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Lot Essay
Built by Francis Barnard, Sons & Roberts at Deptford for Henry Blanchard, the East Indiaman Thames was launched on 22nd October 1819. Measured at 1,425 tons, she was 134 feet in length with a 42 foot beam and generally considered one of the finest vessels in the whole of the E.I.C.'s extensive fleet. Her first voyage, from December 1819 - April 1821, was to Bombay and China but her second was cut short soon after leaving London when, bound for China under the command of Captain Haviside, she stranded below Beachy Head, Eastbourne, on 3rd February 1822. Badly damaged, she was nevertheless refloated and towed back to Deptford by steam tug where she was repaired and eventually returned to sea in 1824. After a highly successful career lasting a further twenty years, she was finally sold for breaking in 1843.