Maritime Service

The East India Company Maritime Services could be divided into three main categories:

• EIC Mercantile Marine. The Mercantile Marine was the principal merchant shipping service supporting the company's trade with India and the Far East. It was in operation from 1600 to 1834.
• Bombay Marine. The Bombay Marine was the fighting navy of the EIC. In the later nineteenth century and twentieth century it was renamed several times, ultimately becoming the Royal Indian Navy in 1935.
• Bengal Pilot Service. The Bengal Pilot Service was responsible for guiding shipping between along the Hooghly River between Calcutta and the Bay of Bengal.

FIBIS Resources

Wrecked or Captured, the East India Company Ships that Failed to Arrive
A fascinating talk given by Andrea Cordani, writer and researcher on East India Company Ships, at FIBIS’ Spring lecture meeting in May 2009, is available to download or listen to on the podcast page. The presentation that accompanied this talk and a book list for further reading can be found in the Members area of the FIBIS website at Members Area-Presentations

Links

• The British Library IOR Maritime Service page
• Andrea Cordani's EIC Ships website
• A Register of Ships, Employed in the Service of the Honorable the United East India Company 1716-1810 By Charles Hardy, Horatio Charles Hardy
• A Journal of a voyage to the Cape of good Hope and Bombay in the Ship Sesostris by James Smith, 1829-1831
• Len Barnett’s British Maritime History - Realistic genealogical guides to surviving records and more has sections on

• EIC- A realistic guide to what is available to those looking into the careers of seagoing servants (1600-1834) [1]
• Bombay Marine [2]
• Bengal Marine [3]