1 Admiral Sir Edward Pellew, simply ‘the greatest Sea Officer of his time’ according to a contemporary authority. This portrait, by Samuel Drummond, was painted in 1816, after Pellew’s return from his most celebrated later command, the freeing of Christian slaves in Algeria, for which he was created Viscount Exmouth.

2 Captain Fleetwood Pellew leading a boarding party against the Dutch at Batavia in 1806. ‘A prettier exploit I never saw,’ wrote a doting Sir Edward. ‘What father could have kept his eyes dry?’

3 Lieutenant-General Hay Macdowall, Commander of the Madras Army. The conquering hero of Sir Henry Raeburn’s portrait was in fact a deeply flawed leader, ‘very sparingly endowed with temper or judgment’.

4 Arriving at Madras. Riding to the beach in a masoolah was a fraught, often risky, experience shared by all Indiamen passengers.

5 Capture of the French frigate Nereide by Phoebe in 1797. Commissioned into the Royal Navy and placed under Captain Robert Corbet in 1806, the Nereide became a byword among seamen for brutality, a hell afloat.

6 Sir Nesbit Willoughby. Indestructible and volatile, he was known by his men as ‘the Immortal’.

7 Commodore Jacques Hamelin, the French commander in the Indian Ocean.

8 The Loss of an East Indiaman by J. M.W. Turner, c. 1818. The subject of this terrifying canvas was long thought to be a man-of-war but recent research indicates that Turner’s inspiration was the wreck of the Halsewell Indiaman.

9 The Essex, a classic East Indiaman of 800 tons, at anchor in Bombay. Beyond the stern gallery lay the comparative luxury of the roundhouse and great cabin, occupied by privileged passengers.

10 The Battle of Grand Port, a French engraving of the sinking of the Sirius.

11 Captain Matthew Flinders, a portrait executed during his six-year captivity on Ile de France.

12 Sir Josias Rowley in later life as an Admiral.

13 The Bombardment of Algiers by George Chambers. This episode, in 1816, was the climax of Admiral Pellew’s later career.

14 A Sailor Returns in Peace, by Thomas Stothard.