Nile (1802 ship)

Last updated

History
Civil and Naval Ensign of France.svg France
BuilderNantes
Launched1795
FateCaptured or sold 1802
Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameNile
Namesake Battle of the Nile
Owner
  • 1803: Mathias Maher & Elijah Belcher
  • 1804:Thomas and John Moss
  • 1806:Thomas Parr
Acquired1802 by purchase
FateSold in Barbados 1811
General characteristics
Tons burthen260, or 270, or 271 [1] bm
Sail plan Brig
Complement
Armament
  • 1803:12 × 6-pounder guns [1]
  • 1803:20 × 6&9-pounder guns [1]
  • 1804:20 × 6-pounder guns [1]
  • 1810: 10 × 2 + 10 × 4-pounder guns

Nile was launched at Nantes in 1795 and was captured or purchased from the French in 1802. She then made four voyages from Liverpool as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Between her first and second voyages transporting enslaved people she cruised for less than year as a privateer. With the abolition in 1807 of the slave trade, Nile became a regular merchantman, but now trading with Africa. She was sold in Barbados in 1811.

Contents

Transporting enslaved people

1st voyage transporting enslaved people (1802–1803)

Captain Elijah Belcher sailed from Liverpool on 30 November 1802, bound for Africa to acquire and transport captives. [2] In 1802, 155 vessels sailed from English ports bound to Africa to acquire and transport enslaved people; 122 of these vessels sailed from Liverpool. [3]

Nile arrived at the Bahamas on 2 June 1803 where he landed 276 captives. [2] Captain Belcher had left Liverpool during the Peace of Amiens. War with France resumed while Nile was on her voyage. While Nile was at the Bahamas Belcher acquired a letter of marque on 11 July 1803. [1] Nile left the Bahamas on 9 August, and arrived back at Liverpool on 19 September. She had left Liverpool with 32 crew members and had suffered one crew death on her voyage. [2]

Privateer

Captain William Hill acquired a letter of marque on 3 November 1803. [1] The doubling of the size of Nile's crew and the increase in armament makes it clear that he intended to sail her as a privateer. Nile, Hill, master returned to Liverpool on 8 May 1804, from a cruise. Privateering must have appeared less promising than transporting enslaved people.

2nd voyage transporting enslaved people (1804–1805)

Captain John Gwin acquired a letter of marque on 10 July 1804. [1] (From 1801 to 1802 he had sailed another Nile on a slave voyage.) Gwin sailed from Liverpool on 27 July 1804, bound for the Congo River. In 1802, 147 vessels sailed from English ports bound to Africa to acquire and transport enslaved people; 126 of these vessels sailed from Liverpool. [3]

Nile acquired captives at the Congo River and sailed for the Americas on 18 November 1804. Nile arrived at Charleston on 7 May 1805. There she landed 278 captives. Nile sailed from Charleston on 10 June and arrived back at Liverpool on 9 August. She had left with 33 crew members and she had suffered three crew deaths on her voyage. [4]

3rd voyage transporting enslaved people (1806-1807)

Captain John Anderson sailed from Liverpool on 6 March 1806, bound for Calabar. Nile landed 273 captives at Kingston on 11 November. She sailed from there on 25 January 1807 and arrived back at Liverpool on 8 April. She had left with 30 crew members and she had suffered seven crew deaths on the voyage. [5]

4th voyage transporting enslaved people (1807-1808)

Captain John Anderson sailed from Liverpool on 1 May 1807. The Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade took effect on that day, but Nile had already received clearance to sail so her voyage was one of the last legal voyages of the transportation of enslaved people. She sailed for Malembo and arrived at Berbice on 18 November 1807. There she landed about 285 captives. She sailed for Liverpool on 1 March 1808 and arrived there on 19 April. She had left Liverpool with 33 crew members and she suffered two deaths on her voyage. [6] She brought back to Liverpool from Africa and Jamaica a cargo consisting of palm oil, ivory, redwood, coffee, cotton, ginger, hides, and horns.

Merchantman

YearMasterOwnerTradeSource
1810J.AndersonKitchen & Co.Liverpool–AfricaLR
1815J.AndersonJ.PennyLiverpool–AfricaLR

Fate

On 30 June 1811, Nile, Anderson, master, put into Barbados in a leaky state. She was coming from Gabon and had had to throw her guns and 3000 pieces of redwood overboard. [7] The next report was that Nile had been sold in Barbados. [8]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Letter of Marque, p.80 - accessed 25 July 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Nile voyage #82939.
  3. 1 2 Williams (1897), p. 680.
  4. ↑ Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Nile voyage #82940.
  5. ↑ Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Nile voyage #82941.
  6. ↑ Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Nile voyage #82942.
  7. ↑ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4592. 27 August 1811. hdl:2027/mdp.39015005721405.
  8. ↑ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4593. 30 August 1811. hdl:2027/mdp.39015005721405.

Related Research Articles

Elliott was launched at Liverpool in 1783. She made ten voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade, carrying enslaved people from West Africa to the West Indies. Next, she made one voyage as a whaler. She then became a merchantman, sailing between England and South America. In November 1807 French privateers captured her.

Elizabeth was launched at Bermuda in 1786 or 1790. She first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR), in 1802. She then made four voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. During the second of these voyages a French privateer captured her. After the end of British participation in the trans-Atlantic trade in enslaved people, she spent a little over a year as a hired armed tender under contract to the British Royal Navy. She returned to mercantile service trading with Madeira or Africa, until another French privateer captured her in early 1810.

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.

Governor Dowdeswell was launched in 1798 in Spain or France under another name. The British captured her in 1800. New owners in Liverpool renamed her and employed her as a slave ship for five voyages in the triangular trade in enslaved people. With the end of the British slave trade in 1807, new owners employed her as a whaler. She made one complete whaling voyage to the Pacific but the Spanish seized he during her second whaling voyage there.

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.

Minerva was launched in 1795 at Lancaster as a West Indiaman. In 1801 she was captured but immediately recaptured. Between 1802 and 1808 she made five voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was last listed in 1816.

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.

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.

Vanguard was launched in Liverpool in 1799. She made four voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. After the outlawing of the British slave trade she became a West Indiaman. A French privateer captured her in March 1809.

Roe was launched in France in 1792, almost certainly under another name. The British captured her and between 1801 and 1808 she became a Liverpool based slave ship, making four voyages in the triangular trade in enslaved people. After the end of the British slave trade Roe traded with Brazil. The Americans captured her in 1812 but she was quickly recaptured. She was wrecked in November 1814.

Alexander was launched in France or Spain in 1797, probably under another name, and taken in prize circa 1799, when she was lengthened and raised. She was registered at Liverpool in 1801 and proceeded to make six voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She then sailed to Brazil and the West Indies and was last listed in 1809.

Thames was launched at Southampton in 1790. Until 1798 she sailed across the Atlantic, trading primarily with The Bahamas. She then became a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made seven voyages transporting enslaved people. After the abolition of the British slave trade in 1807, Thames returned to trading with the West Indies. A French privateer captured Thames on 17 July 1811 and burnt her.

Commerce was a French vessel launched in 1798 and taken in prize in 1800. Initially she sailed as a West Indiaman. Then between 1801 and the end in 1807 of British participation in the triangular trade in enslaved people, Commerce made four voyages as a slave ship and also spent some time in 1803 cruising as a privateer. Afterwards, she continued to trade between Liverpool and West Africa. During one voyage in 1811 a French privateer captured her, but Commerce was recaptured. She was wrecked in November 1813 while returning to Liverpool from South America.

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.

Ann was launched at Chester in 1792 as a West Indiaman. From 1796 she made nine 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.

Nicholson was launched at Liverpool in 1802 as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made four complete voyages transporting captives. Then when the Slave Trade Act 1807 ended British participation in the trans-Atlantic slave trade she started trading with Brazil. She was wrecked in 1810 returning to Liverpool from Pernambuco.

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 enslaved people and took her into Montevideo.

Aeolus was built in Liverpool. Between 1787 and 1806 she made 13 voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. On one voyage she repelled an attack by a French privateer in a single ship action. She was last listed in 1808.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.