Morning Star (1825 ship)

Career

Morning Star first appeared in Lloyd's Register in 1826. Although the East India Company had lost its monopoly on trade between India and Britain in 1813, British ships still required a licence from the Company to sail to India or the Indian Ocean; Morning Star immediately began trading with Ceylon under such a licence. On 13 December 1827, she departed Colombo carrying ebony, pepper, cinnamon, coffee, and a mixed group of 52 British crew, passengers, invalid soldiers, wives, and children. Like all Tindall ships, Morning Star carried no arms. Around 8 am on 19 February 1828, off Ascension Island, a swift square-rigged brig—later identified as Defensor de Pedro, captained by the Galician pirate Benito de Soto—began pursuit. After firing grapeshot across the deck, damaging the ship and injuring several people, Captain Thomas Gibbs heaved to. Gibbs and second mate Alexander Mowatt boarded Defensor de Pedro to negotiate but were detained by de Soto and later murdered along with two other Morning Star seamen. Meanwhile, de Soto's crew boarded Morning Star, violently robbed passengers, stole money, food, clothing, wine, sails, navigational equipment, silks, and precious stones, then locked the men in the hold and sexually assaulted the women in the cabins. Before leaving, the pirates drilled holes in the hull to sink the ship. The women escaped, freed the men, and the survivors repaired the ship and kept it afloat. About a month later, Morning Star encountered Captain Magnus Johnson aboard Guildford, who rendered assistance and raised the alarm. After briefly docking in Kent on 14 April 1828, she reached Gravesend on 18 April 1828. From 1851, Morning Star began sailing to Australia; ship arrival and departure data show her returning to England from Australia via Ceylon. On 19 October 1851, the barque Morning Star, under master Clark(e), arrived at Perth with cargo and passengers, sailing for Champion Bay on 13 November and then on to Hobart. She was last listed in 1857 but had disappeared from ship arrival and departure data after 1853.