| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | Mercury |
| Acquired | 1793 |
| Captured | 1794 |
| Fate | Recaptured, but leaves records in 1794 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 126 [1] [2] (bm) |
Mercury's origins are obscure. She may have been launched in New York in 1774, possibly under another name. In 1793 she made one voyage as a slave ship in the Atlantic triangular slave trade. A French privateer captured Mercury, but the Royal Navy recaptured her.
A Mercury of 126 ton (bm) first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR), in 1793. [2]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1793 | Lockhart | J.Taylor | London–Antigua | LR |
Capture (1793): Captain George Hauit sailed from Liverpool on 1 January 1793. Mercury gathered slaves at Bance Island. She sailed from Africa on 7 August. [1]
The French privateer Liberty, of Bordeaux, captured seven slave ships before July 1793: Mercury, Hewitt, master, Echo, Union, Little Joe, Prosperity, Hazard, and Swift, Roper, master. Mercury was captured off Cape Mount. [3] [lower-alpha 1]
The cutter HMS Seaflower recaptured Mercury. [5] In December 1793 Lloyd's List reported that Mercury, Hewitt, master, had arrived at Barbados. [6] [lower-alpha 2]
Captain Hewitt purchased the recaptured Mercury. [5]
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.
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.
William Heathcote was launched in Liverpool in 1800. She made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Next, 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 an enslaving voyage, one of the last such legal voyages. zAfter British partiipation in the trans-Atlantic slave trade ended, she became a West Indiaman again; she sailed to Brazil and as a transport. She was wrecked in July 1816.
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 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.
Agreeable was launched at Bermuda in 1786, probably under a different name. French owners acquired her at some point and sailed her as Agréable. In 1793 the British captured her. Subsequently, between 1793 and 1808, she made six voyages as a slave ship, alternating between the triangular trade in enslaved people, and sailing as a regular West Indiaman. French privateers captured her between the second and third voyages, and the third and fourth voyages, but each time the British Royal Navy recaptured her. In the case of the second capture she was in French hands long enough for them to send her out as a privateer. She herself captured an American vessel in 1808 as she was returning to Liverpool from her last enslaving voyage. After the end of British participation in trans-Atlantic enslaving trade, Agreeable traded more widely, particularly to South America. She was condemned at Buenos Aires in 1814 after running aground in the River Plate. She was repaired and continue to sail to Brazil until she returned to Liverpool in June 1819.
HMS Barbadoes was originally a French privateer and then slave ship named Brave or Braave. A British slave ship captured her in September 1803. In 1803–1804 she became the British privateer Barbadoes for a few months. In 1804 the inhabitants of Barbados purchased her and donated her to the Royal Navy, which took her into service as HMS Barbadoes. She wrecked on 27 September 1812.
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.
Several vessels have been named Venus for the planet Venus or the Roman goddess Venus:
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.
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 in enslaved people. 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.
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.
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.
Betsey was launched in 1787 at Newfoundland. She sailed to England and initially she traded between Bristol and the Mediterranean. In 1792 she made one complete voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people before a French privateer captured her on her second slave voyage after she had embarked captives in West Africa and was bringing them to Jamaica.
Ann was launched at Chester in 1792 as a West Indiaman. From 1796 she made eight complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She participated in several single ship actions. On her first voyage she repelled an attack by a French privateer. On her second a privateer captured her but she was recaptured. On her ninth voyage a French privateer again captured her, but this time her captor plundered and then released her. She sank on 24 May 1810 in the Old Dock at Liverpool, but was salvaged.
Saint Ann was launched at Liverpool in 1797. She made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She foundered or was shipwrecked or destroyed in 1798 after she had delivered her captives but before she could return to Liverpool.
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.