Capture of Aden on a 1939 stamp marking the centenary
History
East India Company
OperatorEast India Company
Launched1827[1]
FateWrecked in 1845, later sank during attempted salvage
General characteristics
TypeSloop of war
Tons burthen420[2][1] (bm)
DecksOne
Armament18 cannon[2][1]

HCS Coote was a sloop-of-war that served the British East India Company (EIC) during the 19th century.[3] The Bombay Dockyard launched Coote in 1827.[4] Though the EIC built Coote, her size and armament were equivalent to the retired Cruizer-class brig-sloops.

Coote participated in the 1839 Aden Expedition along with HCS Mahi and the frigate HMS Volage and the brig HMS Cruizer of the British Royal Navy.[5]

Fate

Coote was lost on 1 December 1845. She had left Bombay on 22 November, and wrecked at Calicut, on the Malabar Coast, on what became known as Coote Reef (11°14′00″N 75°46′00″E / 11.23333°N 75.76667°E / 11.23333; 75.76667).[Note 1] Her officers and crew abandoned her as unsalvageable on 3 December. Her captain, Lieutenant J.S. Grieve, his officers, and crew all survived. All her guns, and a great deal of her stores and ammunition were saved.[7][8] The EIC was able, eventually, to get her off the rocks. The company decided to sell the hull at Calicut rather than attempt to tow it to Bombay. A Calicut resident bought the hull for 10,000 rupees, but as she was being towed on shore where her leaks might be repaired, she sank into mud and appeared a total loss.[9]

Notes

  1. ^ One source gives the year of loss as 1846.[6] Two sources give the date of loss as 1 December 1855,[1] or simply as 1855.[4]

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d Wadia (1986), p. 342.
  2. ^ a b Phipps (1840), pp. 165 & 169.
  3. ^ Low (1877), p. 18.
  4. ^ a b Hackman (2001), p. 328.
  5. ^ Clowes, pg. 277-279
  6. ^ Colledge & Warlow (2006), p.89.
  7. ^ Allen's Indian mail and register of intelligence for British and foreign India: 1846, pp.48 & 75.
  8. ^ Bengal Catholic Herald (3 January 1846), Vol. 10, Issue 1, p.1.
  9. ^ Allen's Indian mail and register of intelligence for British and foreign India: 1846, p.341.

References

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