| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Owner | P.J.Miles & Co. |
| Builder | Hilhouse |
| Launched | 24 February 1807 [1] |
| Captured | 31 January 1813 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 574 [2] (bm) |
| Length | 103 ft 0 in (31.4 m) [3] |
| Beam | 32 ft 2 in (9.8 m) [3] |
| Complement | 35 [2] |
| Armament | 14 × 4&9-pounder guns [2] |
Nelson was launched at Bristol in 1807 as a West Indiaman. In January 1813 a United States privateer captured her off Jamaica.
At the time of her launch, she was the largest vessel ever built at Bristol. [1] [3] Nelson first appeared in Lloyd's Register in the volume for 1807. [4]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1807 | Thomas | P.J.Miles | Bristol–Jamaica | LR |
Captain William Thomas acquired a letter of marque on 31 October 1809. [2]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1811 | Thomas T.Cox | P.J.Miles | Bristol–Jamaica | LR |
| 1812 | Thomas | P.J.Miles | Bristol–Jamaica | LR |
On 8 February 1813, HMS Algerine was in an action with an American privateer that escaped. In the action the British lost three men killed and seven or eight wounded. [5] This single-ship action may have been with the American privateer Saratoga. Algerine returned to port in Jamaica, while Saratoga went on to capture Nelson. [6] [lower-alpha 1]
Nelson encountered Saratoga on 31 January 1813, having sailed from Carlisle Bay five days earlier. [1] Nelson and Saratoga fought for about four hours before Nelson struck when about 20 leagues to windward of Jamaica. [3] Saratoga mounted 16 guns and had a crew of 130 men. [1]
On 6 February Captain W.C. Wooster of Saratoga put the crew and passengers on a boat by which the 17 people reached Grand Caymanas. There they hired a schooner that on the 14th delivered them to Lucea. [6]
Reportedly, Nelson was in sight of Jamaica for three days before Saratoga sent Nelson into New Orleans. [8]
Nelson's entry in Lloyd's Register for 1814 carried the annotation "captured".
USS Gallatin was a post-Revolutionary War sailing vessel that the U.S. Department of the Treasury purchased at Norfolk, Virginia, for the United States Revenue-Marine in December 1807. An explosion on board destroyed her in 1813.
HMS Algerine was a Pigmy–class 10-gun schooner of the Royal Navy. She was launched in March 1810. She served in the North Sea and then transferred to the West Indies, where she was wrecked in 1813.
The Battle of La Guaira was a naval engagement fought in the Caribbean Sea on 11 December 1812 during the war between Britain and the United States. An American privateer captured a British letter of marque at the Spanish port of La Guaira in Venezuela.
Mohawk was a ship launched at Beverly, Massachusetts in 1781. She became a privateer, making two voyages. In 1782 the Royal Navy captured her and briefly took her into service under her existing name before selling her in 1783. She then became a merchantman until some investors in Bristol bought her in 1796 and turned her into a privateer again. In 1799 she became a letter of marque, but the French Navy captured her in 1801. She then served in the French Navy, capturing a British privateer in 1805, and was sold in 1814.
Sir Alexander Ball was a merchant vessel launched in 1809 and built in France. She was a prize that her British owners purchased. On 16 July 1814 the famed American privateer General Armstrong captured her, but HMS Niemen recaptured her. Sir Alexander Ball then continued to trade until approximately 1823.
Union Island was a merchant vessel launched at Bristol in 1794. In 1801 she was attacked by a Spanish privateer, an attack that she repelled. In a later attack that year a French privateer captured her. She returned to English ownership in 1802. She then sailed as a West Indiaman until about 1818 when she started sailing between Liverpool and Africa. She was wrecked on 27 June 1821 on the coast of Africa.
British Tar was built in 1797 in Plymouth. She never enters Lloyd's Register under that name, suggesting that she may have been an American vessel that only came to Bristol, and was renamed, shortly before she sailed from Bristol in 1805. In 1805 she made a slave trading voyage during which the French captured her. She became the privateer Revanche, out of Guadeloupe. Revanche fought an inconclusive single-ship action in 1806 with HMS Curieux. The British captured Revanche in 1808.
Esther was launched in 1783 and entered British hands as a French prize of 1793. She took part in a notable single-ship action in 1794 in which she repelled a French privateer. Between 1801 and 1805 she made four slave trading voyages. A French privateer captured her in a sanguinary single-ship action in 1805.
Hebe was a ship built at Bristol in 1791. She traded with the West Indies until a French privateer captured her in 1801.
Pursuit was launched at Whitby in 1795. She made two voyages for the British East India Company and then traded with the West Indies. She repelled one attack by a French privateer that caused severe casualties, but eventually an American privateer captured her in August 1812.
Earl St Vincent was launched in 1798 at Gatcombe, on the Severn. She initially traded between Bristol and Jamaica. She then made one voyage as an "extra ship", i.e., under voyage charter, for the British East India Company (EIC). On her return she again traded with the West Indies until she was captured in 1806.
Lion was launched in 1803 in Turkey, or 1802 in Spain. British owners acquired her in 1809, probably by purchase of a prize. She was a merchantman and letter of marque. She captured an American privateer in a notable single-ship action in 1813, some months before Lion was wrecked in 1813.
Reliance was built in France in 1790 and was registered in 1804 at Bristol. She left Bristol on a voyage as a slave ship but her crew scuttled her in June before having embarked any slaves.
Rachael was launched in 1810 at Hilton or Sunderland, and apparently was initially registered and based at Greenock. In 1812 an American privateer captured her in a notable single-ship action, but the British Royal Navy recaptured her almost immediately. She then continued as a general trader and was last listed in 1833.
Chambers was a ship launched in Bristol in 1776. She spent most of her brief career as a West Indiaman. An American privateer captured her in October 1782 in a single ship action.
Active was built in Bristol in 1799. She made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved persons, and then two voyages trading between Bristol and Africa. A French privateer captured her but a Guernsey privateer recaptured her. She then became a West Indiaman. On 16 and 17 July 1808 she repelled a Spanish and a French privateer in two separate single-ship actions. In 1809 she underwent a maritime mishap. She was last listed in 1819.
Tartar was launched at Bristol in 1778. Initially she sailed as a privateer. Then in 1781 she became a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made one complete voyage as a slave ship; French naval vessels captured Tartar on her second slave trading voyage.
Dochfour was launched in March 1810 at Bristol. She sent much of her career as a West Indiaman, sailing between Bristol and Grenada. She was wrecked in October 1846.
Saville was launched in 1777 at Bristol as a West Indiaman. In 1778 to 1779 she sailed as a privateer and made two captures. She then returned to trading. She suffered two maritime incidents, one in 1784, and a second in August 1785, when she was lost at Port Maria, Jamaica.
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 voyages as a slave ship. She was damaged outbound on a fourth slave trading voyage and then disappears from online records.