Grand Turk and Hinchinbrook

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shipstamps
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Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 8:12 pm

Grand Turk and Hinchinbrook

Post by shipstamps » Mon Jan 26, 2009 5:09 pm

The U.S. privateer Grand Turk and Post Office Packet Hinchinbrooke from an old print of 1814; The print represents the situation of H.M. packet at the close of an engagement with the American privateer Grand Turk, of Salem, on May 1, 1814. The action commenced at 5.20 p.m. and continued until 7.30 within pistol shot range, during which the American ship twice manoeuvred abeam of the British vessel and was twice beaten off. After the failure of the second attempt, the Hinchinbrooke obtained a raking position, disabled and obliged the privateer to sheer off. The packet had a crew of 30 men and boys; the privateer 178 men. The Hinchinbrooke was armed with 69 carronades and 29 long guns; the Grand Turk carried 16 long guns, 9 carronades, and 11 other guns. The standing orders to the packets, when attacked, were "to run while they can, fight when they can no longer run, and throw the mails overboard when fighting will no longer avail.". The Hinchinbrooke, was built in 1813 for the Falmouth Packet Service of the Post Office by Capt. James and Company, at Falmouth. She was lost in a hurricane in the West Indies, date unknown.
Sea Breezes 1/74
Turks & Caicos Is SG398, Montserrat SG699, Belize SG847
Attachments
SG699
SG699
SG398
SG398

john sefton
Posts: 1816
Joined: Sun Mar 22, 2009 1:59 pm

Re: Grand Turk and Hinchinbrook

Post by john sefton » Wed Jun 03, 2009 4:49 pm

Grand Turk.
The Grand Turk should be familiar to many Americans if only because she is depicted on bottles of Old Spice aftershave lotion. But her role in American nautical history if far more important. The Grand Turk was not the first American ship to reach the Orient - the Experiment and The Empress of China preceded her - but she was America's first great merchant ship, the ship that helped make America's first millionaire, ship owner Elias Haskett Derby, who was also the first (and perhaps only) shipping magnate recorded as having one brown and one blue eye. A 300-ton, three-masted vessel boasting 22 guns, the Grand Turk was built at Salem for Derby, who had her designed as a privateer. She did not disappoint, taking many British ships as prizes, including the 400-ton Pompey of London. After the Revolutionary War in 1783, the Grand Turk with her crew of 11 was sent from Salem to Cape Town, where in a roundabout manner she exchanged a cargo of rum, ginseng, and other commodities for tea from China, making a 100 percent profit, despite the $3,500 in taxes that the grand customs official called the Hoppo levied. (This figure was arrived at by measuring the ship's length and breadth, multiplying them, adding 100 percent for cumshaw or tips and 50 percent more for an "opening barrier" fee).
Turks and Caicos SG773a, 448.
Attachments
SG773a.jpg
SG448.jpg

aukepalmhof
Posts: 7771
Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:28 am

Re: Grand Turk and Hinchinbrook

Post by aukepalmhof » Mon Apr 24, 2017 9:04 pm

Belize1985 15c sg847, scott (the stamp is designed after a print made by William I. Pocock)
Attachments
hinchinbrook painting.jpg
Image (35).jpg

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