| History | |
|---|---|
 Spain | |
| Captured | 1797 |
 Great Britain | |
| Namesake | Regulus |
| Acquired | 1797 by purchase of a prize |
| Fate | Broken up 1806 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 193, or 198, [1] or 203, [2] [3] or 206 [2] (bm) |
| Complement | |
| Armament |
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Regulus was built in Spain. The British captured her in 1797. She spent her career trading to the Cape of Good Hope (the Cape:CGH), and West Africa, but was not a slave ship. She was briefly a privateer. She was broken up in 1806.
Regulus entered Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1797 with D. West, master, R. Ross, owner, and trade London–CGH. [4] [3]
On 10 May 1799 Captain John Robinson acquired a letter of marque. [2] However, not long after Captain J. Ranter replaced Robinson but apparently did not acquire his own letter. Her trade was still London–CGH. At some point her owner became Heathfield.
With the resumption of war with France in 1803, Regulus became a privateer. Captain George White acquired a letter of marque on 27 May 1803. [2]
Lloyd's List (LL) reported on 5 July 1803 that the privateer Regulus, of London, had sent into Plymouth Deux Margarites, which had been sailing from San Domingo to Bordeaux. [5]
On 29 July the privateers Regulus and Ajax captured Marie Bernard, Godfrey, master, on 6 July as she was sailing from Guadeloupe to Havre and sent her into Falmouth. [6]
Regulus captured Ceres, from Cette and sent her into Plymouth on 1 August. [7]
On 14 August Bon Accord, Passmore, master, arrived at Dover, as a prize to Regulus. [8]
On 16 August LL reported that Regulus had captured Conception and Jean Baptiste as they were sailing from Havana to Malaga. [9]
She continued to cruise until November, but then left privateering.
LR for 1804 showed her master as J.Ranter, changing to A. Macauley, her owner as Heathfield, and her trade as London–CGH, changing to London–Sierra Leone. [10] Though she traded with West Africa, she was not a slaver; she does not appear in the most complete database of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. [11]
The Register of Shipping for 1806 showed her master as M'Cawley, Drinkall, owner, and her trade as London–Sierra Leone. She had undergone small repairs in 1800 and 1803. The listing bears the annotation "broke up". [1] Lloyd's Register continued to carry her name through 1812.
Citations
References
The ship that became Mary Ann was built in 1772 in France and the British captured her c. 1778. Her name may have been Ariadne until 1786 when she started to engage in whaling. Next, as Mary Ann, she made one voyage transporting convicts to New South Wales from England. In 1794 the French captured her, but by 1797 she was back in her owners' hands. She then made a slave trading voyage. Next, she became a West Indiaman, trading between London or Liverpool to Demerara. It was on one of those voyages in November 1801 that a French privateer captured her.
Kingsmill was a French vessel launched in 1793 under a different name, captured in 1798, and sold to British owners who renamed her. She then became a slave ship, making three voyages from Africa to the West Indies. A French privateer captured her in 1804, but she returned to her owners in 1804. In 1807 she became a West Indiaman. In 1814 she became the first ship to trade with India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC) after the EIC lost its monopoly on British trade with India. She was badly damaged in 1821 and subsequently disappears from the registers.
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.
Suffolk was launched in 1800. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). She grounded in 1802 but was refloated. She then made a voyage to the Cape of Good Hope. On her return she became a West Indiaman. A Spanish privateer captured her in 1805.
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.
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.
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.
Lancaster was built in France in 1787. She entered British ownership c.1803. In 1805 made one voyage as a slave ship during which a French privateer captured her in a single-ship action, but the Royal Navy recaptured her. She also recaptured a British ship. Thereafter she traded widely until she was last listed in 1825.
Starling was built at Harwich in 1802. She traded with Smyrna for some years and then became a West Indiaman. In 1810 a French privateer captured her, but the Royal Navy recaptured her within days. After the British East India Company lost its monopoly on the trade between Britain and India, Starling started trading to the Cape of Good Hope. She wrecked in 1815 off the English coast as she returned from a voyage to Batavia.
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.
Duchess of Portland was launched at Bristol in 1783. She was primarily a West Indiaman but made one voyage as a slave ship and two as a whaler in the British Southern Whale Fishery. The US Navy captured her in 1812 and burnt her.
Vanguard was launched in Liverpool in 1799. She made four voyages as a slave ship. After the outlawing of the British slave trade she became a West Indiaman. A French privateer captured her in March 1809.
Falmouth was launched in 1806 at Liverpool as a slave ship. After the British slave trade ended in 1807, she became a West Indiaman until a privateer captured her in 1812.
Rachael was launched in 1795 at Spain and may have been taken in prize in 1799. She entered British records in 1801. In 1803 she suffered a maritime mishap, and later was captured by a French privateer, but recaptured by the British Royal Navy. She was lost at Fayal, Azores in 1810.
Eliza was launched in Philadelphia in 1792 and came into British ownership in 1802. She was briefly a privateer sailing out of Liverpool. A highly valuable prize that she captured in 1805, in company with another privateer, resulted in a court case in which Eliza's captain successfully sued a captain in the British Royal Navy for having pressed some of her crew. Eliza spent the great bulk of her career as a merchantman, either as a coaster or in sailing between England and the western coast of the Iberian Peninsula. She was last listed in 1820.
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.
Ranger was launched in 1791 in New Providence and immediately came to Britain. She generally traded between Liverpool and New Providence. She underwent grounding in 1795 and in 1796 her owners had her repaired, lengthened, and converted from a brig to a ship. A French privateer captured her in August 1797 after a single-ship action. In a process that is currently obscure, Ranger returned to British ownership circa 1799. She then became a West Indiaman. From 1803 on she became a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made one complete slave trading voyage. Then French privateers captured her after she had embarked slaves in West Africa but before she could deliver them to the West Indies. A United States citizen purchased her at Guadeloupe and renamed her Delaware. In 1805 the Royal Navy recaptured her. She was returned to her British owners who sailed her between Ireland and Newfoundland. She was last listed in 1814.