Pondichéry (1754 ship)
Pitt engaging St Louis, by Lawson Dunn, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| France | |
| Name | Pondichéry |
| Namesake | Pondicherry |
| Builder | Gilles Cambry (fils), Port l'Orient |
| Laid down | March 1754 |
| Launched | December 1754 |
| Fate | Captured 23 December 1756 |
| British East India Company | |
| Name | Pitt |
| Namesake | Pitt the Elder |
| Owner | Charles Raymond |
| Operator | East India Company |
| Acquired | By purchase 1757 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | East Indiaman |
| Tons burthen | 800, or 600, (bm) |
| Length | 128'9" (keel 111'8") |
| Beam | 34'6" |
| Draught | 14'6" |
| Propulsion | Sail |
| Complement |
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| Armament |
|
| Armour | Timber |
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Pondicherry (or Pondichéry) was a French East Indiaman, launched in December 1754, that the Royal Navy captured in 1756, early in the Seven Years' War with France. She was then sold and her new owners, who renamed her Pitt, proceeded to charter her to the British East India Company (EIC), for three voyages. During her first voyage she engaged a French warship, and then went on to chart a new route, Pitt's Passage, through the East Indies on the way to China. The EIC found this new route of the utmost importance as it was faster than their existing route, and was navigable in all seasons. After her return from her third voyage Pitt disappears from readily available online sources.