A number of merchant ships had gathered at Bombay in the spring of 1797 in preparation for the trip to Macau to load trade goods and join the China Fleet . To escort this force , Rainier provided the 40 @-@ gun frigate HMS Sybille , captured from the French at the Battle of Mykonos in 1794 , and the 50 @-@ gun HMS Centurion , which sailed with the convoy in July , taking passage through the Straits of Malacca , joined there by the ships of the line HMS Victorious and HMS Trident and the 32 @-@ gun frigate HMS Fox under Captain Pulteney Malcolm for the final voyage to Macau . The convoy arrived without incident on 13 December 1797 , although the crews had been substantially weakened by tropical illnesses .