| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | Enterprize |
| Owner | Thomas Leyland, Moses Benson, George Johnston, & Alex Telfair |
| Builder | France |
| Acquired | 1783 |
| Fate | Wrecked 1787 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 140 (bm) |
Enterprize was launched in France. She was taken in prize circa 1783. Between 1784 and 1787 she made two complete voyages as a slave ship. She was wrecked in 1787 while returning to Liverpool from her third slave trading voyage.
Thomas Leyland was a Liverpool shipowner and businessman who owned several vessels that engaged in the slave trade. One of these was Enterprize, the first of three vessels of that name that he co-owned or owned.
Enterprize first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1784. [1]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1784 | C.Wilson | T.Layland | Liverpool–Africa | LR; large repair 1783 |
1st slave voyage (1784–1785): Captain Caesar Wilson sailed from Liverpool on 28 March 1784. Enterprize arrived at Dominica on 18 September with 514 slaves. [2] She landed 314 there, and later landed 200 at Jamaica. [3] She arrived back at Liverpool on 11 January 1784. [2] The ship arrival and departure data in Lloyd's List reported Enterprize as coming from Antigua.
2nd slave voyage (1785–1786): Captain Wilson sailed from Liverpool on 27 May 1785. Enterprize acquired her slaves at Bonny. [4] She arrived at her destination on 26 November. [lower-alpha 1] Enterprize left for Liverpool on 8 March 1786 and arrived back there on 20 April. [4]
3rd slave voyage (1786–1787): Captain Wilson sailed from Liverpool on 4 July 1786. Enterprize started acquiring slaves in Africa on 20 October, first at Anomabu, and then at Cape Coast Castle. She sailed from Africa on 5 April 1787 and arrived at Annotto Bay, Jamaica, on 20 June. She had embarked 510 slaves and she arrived with 500. She had left Liverpool with 38 crew members and she suffered five crew deaths on the voyage. [8]
Lloyd's List reported in August 1787 that Enterprize had been lost at Jamaica. [9]
Brooks was a British slave ship launched at Liverpool in 1781. She became infamous after prints of her were published in 1788. Between 1782 and 1804, she made 11 voyages in the triangular slave trade in enslaved people. During this period she spent some years as a West Indiaman. She also recaptured a British merchantman and captured a French merchantman. She was condemned as unseaworthy in November 1804.
Eliza was launched in America in 1780 and taken in prize in 1782. She entered the Liverpool registry in 1783, 1786, and again in 1792. She made nine voyages as a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was lost in an explosion on her tenth voyage after she had already embarked her captives. All the captives died, as did her captain and most of her crew. The explosion occurred during a single ship action on 17 December 1797, with a French privateer.
King George was launched in France in 1775 under another name, possibly as Enterprize. She became a Bristol-based slave ship. Under the name Sally she made three slave-trading voyages between 1783 and 1786. Then from 1787 on as King George she made three more complete slave-trading voyages. She was lost at Barbados in 1791 on her seventh voyage with the loss of 280 of the 360 slaves on board.
Prince was launched at Bristol in 1785 as Alexander and then made two complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Her owners changed her name to Prince in 1787. As Prince, she made six more complete voyages as an enslaving ship. She sailed on enslaving voyages for owners in Bristol, Liverpool, and London. She foundered in 1800 as she was returning to England from her ninth, having delivered captives to Jamaica.
Spy was built in France in 1780, almost surely under another name, and taken in prize. The British East India Company (EIC) purchased her in 1781 and used her for almost two years as a fast packet vessel and cruiser based in St Helena. It then sold her and she became a London-based slave ship, making two voyages in the triangular trade carrying enslaved people from West Africa to the West Indies. She then became a whaler, making seven whaling voyages between 1786 and 1795. She was probably wrecked in August 1795 on a voyage as a government transport.
Fly was a ship launched in 1772 in Liverpool. She then made three voyages to Africa as a slave ship. Circa 1780 she was renamed Tartar. She then made six more slave trading voyages. From circa 1789 she became a local trader. She was last listed in 1794.
Backhouse was launched in 1785 at Chester. She initially sailed as a West Indiaman. In 1792–1793 she made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Once in 1796 and twice in 1797 she repelled attacks by French privateers in three single-ship actions. Backhouse made four more enslaving voyages and then returned to the West Indies trade. After about 1809 she became a London coaster and was last listed in 1813.
Mentor was the former HMS Wasp. The British Royal Navy sold Wasp in 1781 and she became the mercantile Polly, which traded with Africa. In 1784 Polly became the slave ship Mentor. Mentor made eight full slave-trading voyages in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She carried captives from The Gambia to the West Indies. French privateers captured her in late 1795 as she was on her way from West Africa to the West Indies on her ninth voyage.
Cadiz Dispatch was launched at Liverpool in 1785. Until 1791 she traded between London and Spain. From 1791 she made two voyages as a slave ship. On the second she was subject first to a maritime incident and then to an unsuccessful slave insurrection. Still, she delivered her cargo of slaves to St Vincent. She was condemned at Tortola on her way home.
Enterprize was launched in America in 1791, possibly under another name. Between 1797 and 1799 she made two complete voyages as a slave ship. She was wrecked in 2001 at Suriname after having disembarked the slaves she had carried there on her third slave trading voyage.
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.
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.
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.
Molly was launched at Liverpool in 1778 as a slave ship. Between 1778 and 1807 she made 18 complete voyages in the triangular trade in enslaved persons. During this period she also suffered one major maritime incident and captured two ships. After the end of Britain's involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, Molly became a merchantman trading with the West Indies, Africa, Brazil, Nova Scotia, and Africa again. She was last listed in 1832, giving her a 54-year career.
Mosley Hill, was a slave ship launched at Liverpool in 1782. Between 1782 and 1790 she made eight complete voyages in the triangular trade in enslaved people. For the voyages between 1785 and 1789, she sailed under an asiento that gave her a right to bring and sell captives in Spanish territories. She was last listed in 1790; reportedly she had been lost.
Bloom was launched in the Thirteen Colonies in 1781. She was taken in prize in 1782. She became a Liverpool-based slave ship and from 1783 on made four complete voyages in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was broken up in 1789.
Chaser first appeared under that name in British records in 1786. She had been launched in 1771 at Philadelphia under another name, probably Lord North. Lord North became Cotton Planter, and then Planter, before she became Chaser. Between 1786 and 1790 Chaser made four voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She then became a merchantman. In 1794 a privateer captured her but the Spanish recaptured her. She became a Liverpool-based Slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. In 1796 she was condemned in West Africa on her first voyage in the triangular trade before she could embark any enslaved people.
Brothers was launched in 1782 at Liverpool as a Guineaman. She made seven complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. A French privateer captured her in 1795, on her eighth voyage after she had embarked her captives. In a highly unusual move, the privateer sold Brothers and the captives she was carrying to the master of a Spanish vessel that the privateer had captured. The purchaser then took Brothers into Havana.
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.