HCS Coote

HCS Coote was a 18-gun sloop-of-war of the Bombay Marine and Indian Navy. She was launched at the Bombay Dockyard in 1827. Though the East India Company built Coote, her size and armament were equivalent to the retired Cruizer-class brig-sloops. Coote participated in the 1839 Aden Expedition along with and the frigate and the brig of the Royal Navy.

Fate

Coote was lost on 1 December 1845. She had left Bombay on 22 November, and wrecked at Calicut, on the Malabar Coast, on what became known as Coote Reef. Her officers and crew abandoned her as unsalvageable on 3 December. Her captain, Lieutenant J.S. Grieve, his officers, and crew all survived. All her guns, and a great deal of her stores and ammunition were saved. The EIC was able, eventually, to get her off the rocks. The company decided to sell the hull at Calicut rather than attempt to tow it to Bombay. A Calicut resident bought the hull for 10,000 rupees, but as she was being towed on shore where her leaks might be repaired, she sank into mud and appeared a total loss.