Edwin Fox - Maiden Voyage 1853

Built to Last

The Edwin Fox was built by master shipwright William Henry Foster in the Calcutta shipyard of Thomas Reeves. William signed the builders certificate for the  ship on the 6th December 1853.

It took over 1000 trees to build the ship, high quality Burmese Teak and Saul timbers were used.

Thomas was described as being a man of great enterprise and owned his own ship building yard, formerly the Ambrose and Co. site, on the right bank of the River Hooghly. 

On 23 June 1854 Reeves sold all 64 shares in the ship to Sir George Edmond Hodgkinson who was a ship owner and insurance broker by trade and between 1850 - 1851 was one of the two sheriffs of London and Middlesex.

Maiden Voyage - Calcutta to London - 14/12/1853 to 10/5/1854

Captain William Taylor Salmon took command of the Edwin Fox for her maiden voyage from Calcutta (now Kolkata) to London.

The ship cleared customs at Calcutta 14 December 1853 with a crew of 65 men and 10 passengers which included a family of 9 and a British Army Officer who were destined for the Cape of Good Hope.

There was a variety of cargo on board including the following:- 365 bags of horn tip, 225 cases of caster oil, 1209 bags of saltpetre, 74 bales safflower, 2,185 bags of rape seed, 3,937 bags of rice, 1,227 bags of linseed, 80 bales of goat skins, 65 bales of cowhide, 24 chests of shellac and other miscellaneous goods.

An Inauspicious Start

It was in Table Bay that the ship discharged her cargo of rice and while waiting to refill her water supplies was caught in a severe gale.

There were several ships in trouble including the frigate Devonshire. Both the Devonshire and Edwin Fox began to drag their anchors and loose their cables and while trying to turn the ship the Edwin Fox collided heavily with the Devonshire. 

Both ships ran to open waters before returning to port the next day.

The Edwin Fox lost her jib-boom, bowsprit cap, main topsail and her foremast as well as suffering damage to her topsides. She remained in Table Bay for 14 days while being repaired.

Arrival in London

She sailed again from Table Bay for London on 7 March 1854 arriving off Gravesend on May 10 1854. 

On the 10th of May, the date of the ships arrival into port, we have the first recorded death of a member of the crew. It was reported that Edward Cousins, who was the ships carpenter, accidently fell overboard and drowned.

On arrival into London the ship was dry docked for inspection during which further repairs and strengthening work was completed. Once done the ship was able to meet Lloyds A1 12-year insurance classification which was the highest grade of certification available to her.

Captain Salmon did not take the Edwin Fox to sea again and tragically drowned at sea in 1864 when the steamship he was in command of, the Persia, was caught in the terrible typhoon which struck the Bay of Bengal 5 October 1864.

On arrival the ship was immediately sold by Sir George Edmond Hodgkinson, who was struggling financially, to Duncan Dunbar.

Dunbar was one of Britain's most famous ship owners and had the largest fleet of ships at that time. He paid the extraordinary amount of 30,000 pounds for the ship in what was described as an acrimonious and ill tempered auction. This was much more than the ship was worth but Dunbar, who was an astute businessman, believed it was a sound investment and this was to be the case when the purchase price was repaid with a sound profit after 18 months. The Edwin Fox is the only remaining ship from the Duncan Dunbar line.

The ship was immediately put under the commission of the British Government and assigned to the Crimean War as Transport 109 under the command of Captain Joseph Ferguson.