Pigot was an East Indiaman that made five voyages to India, China, and the East Indies for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1780 and 1794. Oh her fifth voyage, which occurred early in the French Revolutionary Wars, the French captured her during the Sunda Strait campaign of 1794.
Career
Voyage #1 (1780-1782) Captain Robert Morgan left Portsmouth on 3 June 1780, bound for China and Benkulen. Pigot reached Whampoa on 2 February 1781. For her return voyage she crossed the Second Bar, about 20 miles before Whampoa, on 8 April, and was at Macao on 23 April. She reached Benkulen, where the EIC had a factory, on 1 August and Padang on 19 August, and returned to Benkulen on 25 September. She then reached St Helena on 17 December, and Plymouth on 10 March 1782. She arrived at the Downs on 31 March.
Voyage #2 (1783-85) Morgan left Portsmouth on 11 March 1783, bound for Madras and Bengal. Pigot reached São Tiago on 31 March and Johanna on 17 July.
On 24 August caught fire off Ceylon and was destroyed. Duke of Kingston was in company with Pigot, , and , all of which were safe. Some 65 passengers, crew, troops, and their dependents died.
Pigot reached Madras on 26 August. She arrived at Kedgeree on 10 October. Homeward bound, she passed Saugor on 15 February 1784 and reached Vizagapatam on 14 March. She stopped in again at Madras on 3 April, went to Coringa on 5 June, returned to Madras on 2 October, reached Coringa again on 25 November, was at Masulipatam on 5 January 1785, and was again at Madras on 10 January.
On 2 May she was at the Kromme River, where Morgan took the latitude and longitude as , with the longitude being 7° 38' east of Cape Town. The correct figures for the river's mouth are , indicating the ongoing difficulty of calculating longitude.
Pigot reached False Bay on 8 June and St Helena on 19 July. She arrived at the Downs on 9 October.
Voyage #3 (1786-87) George Ballantyne (or Ballantine), was Pigots captain for this and the next two voyages. He left the Downs on 26 March 1786, bound for China. Pigot reached Whampoa on 11 September. Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 5 January 1787, reached North Island - the northmost of three islands in the bay that formed the principle anchorage of Enggano Island - on 2 March, and St Helena on 2 June. She arrived back at the Downs on 12 August.
Voyage #4 (1789-1790) Ballantyne left the Downs on 6 March 1789, bound for Madras and Bengal. Pigot reached Madras on 28 June and arrived at Diamond Harbour on 8 July. Homeward bound, she passed Saugor on 23 December, reached Madras on 2 February 1790, and St Helena on 29 August. She arrived back at the Downs on 29 June.
Voyage #5 (1793 and loss) Ballantyne left Portsmouth on 22 May 1793, bound for Bengal and Benkulen. War with France had broken out almost four months earlier, so as became the common practice for EIC vessels, he received a letter of marque on 17 April. This authorized him to engage in offensive action against the French, not just defensive. Pigot was part of a convoy that included the East Indiamen Prince William, Lord Thurlow, William Pitt, , , Earl of Oxford, , Fort William, London, , Marquis of Landsdown, , , and Earl of Abergavenny, amongst numerous other vessels, merchant and military, most of the non-Indiamen travelling to the Mediterranean.
On 24 June, Pigot captured the French brig La France, which was sailing from "the Mauritius" to France. The account in the London Gazette refers to the brig as Le Franc. From the number of vessels named in separate accounts as sharing in the prize money, it is clear that the fleet shared the capture. Ceres took possession.
Pigot reached Diamond Harbour on 14 September.
Capture
The withdrawal of the Royal Navy squadron from Indian waters had left the EIC's trade vulnerable to privateers from Île de France (Mauritius). The EIC therefore decided to equip a squadron of its merchantmen as cruisers to protect its trade.
The squadron consisted of the East Indiamen William Pitt, Houghton, , and the Bombay Marine (EIC) 14-gun brig Nautilus, all under the overall command of Commodore Charles Mitchell of William Pitt. Contemporary accounts of the composition of squadron vary widely. One account lists the vessels as , Pigot, Houghton, Nonsuch, and the cruiser Viper. It states their task would be to cruise the Malacca and Sunda Straits, and the Bay of Bengal, when not actually convoying the trade. Lloyd's List lists the squadron as consisting of William Pitt, Oxford, Houghton, Nonsuch, Britannia, and the "Nancy Grab". They were armed and believed to be cruising the Straits. Pigot was to accompany them to Benkulen.