Swallow

Swallow was a teak-built packet ship that the British East India Company (EIC) launched at Bombay in 1779. She made nine trips between India and Britain for the EIC between 1782 and 1803. Her most notable exploit occurred on her seventh voyage, when she helped capture seven Dutch East Indiamen on 15 June 1795. The Royal Navy purchased her in 1804 and named her Lilly. She served in the navy until she was sold in 1811. During this time she participated in the capture of La Désirade island, and participated in a quixotic and unsuccessful attempt of General Francisco de Miranda to liberate the Province of Venezuela from Spain in 1806. Her whereabouts between 1811 and 1815 are obscure, but in 1815 J. Lyney, of London, purchased her and she sailed to the West Indies and to India as an EIC-licensed vessel until she wrecked on her way to Calcutta in 1823. East India Company packet Un-numbered voyages (1779–81) Swallow came under the command of Captain Sober Hall. In March 1780 she was dispatched to Britain. On 24 January 1781, Swallow, under the command of Captain Sober Hall, sailed from Limerick for Madras, with the Right Hon. Lord Macartney, the new governor of Madras, Mr. Staunton and Mr. Lacelles, his Lordship's secretaries, Col. Cowper, Mr. Kerin of the county Clare, and Mr. Exshaw of Dublin, with several other passengers. Lord Macartney arrived at Madras on 22 June 1781.