The British East India Company (EIC) funded the construction of Bombay Castle as a contribution to the war effort.[1][2] Similarly, the EIC also paid for the construction of HMS Carnatic and HMS Ganges.
Bombay Castle was at Plymouth on 20 January 1795 and so shared in the proceeds of the detention of the Dutch naval vessels, East Indiamen, and other merchant vessels that were in port on the outbreak of war between Britain and the Netherlands.[3]
Bombay Castle was under the command of Captain Thomas Sotheby when she entered the Tagus, having taken a pilot on board. In attempting to avoid the storeship Camel, which had grounded ahead of Bombay Castle, Bombay Castle too grounded. During the subsequent week, attempts were made to float her off after boats had removed her guns and stores, but without success. The navy abandoned her as a wreck on 27 December 1798.[4]
The frigate HMS Minerve heading for the open sea in 1797, the wreckage of the Bombay Castle still clearly visible alongside the lighthouse on the left, Thomas Buttersworth