| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Sarah |
| Owner | Robert Kitchen |
| Launched | 1803, Liverpool |
| Captured | 1805 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 207 [1] (bm) |
| Propulsion | Sail |
| Complement | |
| Armament | |
Sarah was launched at Liverpool in 1803. She made a short voyage as a privateer during which she captured a valuable prize. She then made two voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. A French naval squadron captured her early in her third enslaving voyage.
Sarah entered Lloyd's Register (LR), in 1803 with John Sellars, master, R. Kitchen, owner, and trade Liverpool–Africa. [2] John Sillars acquired a letter of marque on 16 June 1803. [1]
Lloyd's List reported on 21 October 1803 that Sarah and Ann had captured City of Lyons (Ville de Lyon) as she was sailing from Île de France to Bordeaux and that she had arrived at Liverpool. [3] The captors actually were Sarah, Captain Sellars, and Ann Parr, Captain Baldwin. [lower-alpha 1] Ville de Lyons, of some 400 tons (bm), was carrying a cargo of tea, pepper, indigo, etc., valued at about £26,000. [5]
1st enslaving voyage (1803–1804): Captain John Sillars sailed from Liverpool on 5 November 1803. Sarah purchased captives at the Cameroons and arrived at Kingston, Jamaica, on 11 September 1804. There she landed 200 captives. She arrived back at Liverpool on 18 October 1804. She had left Liverpool with 37 crew members and she suffered two crew deaths on the voyage. [6]
Lloyd's Register for 1804 showed Sarah's master changing from J. Sellars to J. McClane. [7]
2nd enslaving voyage (1804–1805): Captain John McLune sailed from Liverpool on 28 November 1804. [8] He was issued a letter of marque on 7 February 1805, [1] hence in absentia. Sarah purchased captives at Lagos/Onim. She landed 233 captives at Demerara on 11 May 1805, and left there on 10 July. She arrived back at Liverpool on 24 September 1805. She had left Liverpool with 35 crew members and she suffered ten crew deaths during the voyage. [8]
Captain John McLune sailed Sarah from Liverpool on 26 October 1805 on her 3rd enslaving voyage. [9] Sarah, M'Lune, master, and Diamond, Jameson, master, were reported "all well" at 10°17′N13°21′W / 10.283°N 13.350°W . [10] On 1 March 1806, Otway, and one other enslaving ship were "all well" off the "Logus Coast" of Africa. [11] Four days later Lloyd's List reported that L'Hermite's squadron of the French Navy had captured Sarah, Otway, Lord Nelson, Mary, Adams, master, and Nelson, Meath, master, off the coast of Africa. [12] At the time of her capture Sarah had not yet embarked any captives. [9]
In 1806, 33 British enslaving ships were lost. Twenty-three were lost on the coast of Africa. [13] War, not maritime hazards nor slave resistance, was the greatest cause of vessel losses among British slave vessels. [14]
Tarleton was launched in 1789 at Liverpool for Tarleton & Co., a Liverpool firm that had been in the slave trade for three generations. She traded with the West Indies and made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. The French captured her after she had landed her captives. She returned to English hands c.1803 and sailed as a merchantman for some years thereafter. She appears to have been wrecked in April 1818.
Otway was a French or Spanish vessel built in 1799 that became a Liverpool-based slave ship in 1800. She made four voyages in the triangular trade in enslaved people, delivering captives from West Africa to the West Indies before the French Navy captured her in 1806. She became the Guadeloupe-based privateer Alerte and captured a number of British merchantmen before the Royal Navy captured her i October 1807.
Plover was launched at Liverpool in 1788. Her whereabouts between 1798 and 1802 are currently obscure. She became a Liverpool-based slave ship in 1802. She made three voyages in the triangular trade, carrying enslaved people from West Africa to the West indies. The French Navy captured her in 1806 as she was starting her fourth voyage to acquire captives. The French Navy may have commissioned her as a corvette, but if so her service was brief.
Barton was launched in Bermuda, probably in 1799, and built of Bermuda cedar. She first appeared in registers under the Barton name in 1801 as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. The French captured her in 1803 before she had delivered the captives she had purchased for her second voyage. She returned to British ownership but her whereabouts between 1804 and 1810 are obscure. In 1811, she was again captured by a French privateer, which however gave her up. She grounded on 27 April 1819 at the entrance to the Sierra Leone River and was wrecked.
Lord Nelson was launched in 1798 at Liverpool and subsequently made five voyages carrying slaves from West Africa to the West Indies in the triangular trade in enslaved people. On her first voyage she helped suppress a revolt on another slave ship by that vessel's captives. This gave rise to an interesting case in salvage money. A French naval squadron captured her off Sierra Leone on her sixth voyage, before she had embarked any captives.
Adventure was launched at Liverpool in 1802. She made three voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. A French privateer captured her in 1806 on her fourth voyage.
Otter was launched at Liverpool in 1797, initially as a West Indiaman. She made seven voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. During her career she captured one merchantman and recaptured another. She was lost in 1807 on her way back to Britain from her seventh enslaving voyage.
Sarah was launched at Liverpool in 1797. She then made six voyages as a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade carrying enslaved people from West Africa to the West Indies. A French privateer captured Sarah in 1804 in a single-ship action on her seventh voyage after Sarah had gathered her slaves but before she could deliver them to the West Indies.
Sarah was launched in Spain in 1791, presumably under another name. The British captured her c.1798. She made five voyages as a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people before a Spanish privateer captured her in 1805 on her sixth voyage. On her fifth voyage Sarah had captured two French slave ships at Loango.
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.
Ariadne was built in 1795 at Newbury, Massachusetts, probably under another name. She in 1801 became a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made two voyages transporting enslaved people before a French, and later a Dutch privateer, captured her in 1804 while she was acquiring captives on her third voyage. However, a Liverpool-based vessel recaptured her. Then in 1806, a French privateer captured her and took her into Guadeloupe while Ariadne was on her fourth voyage transporting captives.
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.
Resource was launched at Bermuda in 1792, possibly under another name, and sailed from Liverpool from 1798 on. She made four voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. The French Navy captured her in 1805 at the very beginning of her fifth voyage. However, the British recaptured her when her captors sent her into the Cape of Good Hope, not realising that the Royal Navy was capturing the Cape.
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 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 voyage transporting enslaved people. Then French privateers captured her after she had embarked captives 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.
Orange Grove was probably of Danish origin. She first appeared in British records in 1800. She made one complete voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. The French captured her in 1804 during her second slave trading voyage after she had embarked slaves but before she could land them in the West Indies.
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 enslave people and took her into Montevideo.
William was launched in Spain in 1788, almost certainly under another name. She was taken in prize in 1797. William sailed as a West Indiaman until 1800 when new owners started to sail her as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made four complete voyages as a slave ship. A report of her fourth voyage provides insight into the decision making over the planning of the voyage. Spanish privateers captured her in 1805 on her fifth slave voyage.
Laurel's origins are ambiguous. She first appeared in online British sources in 1802. She made three voyages from Liverpool to Africa. On the first she apparently was on a trading voyage. The second was a complete voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. During this voyage she was involved in two sanguinary engagements with French vessels, the second of which resulted in the death of her master. She set out in 1805 on a second voyage to transport enslaved people, but a French squadron captured her before she had embarked any captives.