Catalogue description Captured ship: Graf Bernstorff (master Gert Belmer, supercargo Willem Charles Van...

Captured ship: Graf Bernstorff (master Gert Belmer, supercargo Willem Charles Van Braam).

History: [a Danish East Indiaman chartered in Batavia (as larger than the previous Johanna on which the outbound voyage was made) and bound from Batavia to Copenhagen, laden with sugar, coffee, sappan wood and rattan; came into St Helen's Roads, Isle of Wight on 13 February 1799, after suffering damage, and was seized by HMS Seine (David Milne commanding) under suspicion of being Dutch].

Documents: papers of this ship and other ships, from the private archives of the officers, as follows, with numbers given by the court:

1. 'No 723': personal note book in a leather wallet, with notes of expenditure, and sketch of a carriage. [1790-1799].

2. 'No 727': numerical key to the diary of consignments on the Danish ship Johanna. [1798].

3. 'No 728': diary of consignments, by consignees' mark and a number, on the Danish ship Johanna (master A J Broager) bound from Copenhagen to Batavia. 1798.

4. 'No 731': manuscript reckoning book with useful information, calendars etc. [Covers 1760-1799].

5. 'No 750': log of the Graf Bernstorff, from Batavia to Bombay and Coromandel. 1798.

6. 'No 751': journal of Willem Van Braam, supercargo, for the Johanna. 1797.

7. 'No 752': log of the Graf Bernstorff from Batavia to Copenhagen. 1798.

8. 'No 755': journal of the Graf Bernstorff; written at each end of the book. [Cover removed to HCA 65/54/12]. 1798.

9. 'No 761': journal of the Jonkvrouw Sibille Antoinette, Kamer van Amsterdam. [Cover removed to HCA 65/54/11]. 1793.

10. 'No 762'. Chart of the Atlantic Ocean south of Iceland and west of Pembroke (Wales) to Ushant (Brittany, France), showing Western approaches to the English Channel. Key. Scale: 1 inch to about 3.7 German miles. Compass rose. East at the top. [c 1790-1798]. Now transferred to MPI 1/119.

11. 'No 764': pay book and consumption book for the Graf Bernstorff, going to the East Indies, captain Gert Belmer, chief mate Frederick Lind. 1798.

12. 'No 769': draft pay book for the Graf Bernstorff. 1798.

13. 'No 771': Bistik Bog or journal of frigate Johanna, by F C Lind. 1797.

14. 'No 783': official log of the Graf Bernstorff. 1799 Jan-Feb.

15. 'No 784': official log of the Graf Bernstorff. 1798.

16. 'No 772': a journal or log of the Dutch warship Utrecht, kept by L Spengler, [in the squadron of] Admiral Willem Van Braam; cruising in the North Sea. [Added from HCA 30/761 in 2014]. 1793-1794.

17. 'No 773': a private notebook, with drawings of ships, and referring to the ships Catharina en Sophia, Johanna, Graf Bernstorff, etc. Copy and draft letters as from Charles Van Braam and W Van Braam [supercargo]. [Added from HCA 30/761 in 2014]. 1797-1798.

18. 'No 730': a journal or log kept by Lieutenant Belmer, of his voyages on the ships Zeebouwer from Coromandel to Batavia, 1791; on the Leyden, from Batavia to Samarang, etc and back, 1792; and on the Jonkvrouw Sibille Antoinette from Batavia to Ceylon, 1792. The lieutenant's name has been torn out in many places. [Added from HCA 30/761 in 2014]. 1791-1792.

For further papers see:

[appeal papers] HCA 42/243/570

[prize papers] HCA 32/654/88

For items (paper book covers and a chart) extracted from this piece see:

HCA 65/54/12

HCA 65/54/11

MPI 1/119