Lord Nelson was an East Indiaman, launched in late 1799, sailing for the East India Company

East India Company

The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...

. She made five voyages, of which she completed four. On her second voyage the French privateer Bellone captured her, but the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 recaptured her within about two weeks. On her fifth voyage Lord Nelson foundered in 1809 with the loss of all aboard.

1st voyage

Under Captain Robert Spottiswoode she sailed to the coast of India and to China, leaving on 17 March 1800 and returning on 17 June 1801. Spottiswoode had made at least five prior cruises to India or the Far East for the East India Company, starting as a fourth lieutenant in 1784. This was his first voyage as captain. Before she sailed Spottiswoode arranged for a letter of marque

Letter of marque

In the days of fighting sail, a Letter of Marque and Reprisal was a government licence authorizing a person to attack and capture enemy vessels, and bring them before admiralty courts for condemnation and sale...

 for Lord Nelson, the warrant being dated 14 February 1800.

Lord Nelson left on 17 March 1800 and reached Madras on 13 July. She went on to Penang, which she reached on 27 August, Malacca (23 September), Whampoa

Whampoa

Whampoa is the old English transliteration of Huangpu District, Guangzhou, in China.From there, it derives its other meanings, and can also refer to:* Relating to the Whampoa district:...

 (2 November), and Second Bar (of the Pearl River

Pearl River (China)

The Pearl River or less commonly, the "Guangdong River" or "Canton River" etc., , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name Pearl River is usually used as a catchment term to refer to the watersheds of the Xi Jiang , the Bei Jiang , and the Dong Jiang...

; 29 December). On her return leg she arrived at St Helena on 16 April and by 11 June she was at the Downs.

2nd voyage

Under Captain Robert Spottiswoode she left Britain on 14 March 1802 for the coast of India and the Bay of Bengal.

Capture

Lord Nelson was on her return voyage when on 14 August 1803 she encountered the French three-masted privateer Bellone off Cape Clear, Ireland. Bellone, of Saint Malo, had had some success privateering in the Indian Ocean towards the end of the French Revolutionary Wars

French Revolutionary Wars

The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...

. When the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

 commenced she took to the sea again under the command of her former captain, Jacques Perraud. She was on her first cruise of the new wars when she encountered Lord Nelson.
Bellone had 34 guns, including 24 long 8-pounder guns, and though she had more guns, her broadside was inferior to that on Lord Nelson. What made the difference was that Bellone had a crew of 260 men, versus the 102 men, exclusive of passengers, on Lord Nelson. However, Bellone also had on board some 56 prisoners from various captures.
An engagement on one and a half hours now ensued. Lord Nelson was able to fend off one attempt at boarding, but succumbed to the second. In the fight, Lord Nelson had lost five men killed and 31 wounded. Two of the dead were passengers.
Perraud put on board a prize crew of 41 men under the command of Lieutenant Fougie and the two vessels sailed towards A Coruña

A Coruña

A Coruña or La Coruña is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. It is the second-largest city in the autonomous community and seventeenth overall in the country...

. On 20 August they encountered a British frigate and the two vessels separated, with the frigate pursuing the captor rather than the captive. Then on 23 August, the British privateer Thomas and John, of fourteen 6-pounder guns, engaged Lord Nelson for two hours before breaking off the engagement. In the course of another day, a hired armed

Hired armed vessels

right|thumb|250px|Armed cutter, etching in the [[National Maritime Museum]], [[Greenwich]]During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the Royal Navy made use of a considerable number of hired armed vessels...

 cutter of twelve 4-pounder guns shadowed Lord Nelson before sailing away.

Recapture

, under the command of Captain Henry Burke, had escorted a convoy from Plymouth to Cork and on her way back encountered a Portuguese schooner that reported having met with a French privateer off Cape Clear. Burke immediately set out to find her.
Instead, around 1pm on 26 August, he sighted a large vessel and immediately set out in pursuit. After a chase of five hours Burke was able to bring his quarry to action in an engagement that lasted throughout the night. At daylight, Lord Nelson having expended all her cartridges, Fougie later informed Burke that on Seagulls next approach Lord Nelson would have struck her colours. However, Burke had to pull back to repair extensive damage to Seagulls mast and rigging, and two shot holes between wind and water, i.e., just below her water line.
While Seagull was undertaking her repairs Fougie’s crew were able to prepare new cartridges and might have resumed the engagement when Seagull approached again. However, in the interim a squadron under Sir Edward Pellew

Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth

Admiral Sir Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, GCB was a British naval officer. He fought during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary, and the Napoleonic Wars...

 in came into sight, with leading. Seagull signaled to the approaching vessels and as they came up, Fougie struck to Colossus.
In the fight Seagull had had two men killed and eight men wounded, one of whom apparently died later. French casualties were unreported.
Boats from Colossus boarded Lord Nelson where they found that five of her original crew had been serving the guns in the fight against Seagull. They protested that they were Americans (not renegade Englishmen, and so free agents), but the prize crew put them in chains pending subsequent further investigation in Britain. Pellew then gave Seagull the honour of escorting Lord Nelson back to Plymouth, where they arrived on 14 September and where Seagull could undergo much necessary repairs and refitting.
The East India company, with the agreement of Lloyds Underwriters, agreed a salvage of one-sixth the value of Lord Nelson. Somewhat unfortunately for Seagull, she would have to share the salvage not only with Colossus, but also with the other three ships-of-the-line in Pellew’s squadron.
The East India Company rewarded Spottiswoode with a valuable sword and a service of plate in recognition of his gallant defence of Lord Nelson. He apparently retired to become laird of Dunipace, having succeeded his brother William, but died on 30 September 1805.

3rd voyage

On her third voyage, Lord Nelson was under the command of Captain Wemyss Orrok (or Orrock). A change of captain meant a new letter of marque, this one dated 25 February 1804. The warrant notes that Lord Nelson now carried 32 guns but did not distinguish how many of each type.

She left on 20 March 1804 for the coast of India and the Bay of Bengal. She reached Madras on 19 July, Diamond Harbour

Diamond Harbour

Diamond Harbour is in the southern suburbs of Kolkata, on the banks of the Hooghly River quite near where the river meets the Bay of Bengal. This small town is a popular weekend tourist spot located in South 24 Parganas district....

 on 12 August, and Saugor on 21 November before returning to Madras on 12 February. By 29 June she was again at St Helena, reaching the Downs by 10 September. She was back in port in Britain on 12 September 1805.

Orrok died in mid-1805 at St Helena on the return leg of the trip, and while it is not certain who was captain for the remainder of the voyage, it was probably her first lieutenant

First Lieutenant

First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...

 Frederick Gaillard.

4th voyage

For her fourth voyage Lord Nelson was under the command of Captain William Charles Hutton. His letter of marque was dated 8 February 1806 and also gave her armament as 32 guns.

Lord Nelson left Britain on 30 March 1806 for St Helena and Bengal. She reached St Helena on 27 June, the Cape of Good Hope on 26 August, Diamond Harbour on 12 November, Saugor on 26 December, Madras on 10 January 1807 and Bombay 19 February.

Lord Nelson left Bombay for Britain on 27 February with some officers of the 77th Regiment

77th (East Middlesex) Regiment of Foot

The 77th Regiment of Foot was a line regiment of the British Army . In 1881 it was united with the 57th Regiment of Foot to form The Middlesex Regiment ....

 as passengers. For the return leg she was in Tellichery

Thalassery

Thalassery , also known as Tellicherry, is a city on the Malabar Coast of Kerala, India. This is the second largest city of North Malabar in terms of population. The name Tellicherry is the anglicized form of Thalassery. Thalassery municipality has a population just less than 100,000. Established...

 on 4 March and St Helena again on 15 June. She arrived in the Downs on 6 September.

5th voyage

For her fifth voyage Lord Nelson was still under the command of Captain William Charles Hutton. She left Britain on 5 March 1808 for Madras and Bengal.

On 5 August 1809 nine East Indiamen, including Lord Nelson, arrived at Madras. Unfortunately, now Rear Admiral Pellew was there in . He inspected the crews of all the vessels and pressed

Impressment

Impressment, colloquially, "the Press", was the act of taking men into a navy by force and without notice. It was used by the Royal Navy, beginning in 1664 and during the 18th and early 19th centuries, in wartime, as a means of crewing warships, although legal sanction for the practice goes back to...

 157 men in all. The captains were furious, and remonstrated with Pellew, informing him that he had left them too shorthanded to sail safely back to Britain. He relented slightly, returning 24 men. Hutton and the others then had to make do by recruiting local lascars to get enough men to bring up the size of the crew; Lord Nelson would sail with about 110 men, exclusive of passengers. As was common, she would also carry a number of passengers, including an army officer, Lt. Colonel T.D. Richardson, his wife and their three children.
When Hutton and Lord Nelson had arrived in the Far East, he had lost 38 men to impressment to various naval vessels. In all, of the 114 men with whom he had left Britain, fully 55-6 were gone to the press, disease (six), desertion (six), drowning (two) and resignation (one).

Hutton was the most experienced of the nine captains and was the commodore of the fleet. That is, should they lose contact with their escort, , under the command of Captain John Ferrier, Hutton would take command of the fleet.
On 26 October the fleet left Madras. Around 20 November a gale began that would disperse the entire convoy. Lord Nelson then parted company with the fleet on 21 November at around Lat. 8⁰ 30' South Long. 80⁰ East. She was never heard of again. Two other East Indiamen, the ‘’Glory’’ and the ‘’Experiment’’ also disappeared without a trace.