Reimsdyke (1796 ship)

Last updated

History
British-Red-Ensign-1707.svgGreat Britain
NameReimsdyke
Launched1796, Batavia [1]
Captured1797 [2] & 1803
FateDisappeared December 1803
NotesTeak-built
General characteristics
Tons burthen281, [2] or 290, or 295, or 299 (bm)
Armament
  • 1799:4 × 6-pounder guns
  • 1800:6 × 6-pounder guns
  • 1801:2 × 6-pounder guns

Reimsdyke was launched at Batavia in 1796. She was taken in prize in 1797 and became a British West Indiaman. In 1801 she became a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made one complete voyage. In 1803 the Royal Navy captured her on her second voyage as she was sailing under the colours of the Batavian Republic and she was condemned in prize. She drifted out to sea after her capture and disappeared with over 200 captives still aboard.

Contents

Possible origin

During the Quasi-War between France and the United States, Reimsdyke, of Providence, Rhode Island, Ahorn, master, was returning from Île de France when a French privateer captured her and took her into St Martin's. A British lugger cut her out and took Reimsdyke into Tortola. [3] [a]

On 9 February 1798, Reymsdyke, M'Clenahan, master, arrived at Gravesend from Martinique.

Career

Reimsdyke first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) as Reymsdyk, with origin India. [2]

YearMasterOwnerTradeSource
1798M'Clann
J.Hanna		BourdieuLondon–MartiniqueLR
1799J.Hanna
Owen		Bourdieu
T.Dudgeon		London–MartiniqueLR
1800R.Owen
R.Colston		Calvert & Co.London-DemeraraLR

On 16 February 1800, Reimsdyke, Fry, master, came into Plymouth leaky. She was carrying a cargo from London to Demerara. [4]

YearMasterOwnerTradeSource
1801R.ColstonCamdenLondon-DemeraraLR
1802R.Colston
M'Ivers		T.KingLondon–AfricaLR

1st voyage transporting enslaved people (1801–1802): Reimsdyke sailed from London on 17 November 1801, bound for Africa. [5] In 1801, 147 vessels sailed from English ports, bound for the trade in enslaved people; 23 of these vessels sailed from London. [6]

Lloyd's List 's ship arrival and departure data and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Voyage database report that her captain was Cooley, or Richard Coley, but the database also reports that Coley had left England on 4 August 1801 as captain of Minerva, not returning until 22 August 1802. [7] Lloyd's List also reported that Reimsdyke, Cooley, master was at Portsmouth on 1 December, having returned from Africa. The actual master was James McIver. [8]

Reimsdyke started acquiring captives on 25 January 1802, first at Cape Coast Castle, and then at Accra. She arrived at Demerara on 31 May, with 274 captives. She arrived back at London on 19 September, under the command of Captain Nox. [5]

2nd voyage transporting enslaved people (1802–loss): Captain James McIver sailed from London on 21 December 1802. [9] In 1802, 155 vessels sailed from English ports, bound for the trade in enslaved people; 30 of these vessels sailed from London. [6]

She sailed to Rotterdam with a cargo of sugar from London. At Rotterdam she took on four more crew members and trade goods and sailed for West Africa. [8] She sailed during the Peace of Amiens so trading with The Netherlands was not an issue. Furthermore, Reimsdyke's owner, Thomas King, also arranged for her nominal sale to two agents there. King had plantations in Demerara, which was a Dutch Colony and the authorities would not permit British ships to deliver enslaved people to the colony. King's nominal sale would permit Reimsdyke to sail under the Dutch flag and so deliver to his plantations the captives that he would acquire in West Africa. [10]

Reimsdyke started acquiring captives on 24 February 1803 at Cape Coast Castle. [9] Actually, she visited several ports on the coast. Ultimately, most of the captives she carried came from Minerva, [8] another vessel that Henry King owned.

The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade database reports that Reimsdyke's subsequent fate is unknown. [9] However, more is known.

Fate

On 30 August 1803 HMS Hornet, under the command of Commander Peter Hunt, captured a Dutch ship, whose name was not recorded, that was carrying 410 captives. [11] Other records show that the vessel was Reimsdyke. Hornet took Reimsdyke to Kingstown, Saint Vincent, arriving there on 4 September. Adjudication of the prize did not begin until 28 October. Around the end of November, 60 or 70 captives suffering from rheumatism from their long confinement on the vessel were sent ashore to recuperate before their sale. Some captives had also died. [8]

On 25 December Reimsdyke separated from her anchors and drifted out to sea. The schooner or sloop Hornet, Hamilton Woods, master, set out to find her. Woods succeeded in locating Reimsdyke and took off 115 captives, all that Hornet could carry. [8] Reimsdyke's subsequent fate is unknown. [12] It was believed at the time that a French privateer may have taken her. [8]

Reimsdyke was condemned in prize, but William King claimant of the ship and 376 captives on behalf of Thomas King merchant of London, and for 24 captives marked 13 on the arm, on behalf of John Blenkarne, chief of Dick's Cove, West Africa, a British subject, appealed the decision. [8] It is the documents from the appeal that provide most of the information about Reimsdyke's last voyage. The Court rejected the appeal, ruling that ship and captives were condemned as lawful prize to the Crown, i.e., HMS Hornet and Commander Hunt.

Notes

  1. ↑ In 1805 Van Reimsdyk was a merchant at Batavia doing business with various parties in Providence, Rhode Island.

Citations

  1. ↑ LR (1799), Seq.No.R53.
  2. 1 2 3 LR (1798), Seq.No.R208.
  3. ↑ Cobbett (1801), p. 444, 84.
  4. ↑ Naval Chronicle, Vol. 3, January–July 1800, p.153.
  5. 1 2 Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Reimsdyke voyage #83302.
  6. 1 2 Williams (1897), p. 680.
  7. ↑ Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Minerva voyage #82751.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Vice-Admiralty Court, Antigua (1807), pp. 458–473.
  9. 1 2 3 Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Reimsdyke voyage #83303.
  10. ↑ Benton (2011), p. 359.
  11. ↑ "No. 15669". The London Gazette . 24 January 1804. p. 109.
  12. ↑ Benton & Ford (2020), p. 296.

Related Research Articles

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.

Minerva was launched in 1791 at Galway. She then traded widely, particularly as a West Indiaman. Between 1800 and 1804 she made two voyages from Bristol as a Guineaman. That is, she was a slave ship, carrying enslaved peoples in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. She then returned to trading with the West Indies. A United States privateer captured her in 1814.

Minerva was built in the Americas in 1791 and taken in prize from the Spanish. She made six voyages from London as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She is last listed in 1813 but with data stale since her last voyage transporting enslaved people in 1807.

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.

King George was a French ship that the British captured circa 1797. Her new owners renamed her and employed her as a Liverpool-based slave ship. She made three complete voyages in the triangular trade, transporting enslaved peoples from Africa to the West Indies. She was lost on her fourth voyage in February 1803 as she returned to Liverpool after having delivered captives to Havana.

Several ships have been named John:

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.

William Heathcote was launched in Liverpool in 1800. She made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Next, a French privateer captured her in a single-ship action, and the British Royal Navy recaptured her. She became a West Indiaman before she again made an enslaving voyage, one of the last such legal voyages. After British participation in the trans-Atlantic slave trade ended, she became a West Indiaman again; she then sailed to Brazil and as a transport. She was wrecked in July 1816.

Harriot was launched in Spain in 1794, almost surely under another name, and taken in prize in 1797. She made two voyages as a London-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Under new ownership, she then made three voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. A privateer captured her as she was returning from her third whale-hunting voyage but the British Royal Navy recaptured her. After her recapture she became a merchantman. The Spanish seized her in the Pacific; she was condemned at Lima, Peru in March-April 1809, as a smuggler.

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.

Ellis was a French prize, captured in 1797, and possibly built in that year also. Liverpool merchants purchased her. She made five complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade carrying enslaved people from West Africa to the British West Indies. She was lost at sea on 23 April 1806, on her sixth voyage before she could take on any captives.

Two Sisters was possibly built in the United States, or taken in 1798 as a prize of unknown origin. She became a slave ship sailing out of Liverpool. She made two complete voyages in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was condemned at Kingston in 1802 after she had delivered her captives on her third voyage transporting enslaved people.

Hector was launched at Bristol in 1781 as a West Indiaman. A new owner in 1802 sailed Hector as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made one complete voyage transporting enslaved people before a French privateer captured her on her second such voyage after Hector had disembarked her captives.

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.

Ranger was built in London in 1796. Between 1796 and 1801 she made three complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. New owners in 1801 had her lengthened and sailed her as a West Indiaman. She was lost in 1802.

Sir William Douglas was a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people, acquired by British interests in 1801. She made one complete voyage transporting enslaved people and was captured in 1803 after having delivered captives on her second voyage.

Diligence or Diligent was launched in Spain in 1795 and came into British ownership as a French prize acquired in 1800. She became a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made three complete voyages transporting captives. During her third voyage she captured three French vessels. She was wrecked in 1804 on her fourth journey before she had embarked any slaves.

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.

Lucy was a Spanish vessel built in 1789, probably under another name. She came into British ownership in 1799. As Lucy, she proceeded to make three complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. On the second of these she rather unusually assisted the British commander at Gorée in an operation to destroy a Spanish vessel at Senegal before the French could arm it as a privateer. However, a few days later a slave revolt resulted in the death of Lucy's captain. The French captured Lucy in 1806 on her fourth enslaving voyage as she was approaching the West Indies after she had embarked her captives. The capture involved a single ship action that left most of Lucy's crew dead or wounded. Her captors took Lucy into Guadeloupe, together with her captives.

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.