Sappho was launched in France circa 1803, probably under another name, and captured in 1804. She became a West Indiaman and then privateer that the French Navy recaptured and destroyed in March 1808.
Sappho first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in the supplementary pages to the 1805 issue.[2] She first appeared in the Register of Shipping (RS) in 1806.[3] (There is no 1805 volume available online.)
Year
Master
Owner
Trade
Source
1805
E.Smith
Capt. & Co.
London
LR
1806
C.Bell
Capt. & Co. E.Smith
London–Jamaica
RS; damages repaired 1804
1807
C.Bell E.Smith
Capt. Wright & Co.
London–Jamaica London–Madeira
LR
Sappho, Bell, master, made several voyages to Jamaica and return between 1805 and 1807.
Captain Edmond Smith, of Sappo, acquired a letter of marque on 26 November 1807. The extent of her armament and the size of her crew suggest that she was a privateer.[1]
In February 1808 Lloyd's List reported that the privateer Sappho had detained and sent into Cowes Mary, Babbidge, master, which had been on a voyage from Virginia to Amsterdam.[4]
Capture: Prior to 10 March 1808 the French frigates Italienne and Sirène captured Sappho whilst she was sailing from London to Madeira, Portugal. They set fire to her and sank her. The frigates were returning to France from Martinique. They also captured and destroyed two other British merchant vessels, Sarah King and Windham. The French put the crews on Sofia, Delaney, master, of and for New York, which brought them into Plymouth on 26 March. Sofia had been coming from Belfast.[5][lower-alpha 1]
Notes
↑ Sarah King, of 253 ton (bm), and twelve 12-pounder carronades, had been built in Falmouth in 1805. Windham, of 112 tons (bm), had been built in Yarmouth in 1781.
The Sirène was a 40-gun Coquille class frigate of the French Navy. She took part in a number of campaigns and actions before she was badly damaged in a battle on 22 March 1808. Refloated after being beached to avoid capture, she was hulked. Sirène was broken up in 1825.
Italienne was a 40-gun Consolante-class frigate of the French Navy, built by engineer Denais after plans designed by Sané and revised by François Pestel. Under Commander Jurien de La Gravière, she took part in the Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne, where she sustained very severe damage.
Alexander was launched in 1800 at Hull, or actually further up the River Ouse at Selby, and probably under another name. From 1807 on she was a West Indiaman. She was wrecked on 19 May 1820 while sailing to Honduras.
Ceres was launched at Kolkata in August 1793 as Lutchmy and renamed in 1794. She sailed to England in 1798 and became a West Indiaman. She was condemned at Barbados in 1806. New owners returned her to service, first as a West Indiaman and then as an East Indiaman. She was damaged at Mauritius in 1818 and although she was listed until 1824, it is not clear that she sailed again after the damage she sustained in Mauritius.
Aurora was launched at Philadelphia in 1779. She did not appear in British registers until 1800. She then made five voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was damaged and condemned at Jamaica in 1807 after having landed her slaves from her fifth voyage.
Britannia was launched at Kirkcaldy in 1798. she spent her career as a West Indiaman. In 1807 a French privateer captured her, but the British Royal Navy recaptured her the next day. Finally, an American privateer captured her in October 1812.
Pitt was launched at Ulverston in 1799 and proceeded to sail to the West Indies and New York. A French privateer captured her in 1806 but she quickly returned to British ownership and sailing as a West Indiaman. She continued trading with the West Indies and North America until she was last listed in 1833.
Antelope was a French vessel launched in 1795 and captured circa 1798. She sailed primarily as a West Indiaman until circa 1804 when Daniel Bennett purchased her and sent her out as a privateer operating off South America, first in the Atlantic and then the Pacific. A Spanish armed merchantman captured her in 1806, killing her master.
Tartar was launched in France in 1802, or Spain in 1805, almost certainly under another name. In 1806 she sailed under the flag of the United Kingdom on a voyage as a slave ship from Liverpool. On her return she started trading between Liverpool and Brazil and Africa. A French frigate captured her in 1813, but then released her. She was wrecked early in 1815.
Général Pérignon was a brig launched at Saint-Malo in February 1804 as a privateer. She captured numerous British merchant vessels over several cruises. In January 1810 the British Royal Navy captured her. She was sold in March 1810 and became a coaster sailing between Plymouth and London under her original name, or as Intention. She was last listed in 1816.
Harriot (or Harriott}was launched in Liverpool in 1786. For many years she was a West Indiaman, sailing between Liverpool and Barbados. In 1796 a French frigate captured her, but the British Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. She became a slave ship. At the beginning of her of her first slave trading voyage a French privateer captured her, and again the Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. She made five slave trading voyages in all. Thereafter she traded with South America. She was last listed in 1814 with stale data.
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, making seven slave trading voyages. 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.
Backhouse was launched in 1798 at Dartmouth. In all, she made four voyages as a slave ship. Between the second and the third, and after the fourth, she was a West Indiaman. A French privateer captured her early in 1810 as she was returning to Britain from Brazil.
Highlander was launched at Sunderland in 1805 as a West Indiaman, trading with Demerara. She was captured in 1807, returned to British ownership, and was wrecked in 1809.
Harmony was launched in 1798 in Lancaster as a West Indiaman. Between 1805 and 1807 she sailed to the Pacific on a privateering voyage. Early in the voyage she was engaged in a single ship action in which her target repelled the attack, killing Harmony's master and inflicting severe casualties on her crew. Although Harmony returned to trading with the West Indies, in 1817 she made one voyage to India under a licence from the British East India Company. On her return she traded between Hull and Petersburg, and Quebec. New owners in 1821 decided to use her as a whaler in the northern whale fishery. She was lost there on her first whaling voyage.
Vittoria was a schooner launched at Baltimore in 1811 under another name. British owners acquired her in 1813, probably as a prize, and renamed her. She became a privateer sailing out of Guernsey and captured at least three vessels trading between the united States and France. She disappears from online records circa 1814, though she remains listed to 1818 with data unchanged from 1813. A French privateer may have captured her in 1814.
William was launched in Spain under another name and was taken in prize circa 1806. She made one voyage as a Liverpool-based slave ship. Thereafter she traded between Liverpool and Madeira. In 1814 an American privateer captured William.
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.
Mary Ann was launched in 1807 at Liverpool. She made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She then became a West Indiaman. From 1811 she became a Falmouth packet. In 1813 a United States privateer captured her.
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