Antelope (1781 EIC packet ship)

Wreck of the Antelope Packet, Capt. Henry Wilson, on a Reef of Rocks, near the Pelew Islands, Thomas Tegg, National Maritime Museum
History
United Kingdom
Name:	Antelope
Owner:	British East India Company
Builder:	Barnard
Launched:	31 December 1781 (measured 1781)
Fate:	Wrecked 1783
General characteristics [1]
Tons burthen:	270, or 170[2] (bm)
Length:	118 ft 4 in (36.1 m) (overall) 96 ft 8 in (29.5 m) (keel)
Beam:	25 ft 7 ^1⁄2 in (7.8 m)
Depth of hold:	12 ft 0 in (3.7 m)
Sail plan:	Barque[2]
Complement:	52
Armament:	8 × 6-pounder guns + swivel guns
Notes:	Coppered hull It is possible the Antelope was originally built in Newbury, MA and called Franklin.

Antelope was a packet ship built for the British East India Company (EIC) in 1781. She made one voyage for the company that ended when she was wrecked on 10 August 1783 off Ulong,^[3] near Koror Island in Palau. This resulted in the first sustained European contact with those islands.^[4]

Captain Henry Wilson, portrait about 1782 by Arthur William Devis

Captain Henry Wilson left the Downs on 6 February 1781 to carry despatches to China via the Pacific route. However, Antelope did not leave Falmouth until 2 September.^{[Note 1]} On 16 December she was off Cape San Diego, Argentina, and then on 2 January 1782 she was off Cape Horn. She reached the Sulu Sea on 23 April, Cageyan Sulu on 30 April, Balambangan on 14 May, and arrived at Macao on 4 June. On 16 September 1782 Antelope left Calcutta.^[2]

She left Macao on 20 July 1783 and wrecked on 10 August on the Pelew Islands.^{[Note 2]} Captain and crew built a boat, leaving on 12 November and arriving on 30 November back at Macao.^[1]

One contemporary report gave the location of the wreck at about 7°19′N 134°40′E / 7.317°N 134.667°E. However, this is east of Palau, and Ulong is west of Palau at about 7°17′00″N 134°16′57″E / 7.283274°N 134.282627°E. Antelope's reckoning appears to have been off by some 26 miles.

Wilson brought with him Prince Lee Boo, and left behind Madan Blanchard, a seaman who chose not to leave. Blanchard died in an engagement with locals sometime before 1790.^[6]

The painter Arthur William Devis was a passenger on Antelope when she wrecked.

Notes, citations, and references

Notes

1. Hardy incorrectly shifts the year to 1782, and the destination as Madras and Bengal.^[5]
2. These are not the Sir Edward Pellew Group of Islands. The Pelew Islands is an old name for Palau.

Citations

1. National Archives: Antelope (4), - accessed 2 July 2015.
2. Hackman (2001), p.60.
3. "Palau: Airai -- Visitors: Explorers". Archived from the original on 9 November 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-25.
4. "Palau". Archived from the original on 26 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-23.
5. Hardy (1811), p.97.
6. Keate (1796), p.331.

References

• Hackman, Rowan (2001) Ships of the East India Company. (Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society). ISBN 0-905617-96-7
• Hardy, Horatio Charles (1811) A register of ships, employed in the service of the Honorable the United East India Company, from the year 1760 to 1810: with an appendix, containing a variety of particulars, and useful information interesting to those concerned with East India commerce. (Black, Parry, and Kingsbury).
• Keate, George (1796) A narrative of the shipwreck of the Antelope ... commanded by Captain H. Wilson, which was lost ... on the Pelew Islands ... To which is added Captain M'Cluer's voyage thither ... composed from the journals of the captains and officers ...