Hi Clare One shouldn't forget that the French, British, Turkish and Sardinian governments had hired, leased and even purchased many hundreds of Comerica vessels during the Crimean War, from, I think, 1854-1856, which was so soon followed by the Second China War, the Indian Mutiny, as already noted, and as you say, the Anglo-Persian problem, so the Admiralty and the War Office, along with their counter-parts in Europe, were well versed in acquiring vessels for the purposes you describe, as were the various shipping companies in meeting that demand, and often making exceptional profits, often due to the uneconomic way in which the vessels were used, particularly by the War Office, who often used the vessels as store ships once they had arrived on station, particularly during the Crimean War, which had the effect of inflating the cost of transporting goods worldwide, and delayed, for some years, the introduction of steam ships on regular services to the Antipodes, because most of the best shipping was acquired for government purposes, so was, in the main a commercial decision, although, no doubt, there was presumably some form of patriotic duty or expectation, but at the same time British ship owners were also happy to provide shipping to the French government too. Paul On Sun, 18 Aug 2013 23:33:54 +1000, Patricia Byers <[email protected]> wrote: >Hello >Also, bear in mind that the Indian Mutiny broke out on 10 May 1857. >Paddy >On 18/08/2013, at 6:51 PM, [email protected] wrote: > >> >> >> Good Morning >> >> I have recently discovered that the Tornado (31789), a ship which had just >> taken emigrants to Australia, at least twice went from Bombay to the >> Persian Gulf on the return voyage. This was ferrying troops and Government >> supplies, I believe after (rather than during) the Anglo-Persian war of 1856/7. >> The treaty of Paris ending the war was signed March 4th but some sources >> have the war ending on April 4th. >> >> My query is, would there have been compulsion about this? The Tornado was >> at Bombay from Feb 9th 1857, the Captain's wife having had a baby on board >> on Feb 7th. While at Bombay, the baby was christened at St Andrews and the >> Captain consulted a doctor for his stomach problems. Would merchant ships >> have been commandeered or was it more a case that the ship owners would have >> been keen on the extra income? Would the Captain (Robert Crighton) have >> had any choice in the matter, or is this unknowable? >> >> The Tornado sailed for the Persian Gulf on March 11th (with the Julia) and >> May 23rd. I read that many of the troops which served in the Anglo Persian >> War were from Bombay. >> >> I have been unable to find when the Tornado returned to the UK, but she >> left Liverpool again for Australia in December 1857 with a different Captain. >> >> Some time ago i asked for help to locate the log book (in the National >> Archives) of the Tornado's first sailing to Australia in 1855. I did consult >> it, fascinating; especially the Captain's medical treatments! I hope the log >> book for this trip survived as well. >> >> Clare >> Oxford, UK >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message 50° 33' N, 2° 26' W http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/Naval.html