The 813-ton East Indiaman 'Admiral Gardner' was built in 1796 at Blackwall. She was named after Alan Gardner, the first Baron Gardner (1742–1809), who had a distinguished naval career until he became a Member of Parliament in 1796. Commanded by William Eastfield, she was wrecked off South Foreland on the Goodwin Sands, a notorious stretch of the Thames Estuary, on 25 January 1809. Her loss was a serious blow to the East India Company as she was carrying 54 tons of specially minted copper coinage, destined for the Company's Mint at Madras.