Career
Princess of Wales entered Lloyd's Register in 1795 with R. Mash, master, R. Webster, owner, and trade London–India. [4] The next volume of Lloyd's Register showed her master as R. Mash, and her trade as London–Bengal. The EIC had her measured and inspected in 1795. [Mash was born in Yarmouth, Norfolk in 1757 and died in 1803 in Mitcham, Surrey.]
EIC voyage #2 (1796-1797)
Captain Mash sailed from The Downs on 16 October 1796, bound for Madras. Princess of Wales arrived at Madras on 11 February 1797. Homeward bound, she was at Trincomalee on 13 April, and Simon's Bay on 13 July. She reached St Helena on 11 September, and arrived at The Downs on 14 December. [2]
EIC voyage #3 (1799)
Captain Gilbert Mitchell acquired a letter of marque on 2 April 1798. [3] He sailed Princess of Wales to Madras on 31 May. She left Madras on 1 March 1799, and was at the Cape on 30 April and St Helena on 21 May. She was off Beachy Head on 26 July. [5] She returned to her moorings on 30 July.
Later career
Princess of Wales then appears to have become a West Indiaman, sailing to Jamaica. Lloyd's List reported on 12 July 1803, that a French privateer had captured Princess of Wales, Griegg, master, as she was sailing from Jamaica to London. However, the British privateers Lord Nelson and Trimmer had retaken her and sent her into Plymouth. [6] The French privateer Malwan or Malouin, of four guns, out from Saint-Malo 15 days, had captured her on 2 July. The two British privateers recaptured her on 6 July. Princess of Wales was carrying a valuable cargo of 580 hogsheads of sugar and 150 logs. Princess of Wales had only two guns, and the French prize master had only 10 men to man them and sail her, but he fought for eight hours before striking. [7] [Note 1] Captain Gregg was surprised to discover Princess of Wales in the Catwater; he had assumed that her captor had taken her to France. He had been a prisoner on Malouin, and had come into Plymouth on 16 July when the privateer brig Speedwell had captured Malouin a few days earlier and brought her into Plymouth. [10] [Note 2] [Note 3]
On 23 November 1809 Princess of Wales, M'Kinley, master, was sailing for Jamaica when she ran down and sank Thomas & Hannah, Holman, master, which was sailing from Exeter to London. The crew was saved. [12] [Note 4]
Later, Princess of Wales sailed to Quebec and Sierra Leone, and perhaps elsewhere.
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|
| 1799 | Mitchell
James Grigg | R. Webster
W. Vaughan | London–Cape of Good Hope | Lloyd's Register (LR) |
| 1800 | J. Grieg | Vaughan | London-Jamaica | Register of Shipping (RS) |
| 1805 | J. Swan | Vaughan | London-Jamaica | RS |
| 1810 | M'Kinley | Vaughan | London-Jamaica | RS |
| 1815 | W.Syme | Vaughan | London-Jamaica
"C."–London | RS; Good repair in 1812 |
| 1816 | J.Syms | Vaughan | London–Jamaica | LR; thorough repair 1812 |
|
On 23 March 1817 Princess of Wales, Syms, master, arrived at Montego Bay. She was 28 days from Bath, Massachusetts. [Note 5] When she was on the SE end of San Domingo, the Venezuelan privateer schooner Alvida Duanda, John Peat, master, boarded her. Peat explained that he was part of a squadron under Admiral Brion, who had sailed on an expedition to capture Margarita Island. Alvida Duanda had earlier that day captured a Spanish schooner, whose master was now aboard the privateer. Peat and his crew treated Syms and his crew civilly and took nothing from them. [14]
A Princess of Wales was reported lost in a snowstorm on 5 February 1818 on Seguin's Ledge as she was sailing from Jamaica to Bath. Seven of her crew drowned. [15] However, on 15 August 1818 Princess of Wales, Syms, master, sailing from London to Bath to Jamaica was reported to have been at 43°10′N53°30′W / 43.167°N 53.500°W / 43.167; -53.500 . [16]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|
| 1818 | W.Syme | Vaughan | London-Jamaica | LR; thorough repair 1812 |
| 1820 | W.Syme | Vaughan | London-Jamaica | RS |
| 1825 | Leatherby | Pope | Plymouth-Quebec | RS; damage repaired 1823 |
| 1830 | Clymo | Pope | Plymouth–Sierra Leone | RS; large repair 1828 |
|
Bellona was a three-decker merchantman launched in 1782 at Limehouse by Woolcombe for Boyd & Co. She then traded for a decade before, in 1792, commencing a series of four voyages for the British East India Company as an "extra ship", that is, on a charter contract. During the first of these voyages she transported convicts from Britain to New South Wales. French privateers captured her and the British Royal Navy recaptured her, the Royal Navy seized her once, and then finally a French privateer captured her in February 1810 and scuttled her.
Friendship was a three-decker merchantman, launched in 1793. She made three voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). During her first voyage, in 1796, a French privateer captured her, but the Royal Navy recaptured her. On the second, in 1799, she transported convicts from Ireland to Australia. She made a second voyage transporting convicts in 1817-18. On her way back she was broken up in 1819 at Mauritius after having been found unseaworthy.
Boyd was a brigantine built in 1783 on the Thames, England. She originally traded as a West Indiaman, sailing between London and Saint Kitts. Then between 1795 and 1797 she performed a voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). The French captured her as she was homeward bound, but her owners repurchased her in 1803. In 1804 the French captured her again, but the Royal Navy recaptured her and returned her to her owners. In 1809 she transported convicts to New South Wales for the British government. After delivering the convicts she sailed to New Zealand where Maori warriors attacked her, killing, and eating, almost her entire crew and passengers. They then burnt her.
John Bull was a sailing ship built in 1799 at Liverpool for the slave trade. She made one voyage carrying slaves from West Africa to Jamaica. Thereafter she became a West Indiaman, trading with Jamaica. Early in this period she was a letter of marque, and captured a French merchant vessel. A little later John Bull detained an American vessel. Much later she transported female convicts to New South Wales from Cork. After she delivered her convicts she made an unsuccessful voyage as a whaler in the South Pacific. She was last listed in 1833.
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.
HMS Duguay-Trouin was an 18-gun French privateer sloop launched in 1779 at Le Havre. Surprise captured her in 1780 and the British Royal Navy took her into service under her existing name. It sold Duguay-Trouin on 30 October 1783. She then became the West Indiaman Christopher, and later a slaver. She was lost at Charleston in September 1804.
Amazon was launched in France in 1775 under another name and taken in prize in 1780. British owners named her Amazon and she became a West Indiaman. In 1782 an American letter-of-marque, a former British Royal Navy frigate, captured her, but the Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. She then became Dumfries. She may have been renamed again. She reappeared as Amazon in 1790, and traded between London and Smyrna. In 1798 she made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1797 and 1798. She then made three voyages as a slave ship between 1800 and 1804. Her subsequent history is currently obscure.
Elliott was launched at Liverpool in 1783. She made ten voyages as a slave ship, carrying slaves 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.
Crescent was launched at Rotherhithe in 1790. She initially traded with the Levant, particularly Smyrna. After the outbreak of war with France she may have tried her hand as a privateer. In 1796–1798 she made a voyage to the East Indies, almost surely on behalf of the British East India Company (EIC). A French privateer captured her but the British Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. In 1802-1804 she made one voyage as a slave ship carrying slaves from West Africa to Jamaica. In 1805 she became a whaler. She was lost in 1807 off Patagonia while homeward bound from her first whaling voyage.
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, during the second of which a French privateer captured her. Next, 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.
Wilding was launched at Liverpool in 1788 and spent much of her career as a West Indiaman, sailing between Liverpool and Jamaica. During this time, in November 1794, she participated in a single-ship action during which her opponent, a French privateer, blew up. In 1798 after a series of captures and recaptures she briefly became a transport for the French Navy, but a final recapture returned her to British hands. Later, she made one voyage to the South Pacific as a whaler, and one voyage to the Cape of Good Hope as a victualler for the 1795-1796 invasion of the Cape. She traded with the West Indies, Africa, the United States, and Russia. Her crew abandoned her in September 1824, dismasted and in a sinking state.
Allison was launched in France in 1776, almost certainly under another name. The British captured her in 1795. Between 1796 and 1799 she made two whaling voyages to the Southern Whale Fishery. Then between 1799 and 1807 she made three voyages as a slave ship. Between the first and the second a French privateer captured her, but British letters of marque recaptured her. The British slave trade was abolished in 1807 and thereafter Allison traded primarily as a coaster. After about 1840 she began to trade to America and Africa. She was lost c.1846.
Enterprize was launched in France in 1797. The British captured her in 1803 and new owners sailed on four voyages as a slave ship. Circa 1808 she left the slave trade and new owners sailed her to South America, where she was wrecked in 1810.
Ariadne was built in 1795 at Newbury, Massachusetts. She became a Liverpool-based slave ship in 1801. A French or Dutch privateer captured her in 1804, but a Liverpool-based vessel had recaptured her. Then in 1806 a French privateer captured her and took her into Guadeloupe.
Horatio was launched in 1800 at Liverpool. She made four voyages as a slave ship, during two of which 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.
Aurora was launched at Chester in 1793 as a West Indiaman. During her career first the French (twice) and then the United States captured her, but she returned to British hands. Between 1801 and 1808 she made four voyages as a slave ship. She continued to trade widely until 1831.
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.
Defiance was launched in Hamburg in 1790, probably under another name. She started sailing as a slave ship out of London in 1795. She made three voyages as a slave ship between 1795 and 1800. She then left that trade but a French privateer captured her late in 1800.
Isabella was launched in France in 1791 as the East Indiaman St Jean de Lone. Two British privateers captured her in 1793. She was sold in prize and renamed Isabella. She initially sailed as a West Indiaman and then between 1795 and 1798 made two voyages to India as an "extra" ship for the British East India Company (EIC). Afterwards, she returned to the West Indies and Baltic trades and was last listed in 1809, but with data stale since c.1802.
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, she made six voyages as a slave ship between 1793 and 1808, alternating between slave trading and sailing as a regular West Indiaman. French privateers captured her between the second and third, and the third and fourth, 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 slave voyage. After the end of British participation in the slave 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.
Great Britain
