page_title: Red Dragon (1595)
section_title: East India Company, First Voyage (1601–1603)
hierarchical_section_title: Red Dragon (1595) / Service history / East India Company, First Voyage (1601–1603)
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of Sir James Lancaster
context_page_description: Scourge of Malice or Malice Scourge or Mare Scourge was a 38-gun ship ordered by George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland. She was built and launched at Deptford Dockyard in 1595. The Earl used her as his flagship during raids on the Spanish Main, where she provided additional force to support his fleet. She was later renamed Red Dragon; the East India Company used her for at least five voyages to the East Indies. The first recorded performance of the play Hamlet took place on Red Dragon in 1607 while she was anchored off the coast of Sierra Leone.
context_section_description: Formed on 31 December 1600, the East India Company's (EIC) first voyage departed on 13 February 1601. The flagship of the five-vessel fleet was Malice Scourge, purchased from the Earl of Cumberland for £3700; heo had initially asked for £4000. There was at first some reluctance on the part of the EIC to acquire the vessel "her burthen being so great, whereby the Tunage agreed uppon shallbe so greatly exceeded" but they relented "to the ende the preparation of the viage [voyage] be not hindred by restinge in uncertentie of shipping.") The Company subsequently renamed the vessel Red Dragon, and granted command of the vessel to James Lancaster. The other vessels in the fleet were Hector (300 tons), Ascension (260 tons), Susan (240 tons) and Guest, a small victualler. In spite of their February departure, the fleet did not clear the English Channel until early April due to delays from contrary winds. They landed at the Canary Islands, and then, keeping too close to Africa, fell into the Doldrums, where they remained for a month. They replenished their provisions from a captured Portuguese vessel en route, but much of the fleet was affected by scurvy by the time they arrived at Table Bay on 9 September. Lancaster had managed to prevent the sailors on his own ship from being so stricken by regularly dosing them with lemon juice, and he was forced to send members of his own crew to help man the other ships into the harbour. They stayed at Table Bay for seven weeks before departing, navigating along the eastern side of Madagascar. Since leaving England, they had lost more than a fifth of their crew complement across the fleet, but those that remained were fit and healthy. Adverse wind conditions, and a second bout of scurvy, forced the fleet to drop anchor in Antongil Bay, where they remained from Christmas Day through until 6 March 1602. On the resumption of their journey, they reached the Nicobar Islands after two months further travel, and took the opportunity to take on water and trim their vessels, staying for three weeks.
  On 5 June, the fleet arrived in the road of Achin, on the northern end of Sumatra. There, Lancaster contacted the King, Ala-uddin Shah, who was delighted at the prospect of trade with the English, and granted them an exemption from customs dues. The goods at Achin failed to even fill one of the ships, and with Susan having already been sent to Priaman to try and procure pepper and spices, Lancaster decided to target Portuguese vessels in the Strait of Malacca to increase his cargo. The mission was successful, a Portuguese carrack of 900-1,000 tons called the São Thomé was captured. The vessel had sailed from San Thomé (now part of Chennai), and the goods of calicoes and other produce were transferred onto the English ships. The fleet then returned to Achin on 24 October 1602 and collected King Ala-uddin Shah's reply to the Queen. The three ships left Achin on 9 November, and two days later the Ascension was dispatched to return to England as it was fully laden. Red Dragon and Hector sailed to Priaman, and Lancaster delivered instructions that when Susan had finished loading her cargo of pepper and spices, she should set sail after Ascension. Lancaster pressed his remained two vessels on towards Java, arriving at Bantam on 16 December. As in Achin, they presented a letter from Queen Elizabeth I to the reigning monarch, and were granted permission to trade freely and "settle a factorie". They traded all of their remaining English goods for almost 300 bags of pepper and set up an additional factory in the Moluccas before leaving.
  With a letter of reply from the King of Bantam, the two ships set sail on their return journey to England on 20 February 1603. The return journey proceeded without incident until they had rounded the Cape of Good Hope, when they were caught in a heavy and sudden storm. During the storm, Red Dragon's rudder broke off, leaving the ship at the mercy of the ocean. The ship's carpenter tried to build an improvised rudder to try to steady the ship's course, but in the rough seas it provid
caption: During Red Dragon's first voyage to the East Indies, she was commanded by James Lancaster.
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