| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | Echo |
| Builder | Liverpool |
| Launched | 1791 |
| Captured | 1793, and recaptured |
| Fate | Last listed in 1796 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 127 (bm) |
Echo was launched in 1791 in Liverpool as a slave ship. She made two complete voyages from Liverpool in the Atlantic triangular slave trade. On her third voyage a French privateer captured her, but a British letter of marque recaptured her. She did not return to enslaving and was last listed in 1796.
Echo first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1790. [1]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1790 | Rd Pinder | Staniforth | Liverpool–Africa | LR |
1st enslaving voyage (1790–1791): Captain Robert Pinder sailed from Liverpool on 9 June 1790. Echo arrived at St Vincent on 15 January 1791. She arrived back at Liverpool on 7 March. She had left Liverpool with 24 crew members and she suffered one crew death on her voyage. [2]
2nd enslaving voyage (1791–1792): Captain Pinder sailed from Liverpool on 28 June 1791, bound for the Windward Coast. Echo started acquiring captives on 19 August, first at Bassa, and then at Grand Mesurado. She sailed from Africa on 2 March 1792, and arrived at St Vincent on 16 April with 195 captives. She sailed for Liverpool on 16 April and arrived there on 11 June. She had left Liverpool with 25 crew members and she suffered six crew deaths on her voyage. [3]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1793 | R.Pinder W.Williams | Staniforth | Liverpool–Africa | LR |
3rd enslaving voyage (1792–1793): Captain William Williams sailed from Liverpool on 5 August 1792, bound for West Africa. Echo gathered captives at Bassa, and then at Cape Mount. [4]
Capture: The French privateer Liberty, of Bordeaux, captured seven enslaving ships before July 1793: Echo, Union, Little Joe, Mercury, Hazard, Prosperity, and Swift, Roper, master. Echo, Kelly, master, was captured off Cape Mount. [5] [6] [lower-alpha 1]
Robust recaptured Echo and Little Joe. At the time of her recapture Echo had 120 captives on board. [6] HMS Andromeda recaptured Prosperity; the cutter HMS Seaflower recaptured Mercury. [6] Liberty ransomed Swift for £1000 after plundering her of 224 elephants teeth (ivory tusks), and 33 captives. [8] Echo, Pindar, master arrived at Barbados. Echo then arrived at St Vincent in August 1793. [4]
In 1793, 17 British vessels engaged in the transport of captives from West Africa to the West Indies were lost. Six were lot off the coast of Africa, and nine were lost in the Middle Passage, between West Africa and the West Indies. [9] During the period 1793 to 1807, war, rather than maritime hazards or resistance by the captives, was the greatest cause of vessel losses among British vessels engaged in the triangular trade. [10]
Echo was last listed in 1796, but with information unchanged since 1793.
Princess Royal was launched at Liverpool in 1790. She made four voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. The French captured her in 1794 at the beginning of her fifth enslaving voyage.
Experiment was launched on the River Thames in 1789. She made seven voyages for Calvert & Co. as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people, carrying captives from the Gold Coast to Jamaica. A French squadron captured her in 1795.
In progress
Robust was built in France in 1779. The British captured her in 1781 and she was registered at Liverpool in 1783. She first entered Lloyd's Register in 1789 as whaler in the northern whale fishery. Then in December 1788 she left on the first of three voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. On her third voyage as a slave ship Robust captured a French slave ship and recaptured two British slave ships that a French privateer had captured earlier. After her third voyage as a slaver owners shifted her registry to Bristol and she then made two voyages to the southern whale fishery. She returned from the second voyage in 1797 and is last listed in 1798.
Vulture was built in France 1777 and captured. By early 1779 she was sailing as a privateer out of Liverpool. She then became a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made 10 voyages as slaver and was captured in 1795 on her 11th such voyage.
Dispatch was built in Bermuda in 1784 and came to England possibly as early as 1786. In 1792 she made a voyage as a slave ship carrying slaves from Africa to the West Indies in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was then briefly a privateer before returning to the slave trade. The French captured her in 1795 while she was on her third slave trading voyage.
Bolton was launched at Liverpool in 1792. She then made 10 voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. During her career she repelled one attack by a French privateer, was captured on a later voyage by another before being recaptured by the Royal Navy, and then was captured on her tenth voyage by yet another privateer after Bolton had gathered her captives but before she was able to deliver them to the West Indies. Bolton returned to British ownership, first sailing as West Indiaman, before embarking on an 11th enslaving voyage. She blew up on the African coast in 1806 after some of the captives aboard her succeeded in taking her over and setting fire to her.
Betsey was launched in 1790 at Liverpool as a slave ship. She made six complete voyages in the triangular trade in enslaved people. On her second such voyage she, together with five other slave ships, bombarded Calabar for more than three hours to force the local native traders to lower the prices they were charging for captives. A French privateer captured her in 1799 after she had delivered her captives on her seventh voyage.
Thomas was the ship Sally that James Jones acquired in 1785. Thomas made seven voyages from Bristol as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved persons. On her fourth such voyage,Thomas and five other enslaving ships, bombarded Calabar for more than three hours to force the local native traders to lower the prices they were charging for captives. The French captured her in 1794 as she was on her way for her eighth voyage.
Ellis was a French prize, captured in 1797, possibly built that year also. Liverpool merchants purchased her. She made five complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade carrying enslaved people from West Africa to the British West Indies. She was lost at sea on 23 April 1806 on her sixth voyage before she could take on any captives.
Union was launched in 1791 in Liverpool. She became a slave ship that the French captured on her first slave voyage. Captain R. Farrington sailed for West Africa on 15 August 1792.
Little Joe was launched in 1784 in Liverpool as a slave ship. She made six complete voyages from Liverpool in the Atlantic triangular slave trade. On her seventh voyage a French privateer captured her, but a British letter of marque recaptured her. She did not return to the slave trade and was last listed in 1795.
Hazard was launched in 1779 in Bermuda. In 1787 she sailed to Liverpool and commenced trading from there, particularly to West Africa. In 1791 she became a slave ship, making one complete voyage in the Atlantic triangular slave trade. On her second voyage a French privateer captured her in 1793.
Prosperity was launched in Strangford in 1788. She traded in the area and then to Dominica. From 1792 she made two voyages as a slave ship in the Atlantic triangular slave trade. On both voyages French privateers captured her. In the first case the Royal Navy recaptured her and she completed her voyage. In the second case her captor sent her into France.
Liverpool Hero was built in France in 1777, probably as Jeune Emilia. She was taken in prize in 1780. In 1781 she entered into the triangular trade in enslaved people. From 1781 she made six complete voyages from Liverpool as a slave ship. On her fourth enslaving voyage she suffered an exceptionally high mortality rate among the captives she had embarked. Her third voyage had been marred by high mortality, but on the fourth 330 captives, 59% of the number she had embarked, died. She was lost in 1794 off the coast of Africa on her seventh voyage, probably with her crew and captives.
Tom was launched in 1780 in America, possibly under another name. She first appeared in British records in 1792. From 1792 Tom participated as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made two complete voyages from Liverpool. French frigates captured her in 1794 while she was on her third voyage, but before she could acquire any captives.
Bell was launched in 1788 in Liverpool. Between 1788 and 1795 she made five voyages as a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. The French captured her in 1796 on her sixth enslaving voyage after she had embarked her captives.
Doe was built in 1780, in the Thirteen Colonies, possibly under another name. She was taken in prize. Between 1783 and 1786 Doe made three complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. New owners in 1787 renamed Doe to Ellen. Ellen was registered in Liverpool in 1787. Between 1789 and 1792, she made two complete enslaving voyages. A French privateer captured her in 1793 as she was on her way to the West Indies having embarked captives in Africa on her sixth slaving voyage.
Golden Age was launched at Havana in 1779, almost certainly under another name. She was taken in prize circa 1783. From late 1783 she sailed from Liverpool as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made four complete voyages. On her third her captives rebelled, but were unsuccessful. A French private frigate captured her in 1793 after she had disembarked her captives from her fifth enslaving voyage. Her captors took her into Philadelphia where she was sold to a French owner who named her Republican, and sailed her to France.
Bud was launched at Liverpool in 1783. Between 1783 and 1800 she made 12 complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. In 1796 she repelled an attack by a faster, better armed, and more heavily crewed French privateer in a single ship action. Then in 1798, a French privateer captured her in another single ship action after Bud's short but sanguinary resistance. The Royal Navy quickly captured her, and her captor. On her 13th enslaving voyage she was condemned at Kingston, Jamaica after she had arrived with her captives.