Atalanta was built in Bermuda in 1799. She sailed to London and then between 1800 and 1802 she made two complete voyages as a slave ship. New owners sailed her as a West Indiaman. She suffered a minor maritime incident in 1803. A French privateer captured her in 1804.
1st slave voyage (1800–1801): Captain John Reddie acquired a letter of marque on 29 November 1799. He sailed from London on 20 January 1800, bound for West Africa. Atalanta acquired her slaves at Malembo and then the Congo River. She arrived at Kingston, Jamaica on 8 October with 308 slaves. She arrived back at London on 26 January 1801.[2] She returned to London with Cummings, master.
2nd slave voyage (1801–1802): Captain Thomas Cummins acquired a letter of marque on 17 March 1801. Captain Cummings sailed from London on 2 April 1801. Atalanta acquired her slaves at Malembo. She arrived at Kingston on 8 March 1802 with 280 slaves. She sailed from Kingston on 19 July and arrived back at London on 12 September 1802.[3]
Year
Master
Owner
Trade
Source & notes
1804
Cummins W.Jenkins
Atkins & Co.
London–Africa
LR; damage repaired 1804
1805
W.Jenkins
Atkins & Co.
Dartmouth–Jamaica
LR; damage repaired 1804
On 23 December 1803 Atalanta, Jenkins, master, sailed for Jamaica from Gravesend. On 3 January 1804 she had to put into Dartmouth after the 74-gunthird rateHMSCourageux had run into her.[4] On 3 June Atalanta was off Crooked Island, Bahamas.
Fate
Lloyd's List reported in August 1804 that a French privateer had captured Atalanta, Jenkins, master, and taken her into Bordeaux. Atalanta had been on her way back to London from Jamaica.[5]
The entry for Atalanta in the 1805 volume of LR carried the annotation "Captured" by her name.[6]
Sarah was launched at Liverpool in 1797. She then made six voyages carrying slaves from West Africa to the West Indies. A French privateer captured Sarah in 1804 in a single-ship action on her seventh voyage after Sarah had gathered her slaves but before she could deliver them to the West Indies.
Hannah was built at Liverpool in 1795. She made four voyages as a slave ship and was lost in 1801 as she was returning home after having delivered her slaves on her fourth voyage.
Horatio was launched in 1800 at Liverpool. She made four voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. During two of these voyages she was captured and recaptured. Shortly before the British slave trade ended she left the slave trade and sailed between Britain and South America and as a West Indiaman. She was wrecked in 1817.
Aurora was launched at Philadelphia in 1779. She did not appear in British registers until 1800. She then made five voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was damaged and condemned at Jamaica in 1807 after having landed her slaves from her fifth voyage.
Nile was launched at Nantes in 1795 and was captured or purchased from the French in 1802. She then made four voyages as a slave trader. Between her first and second slave trading voyages she cruised for less than year as a privateer. With the abolition in 1807 of the slave trade, Nile became a regular merchantman, but now trading with Africa. She was sold in Barbados in 1811.
Alexander was launched in France or Spain in 1797, probably under another name, and taken in prize circa 1799, when she was lengthened and raised. She was registered at Liverpool in 1801 and proceeded to make six voyages as a slave ship. She then sailed to Brazil and the West Indies and was last listed in 1809.
Westmoreland was launched in Yarmouth in 1783. Between 1800 and 1804 she made two voyages as a slave ship. A French privateer captured her during her second voyage but the Royal Navy recaptured her and she completed her voyage. The registers continued to carry her for a few years but with stale data; she actually made a voyage in 1805 to Demerara. On her way a privateer captured her.
Harriot (or Harriott}was launched in Liverpool in 1786. For many years she was a West Indiaman, sailing between Liverpool and Barbados. In 1796 a French frigate captured her, but the British Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. She became a slave ship. At the beginning of her of her first slave trading voyage a French privateer captured her, and again the Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. She made five slave trading voyages in all. Thereafter she traded with South America. She was last listed in 1814 with stale data.
Thames was launched at Southampton in 1790. Until 1798 she sailed across the Atlantic, trading primarily with The Bahamas. She then became a slave ship, making seven slave trading voyages. After the abolition of the British slave trade in 1807, Thames returned to trading with the West Indies. A French privateer captured Thames on 17 July 1811 and burnt her.
Nimble was built in Folkestone in 1781, possibly under another name. In 1786 Nimble was almost rebuilt and lengthened. Between 1786 and 1798 she made nine voyages as a whaler in the British Southern Whale Fishery. Between 1799 and 1804 she made four voyages from Liverpool as a slave ship. On her first voyage as a slave ship she detained a neutral vessel, an action that resulted in a court case. On her second slave-trading voyage a French privateer captured her, but the Royal Navy recaptured her. She was sold in 1804 at St Thomas after she had delivered her slaves.
Dick was a French vessel built in Spain, almost certainly sailing under another name, that the British captured circa 1798. She made a voyage to the West Indies during which she repelled two attacks, and captured three prizes. She then became a slave ship that made three slave-trading voyages. Her first voyage was cut short when a French privateer captured her and the Royal Navy recaptured her. She then made two complete voyages. After her return in 1803 from her third voyage she became a West Indiaman. She grounded in 1804 after another vessel had run into her. She was last listed in 1809.
Thetis was launched in 1801 at Lancaster as a West Indiaman. Between 1806 and 1808 she made two complete voyages as a slave ship. With the end of the slave trade, thetis returned to trading, first with the West Indies and then with Bahia. She was wrecked in December 1815 near Sunderland.
Bedford arrived in 1803 at London. She then made three complete voyages as a slave ship until the Slave Trade Act 1807 ended British participation in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. During the first of these she repelled an attack by a privateer in a single ship action. From 1808 on she may have traded with Africa; she was last listed in 1814.
Hector was launched at Bristol in 1781 as a West Indiaman. A new owner in 1802 sailed Hector as a slave ship. She made one complete voyage as a slave ship before a French privateer captured her on her second slave voyage after Hector had disembarked her slaves.
Expedition was launched in 1763, almost certainly under another name. She entered the registers as Expedition in 1795. Between 1799 and 1807 she made seven voyages as a Liverpool-based slave ship. She was condemned as unseaworthy at Antigua in early 1808 after disembarking at Jamaica the slaves from her seventh voyage.
Commerce was a French vessel launched in 1798 and taken in prize in 1800. Initially she sailed as a West Indiaman. Then between 1801 and the end in 1807 of British participation in the triangular trade in enslaved people, Commerce made four voyages as a slave ship and also spent some time in 1803 cruising as a privateer. Afterwards, she continued to trade between Liverpool and West Africa. During one voyage in 1811 a French privateer captured her, but Commerce was recaptured. She was wrecked in November 1813 while returning to Liverpool from South America.
Beaver was launched in 1796 at Liverpool. She made seven complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved persons. She was captured and retaken once, in 1804, and captured a second time in 1807, during her eighth voyage.
Louisa was launched in France in 1794, probably under another name. She was taken in prize and between 1798 and 1804 she made five complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was lost in 1804 on the coast of Africa on her sixth voyage.
Elizabeth was launched at Lancaster in 1798. She made five complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Spanish privateers captured her in 1805 while she was on her sixth slave voyage after she had embarked slaves.
William was launched in Spain in 1788, almost certainly under another name. She was taken in prize in 1797. William sailed as a West Indiaman until 1800 when new owners started to sail her as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made four complete voyages as a slave ship. Spanish privateers captured her in 1805 on her fifth slave voyage.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Great Britain