On this day, the ship Prince Blucher sailed from Bengal for Mauritius, in what was to be its last voyage. Launched at Chittagong in 1815, the ship had made one voyage for the East India Company.

It had taken part in spectacular rescue actions.

In 1816, it found the ship Frances Charlotte bound for Bengal and carrying the 78th Highlanders regiment, having struck a reef in Preparis, now located in Myanmar. Captain Weathrall and the crew of Prince Blucher rescued 316 men, women and children, and the survivors were taken to Calcutta. The Bengal administration sent two cruisers to rescue the remaining 130-odd survivors.

On January 21, 1818, Prince Blucher encountered in the Saugor (Sagar) region in the Bay of Bengal a boat of pilgrims that had been on the sea for nine days and were entirely without food or water. Eight people had died, two died after their rescue and one more died later. Weathrall, still the captain, brought back safely to Calcutta “eight Brahmans, four women, and 26 Bengalees”.

During its last voyage, Prince Blucher was stranded on the James and Mary Shoal in the Hooghly. It was damaged beyond repair and broken up in 1824.

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