside Mexico|Mexican dollars]], ''Sylph'' disappeared ''en route'' to Singapore the following year, possibly captured and burned by pirates based on [[Hainan]] Island.{{sfn|Hunt|1999|p=88}}{{sfnp|Le Pichon|2006|p=254|loc=Fn73}}
-After undergoing re-rigging in Hong Kong in 1848 at a cost of 11,166.22 [[Mexican peso#Use outside Mexico|Mexican dollars]], ''Sylph'' disappeared ''en route'' to [[Singapore]] the following year, possibly captured and burned by pirates based on [[Hainan]] Island.{{sfn|Hunt|1999|p=88}} Other sources believe that she was wrecked on the rocks of [[Pedra Branca, Singapore|Pedra Branca]] off the coast of [[Singapore]] whilst carrying a cargo of opium to the value of 557,200 [[Spanish dollar]]s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/130/14133.pdf|title=Case Concerning Sovereignty Over Pedra Branca I Pulau, Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge|date=25 March 2004|accessdate=14 October 2010}}</ref>
+In a brief to the [[International Court of Justice]], the Republic of Singapore stated ''Sylph'' was wrecked on the rocks of [[Pedra Branca, Singapore|Pedra Branca]] off the coast of Singapore whilst carrying a cargo of opium to the value of 557,200 [[Spanish dollar]]s.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Memorial of Singapore|url=https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/130/14133.pdf}}, {{cite court|litigants= Sovereignty Over Pedra Branca I Pulau, Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge (Malaysia/Singapore)|reporter=I.C.J. Rep.|vol=2008|opinion=12|date=May 23, 2008|url=https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/130/130-20080523-JUD-01-00-EN.pdf}}</ref> As ''Sylph'' disappeared while en route from Hong Kong to Calcutta, she would not have been carrying opium.
 ==Citations==
 {{Reflist|30em}}
 ==References==
-* {{Cite book|last=Hunt|first=Janin|title=The India-China opium trade in the nineteenth century|publisher=McFarland & Company|year=1999| ref = harv |isbn=978-0-7864-0715-6}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=LK12iessxcwC&pg=PA97&dq=jardine+matheson&hl=zh-CN&ei=Lc_6TazxFYXcvQOm0LiUAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CD8Q6AEwBDgU#v=onepage&q=jardine%20matheson&f=false Online version at Google Books]
+* {{Cite book|last=Hunt|first=Janin|title=The India-China opium trade in the nineteenth century|publisher=McFarland & Company|year=1999|isbn=978-0-7864-0715-6}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=LK12iessxcwC&dq=jardine+matheson&pg=PA97 Online version at Google Books]
+* {{cite book|last=Le Pichon |first=Alain |title=China trade and empire: Jardine, Matheson & Co. and the origins of British rule in Hong Kong, 1827-1843 |year=2006|publisher=OUP/British Academy |isbn=978-0197263372}}
 *{{Source-attribution|{{Cite book
 | edition = 2nd
@@ Line 90: / Line 100: @@
 | title = The China clippers
 | location = Glasgow
-| accessdate = 2013-03-21
+| access-date = 2013-03-21
 | date = 1914
 | url = https://archive.org/stream/cu31924024151957#page/n59/mode/2up/search/eamont
@@ Line 105: / Line 115: @@
   | year = 1933
   | location = Boston, MA
+  }} ''Extensive coverage of Sylph's sailing career.''
-  | pages =
-  | isbn = }} ''Extensive coverage of Sylph's sailing career.''
+{{1835 shipwrecks}}
 {{1849 shipwrecks}}

v t e Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1835
Shipwrecks	30 Jan: Sylph 12 Mar: George III 17 Mar: Oracabessa 22 Apr: Cambridge 13 May: Neva 19 May: HMS Challenger 14 Jun: Montezuma 29 Jun: Adonis 19 Sep: HMS Cleopatra 19 Nov: Hannah Elizabeth 30 Nov: Cadmus 1 Dec: Duckenfield 10 Dec: Hive (shipwreck) Unknown date: Coquette, Latona, HCS Research
Other incidents	11 Feb: Enterprise 25 Mar: Queen of the Isle 14 Jun: USRC Ingham 27 Aug: Manchester Packet 1 Sep: San Felipe 26 Oct: HMS Cleopatra 27 Nov: HMS Star
1834 1836

v t e Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1849
Shipwrecks	29 Apr: Hannah June (unknown date: Scindian 6 Jul: Florinda 1 Aug: Joven Daniel 10 Aug: HDMS Bellona September (unknown date: Memnon 26 Oct: Cumberland 28 Oct: Jan van Arkel II 29 Oct: Dona Maria II 7 Nov: Arpenteur 16 Nov: Erik Borresen 28 Nov: Medusa 6 Dec: Sappho 19 Dec: Agnes Unknown date: Sylph
Other incidents	17 May: St. Louis Fire 4 Jul: SMS Vulcano 26 Sep: HMS Dwarf 27 Sep: Cambria 30 Nov: Mona's Isle
1848 1850

Latest revision as of 18:06, 18 February 2024

History

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References

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