Walter Ritchie's privateer ship Neptune

In early May 1805 there must have been some great excitement in Greenock as a great French East Indiaman, the Charles Maurice, was brought into the harbour.   The ship had been captured by the Neptune, belonging to the fleet of local merchants Walter Ritchie & Co. 

At this time Britain was on the alert over the threat of invasion by Napoleon Bonaparte.  Ports were especially concerned, and Greenock was no exception.  Some of the larger merchant companies in the town fitted out at least one of their ships with guns and cannon.  This was to protect merchant vessels who started sailing in convoys, but there was also the profitable side-line in capturing enemy ships, the proceeds from the sale of both the ship and cargo could be massive.  

These privately owned armed vessels were called privateers.  Many carried letters of marque which was a licence from the Government to attack and capture enemy ships.  

The Charles Maurice, returning from the East Indies, had been heading for Bordeaux with a valuable cargo before she was taken by the Neptune and brought into Greenock.  She also carried a packet of letters from Admiral Charles Linois (1761-1848) to Count HonoreJoseph Antoin Ganteaume (1755-1818) and French Vice Admiral Louis-Alexandre Berthier (1753-1815) Napoleon’s Chief of Staff.  These were passed to the Admiralty.  

The ship and cargo were taken to London and sold.  The French ship's cargo of exotic goods from the East Indies included – raw sugar, coffee, bales of galanga root, indigo, cotton, cinnamon, raw silk, gum copal, gum Madagascar, gum Arabic, mace, cardamom, pepper, saffron, cloves, sago, tamarinds, palm oil, incense as well as other spices and confections.  These were put up for sale at West’s Warehouses, Billiter Lane, London.The ship was put up for sale at Lloyd’s Coffee House, Cornhill, London – at the time the centre of shipbroking and marine insurance business.  This was the precursor of Lloyds as it is still known today.  In the advertisement for the sale the “good ship” Charles Maurice is described as “square stern, figure head, copper sheathed, measures about 500 tons, lofty ‘tween decks, a very fast sailer, well found, pierced for 18 guns, has a tier of beams for an orlop deck is a very handsome and good vessel, with warlike appearance …” It was also stated that she was thought to have previously been the American sloop of war Trumbull (sold by the Americans in 1801), “built for Government service about five years since.”  The ship could be viewed at London Dock, Wapping.

London Docks

While Walter Ritchie & Co of Greenock would have made a lot of money from this prize ship, there were occasions when their ships were taken by French and American privateers.