Capture of HMS Kent

Background. Kent, launched in 1799, was an East Indiaman of the British East India Company. On her first voyage in 1800 she was bound for Bengal and Bencoolen. She was commanded by Robert Rivington, who sailed under a letter of marque dated 28 March 1800. At Salvador she had taken on 300 persons, including troops and passengers, survivors of the East Indiaman Queen, which had caught fire there and been destroyed with in excess of 100 fatalities.

The Action. On 7 October 1800 Kent encountered the French privateer corvette Confiance, of 18 guns and 150 men, under Robert Surcouf, near the mouth of the Ganges. One account states Kent carried twenty 12-pounders and six 6-pounders on her castles, while Confiance mounted between 20 and 22 long 8-pounder guns. Another account estimates fewer than 200 persons aboard Kent, with 11 killed and 44 wounded on the British side and 16 wounded on the French side, three of whom later died.

Aftermath. The capture of Kent became a sensation, and the British Admiralty promised a large reward for the capture of Surcouf. Kent subsequently left Mauritius on 21 March 1801; warned by passing vessels that a British fleet had attacked Copenhagen, she waited some weeks off the coast of Norway, arrived in Kristiansand in June 1801, and later reached Copenhagen on 16 July.