[5] She made one trip for the EIC, under Captain William Greenway, who left Calcutta on 31 January 1796, reached Saint Helena on 8 May, and The Downs on 3 August.

[3] Captain William Logie Smith received a letter of marque dated 30 November 1796 for the Royal Charlotte.

At about 2:24 a.m. a lightning bolt hit her foremast and travelled down to her magazine, where it ignited 500 barrels of gunpowder destined for the Cape of Good Hope.

Britannia, which was anchored nearby and which had a like quantity of gunpowder and a similar storage arrangement, observed the disaster; the next day the crew landed their powder to enable the magazine to be more intelligently located.

[8] Although Captain Smith and a few of his officers and crew were ashore, the explosion killed 20 European crewmen, 66 lascars, and some 50 women and children who were traveling as passengers.