Napoleonic Wars (1803-15)
Views of naval engagements and maps of battles
Cape of Good Hope, 1806 (Cape of Good Hope, Western Cape, South Africa) 34°21'30"S 18°28'21"E
1806 or laterAquatint with etching and engraving; printed on paper | 33.5 x 45.5 cm (image) | RCIN 735129
One of a pair of views representing the East Indiaman Warren Hastings before her encounter with the French frigate Piemontaise and the point after the battle when the Captain of the Warren Hastings was surrendering to the French. The second view (RCIN 735130) depicts the destruction suffered by the Warren Hastings at the hands of the French. At the time of surrender, her gun room was on fire and the fore and main masts were wrecked, and the mizzenmast had fallen forwards blocking every gun on the upper deck. At the time of the engagement, the Warren Hastings, nominally a 40-gun ship, had only 36 guns in service and a crew of 138 men and boys.
In this view the Warren Hastings appears to be flying a Red Ensign, not the flag of the East India Company. The Red Ensign was used for British merchant shipping at this time.
Additional text: [bottom left, below edge of view:] Warren Hastings. 40 Guns [blank space] Men [bottom right, below edge of view:] La Pie'mont'aise 40 Guns, 385 Men.
Condition: no fold lines. Verso: induced discolouration.
Robert Dodd (1748-1815) (publisher) [bottom centre, below title:] London, Published by Robt Dodd, Marine Painter near the Admiralty.
Subject(s)
Royal NavyNavy-FranceWatermark: [Cropped:] S [and] 1802
Condition: no fold lines. Verso: induced discolouration
31.1 x 45.2 cm (neatline)
33.5 x 45.5 cm (image)
35.7 x 49.0 cm (platemark)
40.0 x 53.5 cm (sheet)
Printed title:
View of the Hon,,ble Companys Ship WARREN HASTINGS, a few Minutes before her Action with LA PIE'MONT'AISE (French Frigate) on the 21,st June 1806. [bottom, below view]
Additional text:
[bottom left, below edge of view:] Warren Hastings. 40 Guns [blank space] Men [bottom right, below edge of view:] La Pie'mont'aise 40 Guns, 385 Men.
Annotations:
George III heading: Naval Engagement 21 June 1806.
Other annotations: (Recto) none. (Verso) [bottom, left of centre, black pencil:] 182.a.(i); [bottom right, black pencil, eighteenth/nineteenth-century hand?]: 7/6.
George III catalogue entry:
Naval Engagement View of the Hon,,ble Companys Ship Warren Hastings a few minutes before her action with la Piedmontaise French Frigate, on the 21.st of June 1806: by R. Dodd.
Subject(s)
Cape of Good Hope, Western Cape, South Africa (34°21'30"S 18°28'21"E)
Bibliographic reference(s)
H. Parker, Naval battles from the collection of prints formed and owned by Commander Sir Charles Leopold Cust, With an introduction by C.N. Robinson, London, 1911, no.182.a
Page revisions
3 November 2024
Current version
