| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | Orakabeza |
| Namesake | Oracabessa |
| Builder | Hull |
| Launched | 1785 |
| Fate | Burnt 1797 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 400 [1] (bm) |
| Armament | 2 × 4-pounder guns |
Orakabeza (or Aracabessa in some United States sources), was launched in 1785 at Hull as a West Indiaman. A French privateer captured and burnt her in a notable incident that violated the neutrality of the United States.
Orakabeza first appeared Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1786. It gave the name of her master as C.Burton, that of her owner as Burton, Senior, and her trade as Hull, changing to London–Jamaica. [1]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1790 | C. Burton | Burton, Senior | London–Jamaica | LR |
| 1795 | Js Burn | Burton | London–Jamaica | LR |
Captain Jonathon Storey loaded Oracabissa with sugar and rum at Jamaica and in early October sailed for England. Oracabissa ran into a gale that damaged her masts and caused a leak. She arrived at Charleston around 9 October and crossed the bar on 16 October. [2]
On 17 October 1797 a French privateer believed to be Vortitude (or Vertitude or Fortitude), commanded by a Captain Jourdain and belonging to Cape Francois, captured and burnt Oracabessa within the bar of Charleston Harbour, in violation of the United States's neutrality. Governor Charles Pinckney forwarded to President John Adams affidavits about the incident. Pinckney stated that he had dispatched the cutter USRC South Carolina to the scene, but that by the time she arrived Oracabessa had burnt and the privateer had fled. [3] [4] [lower-alpha 1]
Lloyd's List (LL) reported on 15 December 1797 that a French privateer had burnt Orracabeza, Storey, master, off Charleston. Orracabeza had been sailing from Jamaica to London. [5]
USS Herald was a full-rigged ship of about 270 tons burthen built in 1797 at Newburyport, Massachusetts. The US Navy purchased her on 15 June 1798, and sold her in 1801. She became the French 20-gun privateer corvette Africaine. In 1804 a British privateer seized her on 4 May 1804 off the coast, near Charleston, South Carolina. The seizure gave rise to a case in the U.S. courts that defined the limits of U.S. territorial waters. The U.S. courts ruled that the privateer had seized Africaine outside U.S. jurisdiction. Africaine then became a Liverpool-based slave ship that made two voyages carrying slaves from West Africa to the West Indies. After the abolition of the slave trade in 1807 she became a West Indiaman that two French privateers captured in late 1807 or early 1808.
HMS Nimrod was a brig-sloop of the British Royal Navy, launched in 1812. She spent her war years in North American waters where she captured one small privateer, assisted in the capture of another, and captured or destroyed some 50 American vessels. After the war she captured smugglers and assisted the civil authorities in maintaining order in Tyne. She was wrecked in 1827 and so damaged that the Navy decided she was not worth repairing. A private ship-owner purchased Nimrod and repaired her. She then went on to spend some 20 years trading between Britain and Charleston, the Mediterranean, Australia, and India. She was last listed in 1851.
Tuscan was built at Hull in 1793. She reportedly made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). A French privateer captured her in 1798, but she returned to British hands c.1805. She was wrecked at Memel in November 1823.
John was launched in the Netherlands in 1785, probably under another name. The British captured her in 1797. The new owners gave her the name John, and she became a merchantman. Between 1800 and 1804 she made three voyages as a slave ship. She then became a trader and transport again until a French privateer captured and burnt her in 1809.
Recovery was built at Liverpool in 1793. She was a West Indiaman that sailed under a letter of marque. The French privateer Courageaux captured her in 1799. She returned to British ownership by 1800 and continued to trade until she foundered in June 1818 on her way from Hull to Miramichi Bay.
Cicero was launched at Sunderland in 1796 and initially sailed as a West Indiaman. She was briefly captured in 1799 in a single-ship action with a French privateer. Later, she went whale hunting both in the northern whale fishery (1803-1808), and the southern whale fishery (1816-1823). She capsized at Limerick in September 1832 and was condemned there.
Blenheim may have been launched in 1776 in Philadelphia as Britannia. By 1777 she was the Massachusetts-based privateer American Tartar and had taken several prizes. She had also participated in an inconclusive single-ship action with a British merchantman. The British Royal Navy captured American Tartar late in 1777 and she became HMS Hinchinbrook. The Royal Navy sold her in 1783 and she became the West Indiaman Blenheim. In 1785-86 she became a Greenland whaler and she continued in that trade until two French frigates captured and burnt her in 1806.
Oracabessa was launched in 1810 at Hull. She was initially a West Indiaman but then from 1818 she started trading with India. She foundered in a hurricane in the Bay of Bengal in 1823.
Parnassus was launched on the Thames in 1769. She first sailed as a West Indiaman. She twice encountered enemy privateers: the first time she repelled them, but the second time she was captured. A British privateer recaptured her. Parnassus became a whaler in the British northern whale fishery. In 1794 Parnassus was one of the transports at the Battle of Martinique. The troop transport Parnassus was lost at Corsica in late 1796 with heavy loss of life. She was last listed in 1796.
Duchess of Portland was launched at Bristol in 1783. She was primarily a West Indiaman. However, she made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people, and two as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She then became a transport. The US Navy captured her in 1812. She was in ballast and her captors burnt her.
Regulus was built in Spain. The British captured her in 1797. She spent her career trading to the Cape of Good Hope, and West Africa, but was not a slave ship. She was briefly a privateer. She was broken up in 1806.
Ganges was launched at Calcutta in 1806. In 1807 or 1809 a French privateer captured her. The British Royal Navy recaptured her the next year. She assumed British Registry in 1812, but had traded out of London since late 1810 or early 1811. By 1820 she was trading between London and Bengal. She was last listed in 1846.
Roselle was launched at Hull in 1797. She spent much of her career as a West Indiaman, sailing between Leith and Jamaica. An American privateer captured her in 1814 and she wrecked on the Charleston Bar as the prize crew was bringing her to an American port.
Wright was a merchantman launched at Shields in 1794. From 1797 to 1801 she was a hired armed ship for the British Royal Navy during which service she captured a French privateer. She then returned to mercantile service, sailing out of Newcastle, first as a transport and then trading between Newcastle and Charleston. She was captured circa December 1809.
Benson was launched in 1794 in Liverpool as a West Indiaman. She sailed under a letter of marque and in December 1798 engaged in a notable single-ship action in which she repelled an attack by a French naval corvette of superior force. Benson was wrecked on 23 March 1811.
Fame was launched in India in 1786. She was sold to Portuguese owners. A French privateer captured but the Royal Navy recaptured her in 1794. She then became a West Indiaman, sailing from Liverpool. Between 1796 and 1804 she made three voyages as a slave ship. She then returned to the West Indies trade. From 1818 on she was a whaler in the Greenland whale fishery, sailing from Whitby and then Hull. She burnt in 1823 while outward bound on a whaling voyage.
Several vessels have been named Olive Branch, for the olive branch:
Grenada Packet was launched in Cork in 1789 as a West Indiaman. A nominally French privateer captured her in 1794; she burnt accidentally at Savannah while awaiting trial. Later, the United States Government paid compensation to Grenada Packet's owners as her captor had been fitted out as a privateer in the United States, in contravention of the post–5 June 1793 ban on the arming in the United States of French privateers.
Two Sisters was launched in 1797 in Nova Scotia and in 1804 shifted her registry to the United Kingdom. A French privateer captured her in 1804 but two members of her crew were able to take control of her after the prize crew abandoned her. They were able to reach an English port after almost three weeks. Two Sisters became a coaster and was last listed in 1813.
States’ Quasi War with France". Masters Theses. 863. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/masters_theses_2/863