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