| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Name | Unknown |
| Captured | c.1799 |
 Great Britain | |
| Name | John Bull |
| Owner | T. Mallet |
| Acquired | c.1799, by purchase of a prize |
| Fate | Wrecked March 1810 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 162 [1] [2] (bm) |
| Complement | |
| Armament | |
John Bull was a French vessel that from 1800 to circa 1805 sailed as a British privateer operating out of Jersey. Her master was plaintiff in a notable case involving the law of salvage. She returned to mercantile trading and was wrecked in 1810.
John Bull entered the Register of Shipping in 1800, [1] and her captain, John LeGeyt, acquired a letter of marque on 4 February 1800.
In February 1801 the Jersey privateer John Bull captured a French brig that was carrying 624 hogsheads of claret from Bordeux to St Sebastian. John Bull captured a brig carrying wheat. [3]
LeGeyt's successor, Noah Le Sueur, acquired a letter of marque on 29 July 1801. [2] The size of her crew for these two letters is such that it is clear that John Bull was a privateer. During the French Revolutionary Wars Jersey privateers averaged one man for every two tons of burthen; during the Napoleonic Wars the average dropped to one man per five tons. These ratios greatly exceeded the number of men required to crew the vessels. The extra men were intended as prize crews in captured vessels. [4]
After the resumption of war with France, Noah Le Sueur acquired a new letter of marque on 16 July 1803. [2] Her crew was one-tenth the size of her earlier crew and her armament was reduced in size and numbers, suggesting that she was now simply trading between London and Jersey. [5]
Still, Le Sueur did have a letter of marque. On 18 August 1803 the British privateer Roebuck captured the Spanish vessel Carlotta, Carlos Pasqua, master. The brig Carlotta was on her way from the River Plate to London. Then on 5 September the French privateer Caroline, of Bordeaux, recaptured Carlotta. [lower-alpha 1] But on 18 September Le Sueur and John Bull recaptured Carlotta and took her into Jersey. [8] Le Sueur claimed salvage from the owners of the recaptured vessel and its cargo. [9]
In December 1803 Judge Scott, of the High Court of Admiralty, ruled against LeSueur. The issue was that Carlotta was Spanish, and Spain was neutral. Prior to the French Revolutionary Wars salvage had not been payable on recaptured neutral property. During the French Revolutionary Wars this rule had been allowed to lapse and recaptured neutral property was subject to payment of salvage. However, Scott ruled that in the war that had begun in 1803, the French had improved their handling of prizes. Therefore, it was time to re-institute the original principle of no salvage being due on recaptured neutral property. [9]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1810 | B.LeFevre | Nicoll, Jr. | Liverpool–Brazils | RS; new wales and good repair 1805 |
Between 4 and 8 March 1810, a severe gale struck the west coast of Portugal and Spain, destroying and damaging many vessels. John Bull, with Lefevre as master, was driven on shore at the Tagus River. [10] Her entry in the 1810 volume of the Register of Shipping has the annotation, "Lost". [11]
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HMS Swallow was an 18-gun Albatross-class brig-sloop of the British Royal Navy, launched in 1795 and sold in 1802. During her naval career she captured a number of French privateers while on the Jamaica station. After her sale she became an armed whaler sailing under a letter of marque. As a privateer she captured two French whaling vessels but then is no longer listed after 1810.
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Barton was launched in 1794 as a West Indiaman, sailing primarily to Barbados. She was of average size for vessels launched at Liverpool at that time. She sailed under letters of marque and several times repelled attacks by French and Spanish privateers in single ship actions. Still, the Americans captured and burnt her in 1814.
Enterprize was launched in France in 1797. The British captured her in 1803 and new owners sailed on four voyages as a slave ship. She twice recaptured British vessels, one a slave ship and one a merchant vessel, and once repelled an attack by a French privateer. Circa 1808 she left the slave trade and new owners sailed her to South America, where she was wrecked in 1810.
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.
William Heathcote was launched in Liverpool in 1800. She made one voyage as a slave ship before a French privateer captured her in a single-ship action, and the British Royal Navy recaptured her. She became a West Indiaman before she made a second slave trading voyage, one of the last such legal voyages. She then became a West Indiaman again, and sailed to Brazil and as a transport. She was wrecked in July 1816.
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HMS Tickler was a cutter built at Dover in 1798 as the mercantile Lord Duncan. Between October 1798 and October 1801 she served the Royal Navy as the hired armed cutter Lord Duncan. Lord Duncan captured or recaptured several vessels, including one privateer. The Navy purchased Lord Duncan in October 1808 and renamed her HMS Tickler. It sold her in 1816.
Laurel was launched in 1790. She first appeared in online British sources in 1802. She made one voyage from Liverpool as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. On her return to Liverpool she became a privateer, but was captured in June 1803 after having herself captured a French merchant vessel.
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