Lord Nelson (1798 ship)

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British-Red-Ensign-1707.svgGreat Britain
NameLord Nelson
Owner
  • 1799:James Bold & Robert Bibby
  • 1801: Graham Monkhouse, Thomas Hayes, & Samuel Newton
BuilderLiverpool
Launched1798
CapturedJanuary 1806
General characteristics
Tons burthen237, [1] [2] 250, [3] or 271 (bm)
Complement
Armament
  • 1799:22 × 6-pounder guns
  • 1804:20 × 6-pounder guns [1]
  • 1805:20 × 6-pounder guns [1]

Lord Nelson was launched in 1798 at Liverpool and subsequently made five voyages carrying enslaved people from West Africa to the West Indies in the triangular trade in enslaved people. On her first voyage she helped suppress a revolt on another vessel by that vessel's captives. This gave rise to an interesting case in salvage money. A French naval squadron captured Lord Nelson off Sierra Leone on her sixth voyage, before she had embarked any captives.

Contents

Career

Lord Nelson appears in Lloyd's Register for 1799 with J.Kendall, master, J.Bold, owner, and trade Liverpool–Africa. [3]

1st voyage transporting enslaved people (1799-1800): Reportedly, Captain Hugh Stephens sailed from Liverpool on 7 March 1799, bound for West Central Africa. [4] In 1799, 156 vessels sailed from English ports, bound for the trade in enslaved people; 134 of these vessels sailed from Liverpool. [5]

By May 1799 when Lord Nelson had reached Cabinda, John Kendall was master. While she was there, Trelawney arrived and started acquiring captives. In the morning of 2 August the 85 captives aboard Trelawney rose up against their captors. They wounded two sailors; the rest escaped in the boats and made their way to Lord Nelson, leaving the ship in the rebels's hands. Captain Kendall started firing on Lord Trelawney and sent his men to retake her. The men from Lord Nelson succeeded in subduing the uprising. Kendall then went aboard Trelawney, forcing her captain and crew to come with him. Kendall sued Trelawney's owners for salvage. The judge of the High Court of Admiralty awarded the plaintiff 10% of the estimated value of Trelawney, her cargo, and freight, approximately £10,000, plus the salvor's expenses. The award was less than would be awarded by application of the Prize Act, as the judge ruled that the two vessels had a duty of mutual assistance. [6] [lower-alpha 1]

Lord Nelson acquired her captives at the Congo River, Cabinda, and Ambriz. She arrived at Kingston, Jamaica, on 2 February 1800, with 360 captives. She left Jamaica on 2 April, and arrived back at Liverpool on 7 June. She had left with 49 crew members and had suffered six crew deaths on the voyage. [4]

2nd voyage transporting enslaved people (1800-1801): Captain John Wilson sailed from Liverpool on 13 November 1800, bound for the Windward Coast. [9] In 1800, 133 vessels sailed from English ports, bound for the trade in enslaved people; 120 of these vessels sailed from Liverpool. [5]

Lord Nelson acquired captives at Grand Cape Mount and left Africa on 4 February 1801. She arrived at Demerara on 7 March with 255 captives. At some point Captain Armstrong replaced Wilson. She left Demerara 3 April and arrived at Liverpool on 1 June. She had left Liverpool with a crew of 41 men and she suffered one crew death on the voyage. [9]

3rd voyage transporting enslaved people (1801-1802): Captain Francis Darnoult sailed from Liverpool on 3 September 1801. [10] In 1801, 147 vessels sailed from English ports, bound for the trade in enslaved people; 122 of these vessels sailed from Liverpool. [5]

Lord Nelson arrived at Trinidad on 23 February 1802 with 271 captives. She left Trinidad on 8 March and arrived back at Liverpool on 20 April. She had left Liverpool with 40 crew members and suffered six crew deaths on the voyage. [10] [lower-alpha 2]

4th voyage transporting enslaved people (1802-1803): Captain Isaac Westron sailed from Liverpool 31 August 1802. [12] In 1802, 155 vessels sailed from English ports, bound for the trade in enslaved people; 122 of these vessels sailed from Liverpool. [5]

Lord Nelson left Africa on 30 January 1803 and arrived at the Bahamas on 23 March with 250 captives. She arrived back at Liverpool on 1 September 1803. She had left Liverpool with 34 crew members and she suffered five crew deaths on the voyage. [12]

5th voyage transporting enslaved people (1804-1805): Captain Thomas Omen acquired a letter of marque on 11 July 1804. [1] He sailed from Liverpool on 15 August 1804 for the Windward Coast. [13] In 1804, 147 vessels sailed from English ports, bound for the trade in enslaved people; 126 of these vessels sailed from Liverpool. [5]

Lord Nelson acquired captives at Grand Cape Mount and arrived at Dutch Guiana on 10 January 1805, with 371 captives. She left Dutch Guiana on 19 April and arrived back at Liverpool on 11 June. She had left Liverpool with 45 crew members and she suffered 11 crew deaths on the voyage. [13]

Fate

Captain Francis Darnoult was again captain of Lord Nelson on what was to be her sixth voyage to transport enslaved people. He acquired a letter of marque on 29 October 1805. [1] He and 38 crew members left Liverpool on 3 November 1805. [14]

Lloyd's List reported on 8 April 1806 that a French squadron consisting of an 84-gun ship-of-the-line and three frigates had captured Lord Nelson, Trio, and the sloop-of-war HMS Favourite off the coast of Africa. [15]

Lloyd's List reported that prior to 26 January L'Hermite's squadron of the French Navy captured off the coast of Africa Lord Nelson, Darnault, master, Laurel, Hume, master, Ponsonby, Brown, master, Juverna, Brassey, master, Wells, Hughes, master, and Active, of London, Wiley, master. The French put all the captured crews on Active and sent her back to England. [16] The squadron burnt the other vessels that they had captured. The captains arrived at Waterford on 12 May on the cartel Active. [17]

The same squadron also captured Sarah, Otway, Mary, Adams, master, and Nelson, Meath, master. [18]

In 1804 and 1805, 30 British slave ships were lost. In 1804, eight were lost off the coast of Africa. In 1805, 13 were lost off the coast. [19] War, rather than maritime hazards or slave resistance, was the greatest cause of vessel losses among British slave vessels. [20]

Notes

  1. ↑ A summary of acts of resistance by captives merely attributes the recapture to a nearby slave ship. [7] As Trelawney was not lost, the incident does not appear in a list of vessels lost to insurrection by captives, conflicts with coastal Africans, and wrecks on the coast of Africa. [8]
  2. ↑ Darnault had been first mate on Lord Nelson's previous voyage. [11]

Citations

Related Research Articles

<i>Will</i> (1797 ship) British enslaving ship 1797–1806

Will was a ship launched at Liverpool in 1797 for Aspinal & Co., who were one of Liverpool's leading slave-trading companies. She made numerous voyages between West Africa and the Caribbean in the triangular trade in enslaved people, during which she several times successfully repelled attacks by French privateers. Will apparently foundered in a squall in July 1806, shortly before the passage of the Slave Trade Act 1807 abolished the slave trade for British subjects.

Otter was launched at Liverpool in 1797, initially as a West Indiaman. She made seven voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. During her career she captured one merchantman and recaptured another. She was lost in 1807 on her way back to Britain from her seventh enslaving voyage.

Sarah was launched at Liverpool in 1797. She then made six voyages as a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade carrying enslaved people 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.

Sarah was launched in Spain in 1791, presumably under another name. The British captured her c.1798. She made five voyages as a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people before a Spanish privateer captured her in 1805 on her sixth voyage. On her fifth voyage Sarah had captured two French slave ships at Loango.

Sarah was launched at Liverpool in 1803. She made a short voyage as a privateer during which she captured a valuable prize. She then made two voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. A French naval squadron captured her early in her third enslaving voyage.

Byam was a snow launched at Oban, or possibly Padstow, in 1800. She made four voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. The French captured and burnt her in late 1807 or early 1808 as she was about to deliver the captives from her fifth voyage.

Hannah was built in Liverpool in 1795. She made four voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade of enslaved people. She was lost in 1801 as she was returning home after having delivered her captives on her fourth voyage.

Windsor Castle was launched at Whitby in 1783. Initially she was primarily a West Indiaman. Then from 1797 she made five voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She foundered off Bermuda in 1803 after having disembarked her captives.

Ariadne was built in 1795 at Newbury, Massachusetts, probably under another name. She in 1801 became a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made two voyages transporting enslaved people before a French, and later a Dutch privateer, captured her in 1804 while she was acquiring captives on her third voyage. However, a Liverpool-based vessel recaptured her. Then in 1806, a French privateer captured her and took her into Guadeloupe while Ariadne was on her fourth voyage transporting captives.

Angola was launched in 1799 at Lancaster. She became a Liverpool-based slave ship that had made four voyages in the triangular trade, carrying captives from West Africa to the West Indies. The French captured her in 1804 on her fifth voyage. Her captors renamed her Tigre, but the Royal Navy recaptured her late in 1804.

Resource was launched at Bermuda in 1792, possibly under another name, and sailed from Liverpool from 1798 on. She made four voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. The French Navy captured her in 1805 at the very beginning of her fifth voyage. However, the British recaptured her when her captors sent her into the Cape of Good Hope, not realising that the Royal Navy was capturing the Cape.

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.

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.

Ranger was launched in 1791 in New Providence and immediately came to Britain. She generally traded between Liverpool and New Providence. She underwent grounding in 1795 and in 1796 her owners had her repaired, lengthened, and converted from a brig to a ship. A French privateer captured her in August 1797 after a single-ship action. In a process that is currently obscure, Ranger returned to British ownership circa 1799. She then became a West Indiaman. From 1803 on she became a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made one complete voyage transporting enslaved people. Then French privateers captured her after she had embarked captives in West Africa but before she could deliver them to the West Indies. A United States citizen purchased her at Guadeloupe and renamed her Delaware. In 1805 the Royal Navy recaptured her. She was returned to her British owners who sailed her between Ireland and Newfoundland. She was last listed in 1814.

Trelawney or Trelawny was a ship launched at Bristol in 1781. Initially she was a West Indiaman. In 1791 she made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She then made one voyage as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She was sold to Liverpool and then made two more voyages as an enslaving ship. She was damaged outbound on a fourth enslaving voyage and then disappears from online records.

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. Her fourth voyage gave rise to an influential, and exaggerated, estimate of the profitability of trading in enslaved people. She was lost in 1804 on the coast of Africa on her sixth voyage.

Elizabeth was launched at Liverpool 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 voyage after she had embarked enslave people and took her into Montevideo.

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. A report of her fourth voyage provides insight into the decision making over the planning of the voyage. Spanish privateers captured her in 1805 on her fifth slave voyage.

Laurel's origins are ambiguous. She first appeared in online British sources in 1802. She made three voyages from Liverpool to Africa. On the first she apparently was on a trading voyage. The second was a complete voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. During this voyage she was involved in two sanguinary engagements with French vessels, the second of which resulted in the death of her master. She set out in 1805 on a second voyage to transport enslaved people, but a French squadron captured her before she had embarked any captives.

Urania was launched in 1795 in Spain and taken in prize. Starting in 1800 she made three voyages from Liverpool as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. During the third voyage she was involved in two engagements with French vessels. She was so damaged in the second of these that she was condemned in 1804 after she landed her slaves at Demerara.

References

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