History
Great Britain
Name	Vansittart
Namesake	Peter van Sittart, father ofHenry Vansittart
Owner	Hugh Raymond[1]
Operator	BritishEast India Company
Builder	River Thames[1]
Launched	October 1718[1]
Fate	Wrecked 1719
General characteristics[2]
Tons burthen	480 (bm)
Complement	96
Armament	34 guns

Vansittart was anEast Indiaman of the BritishEast India Company, launched in October 1718 on the River Thames. She sailed fromthe Downs on 18 January 1719, bound forMadras, and under the command of Captain Robert Hyde (or Hide). She was wrecked on 2 March atMaio, Cape Verde.^[2]

Her loss provided the opportunity for what may have been the first, or at least an early operational trial of adiving suit.John Lethbridge had invented one in 1715.^[3]

In April 1721 a salvage expedition set out from Spithead. It comprised two shipsAudrey (of 380 tons (bm) and 36 guns), andJolly Batchelor (20 guns). The BritishRoyal Navy provided the frigateHMS Launceston to protect them from pirates. The salvors recovered substantial quantities ofsilver fromVansittart using a suit that Jacob Rowe had designed and then patented in 1720. When the operations finished on 2 August, the salvors had recovered almost 75K ounces of the 141K ounces of silver that she had carried, as well as 878 slabs of lead, plus guns and anchors.^[4]

• Earle, Peter (2007).Treasure Hunt: Shipwreck, Diving, and the Quest for Treasure in an Age of Heroes. Macmillan.ISBN 9780413776389.
• Hackman, Rowan (2001).Ships of the East India Company. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society.ISBN 0-905617-96-7.

• 1710s ships
• Ships built on the River Thames
• Ships of the British East India Company
• Maritime incidents in 1719

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