| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | Saville |
| Launched | 1777, Bristol [1] |
| Fate | Wrecked 26 August 1785 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 180, or 200, [2] or 250 [1] (bm) |
| Complement |
|
| Armament |
|
Saville was launched in 1777 at Bristol as a West Indiaman. In 1778 to 1779 she sailed as a privateer and made two captures. She then returned to trading. She suffered two maritime incidents, one in 1784, and a second in August 1785, when she was lost at Port Maria, Jamaica.
The British Admiralty gave notice in April 1777, that they were ready to issue letters of marque for privateers against the Americans. In March 1778, Great Britain broke off relations with France. [3] James Ranton, Saville's captain, acquired a letter of marque on 18 August 1777.
Saville first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1778. [1]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1778 | J.Ranton | J.F.Weare | Bristol–Antigua | LR |
In November 1778, Saville, in company with Tartar, took a Swedish vessel that had been on her way from Venice to Bordeaux. They sent the prize into Kingroad. [2] [lower-alpha 1]
On her next cruise, early in 1779, Saville was in company with the Liverpool privateer Bess, which was under the command of Captain Perry. They captured Proteus, a snow from Philadelphia, and sent her into Milford. [2] Proteus's cargo consisted of 281 hogsheads of flax seeds, 166 hogsheads of tobacco, 52 casks of pot-ashes, 15,000 staves, and 140 beaver skins. [5]
In February 1780 Lloyd's List reported that Saville, Ranton, master, had been in company with St George, Matthews, master, and had been four days on their way to Nevis when they ran into a gale. St George had to put into Milford. She had five feet of water in her hold and 30 mules that she was carrying had drowned. Saville continued on her way. [6]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1781 | J.Ranton T.Nichols | J.F.Weare | Bristol–Antigua | LR |
| 1784 | T.Nichols | Davis & Co. Protheroe & Co. | Bristol–New York Bristol–Jamaica | LR; repair 1784 |
In April 1784 Saville, Nichols, master, was returning to Bristol from Charleston when she grounded on the spit near Welch Hook, in the Bristol Channel. [7] She was refloated on 15 April without damage and taken in to Bristol. [8]
In October 1785 Savile, Niccol, master, was reported lost at Port Maria, Jamaica. [9] [2] She was among a number of vessels lost in a hurricane there on 26 August 1785.
Union Island was a merchant vessel launched at Bristol in 1794. In 1801, she participated in two single-ship actions. In the first, she repelled an attack by a Spanish privateer. In a later attack that year a French privateer captured her. She returned to English ownership in 1802. She then sailed as a West Indiaman until about 1818 when she started sailing between Liverpool and Africa. She was wrecked on 27 June 1821 on the coast of Africa.
Harpooner was launched at Liverpool in 1771. In 1778 she became a privateer. She captured at least two French merchantmen before a French privateer captured her in January 1780. She became the French privateer Comptesse of Buzanisis, which the Royal Navy recaptured. Harpooner returned to online records in 1782, and in 1783 became the slave ship Trelawney, which then made two complete voyages in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was no longer listed after 1786.
Blenheim may have been launched in 1776 in Philadelphia as Britannia. By 1777 she was the Massachusetts-based privateer American Tartar and had taken several prizes. She had also participated in an inconclusive single-ship action with a British merchantman. The British Royal Navy captured American Tartar late in 1777 and she became HMS Hinchinbrook. The Royal Navy sold her in 1783 and she became the West Indiaman Blenheim. In 1785-86 she became a Greenland whaler and she continued in that trade until two French frigates captured and burnt her in 1806.
Parnassus was launched on the Thames in 1769. She first sailed as a West Indiaman. She twice encountered enemy privateers: the first time she repelled them, but the second time she was captured. A British privateer recaptured her. Parnassus became a whaler in the British northern whale fishery. In 1794 Parnassus was one of the transports at the Battle of Martinique. The troop transport Parnassus was lost at Corsica in late 1796 with heavy loss of life. She was last listed in 1796.
Resolution was launched at Liverpool in 1776 as the West Indiaman Thomas Hall; she was renamed in 1779. She sailed briefly as a privateer. Then between 1791 and 1804 Revolution made some six voyages as a whaler. On one voyage, in 1793, a French frigate captured her, but Resolution was re-captured. In 1804 a new owner returned her to the West Indies trade. She does not appear to have sailed after early 1805.
Chambers was a ship launched in Bristol in 1776. She spent most of her brief career as a West Indiaman. An American privateer captured her in October 1782 in a single ship action.
Quaker was built in America in 1774, possibly under another name, and was taken in prize in 1780. She appears in British records from 1781. Between 1781 and 1783 she sailed as a privateer and captured several ships, American, Spanish, and French. She then became a whaler, making four voyages to the British southern whale fishery. Thereafter she became a West Indiaman. The French captured her in 1795.
Little Joe was launched in 1784 in Liverpool as a slave ship. She made six complete voyages from Liverpool in the Atlantic triangular slave trade. On her seventh voyage a French privateer captured her, but a British letter of marque recaptured her. She did not return to the slave trade and was last listed in 1795.
Active was built in Bristol in 1799. She made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved persons, and then two voyages trading between Bristol and Africa. A French privateer captured her but a Guernsey privateer recaptured her. She then became a West Indiaman. On 16 and 17 July 1808 she repelled a Spanish and a French privateer in two separate single-ship actions. In 1809 she underwent a maritime mishap. She was last listed in 1819.
Carnatic, launched in 1770, was an East Indiaman belonging to the French East India Company. A British letter of marque captured her in 1778. She became a transport. She was wrecked in 1781.
Morgan Rattler was probably a French vessel launched under another name and taken in prize early in 1793 after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars. She became a Liverpool privateer, but was quickly captured. A few years later she became a French privateer. She captured several British merchantmen before in June 1796 a British naval brig captured her and her prizes.
Tartar was launched at Bermuda in 1775, possibly under another name. By 1779 she was a privateer sailing out of Liverpool. She captured several prizes, first in the West Indies and then around England. Two French frigates captured her in October 1780.
Tartar was launched at Bristol in 1778. Initially she sailed, with some success, as a privateer. Then in 1781 she became a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made one complete voyage as an enslaving ship; French naval vessels captured Tartar on her second enslaving voyage.
Biscayneer was a cutter launched in 1779. From at least 1781 on she was a privateer based in Dartmouth, Devon. She captured or recaptured several vessels before her owner-captain sold her in 1783 after the end of the American War of Independence. New owners renamed her Retreat. She was last listed in 1784.
Molly was launched at Liverpool in 1778 as a slave ship. Between 1778 and 1807 she made 18 complete voyages in the triangular trade in enslaved persons. During this period she also suffered one major maritime incident and captured two ships. After the end of Britain's involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, Molly became a merchantman trading with the West Indies, Africa, Brazil, Nova Scotia, and Africa again. She was last listed in 1832, giving her a 54-year career.
Badger was launched in Liverpool in 1775. She made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. New owners renamed her Molly in 1778 and sailed her as a West Indian. In 1779 she repelled an American privateer in a sanguinary single ship action. Her owners renamed her Lydia. While trading with Tortola she captured one or two prizes. Lydia was herself captured in 1782.
Molly was launched in 1769 at Liverpool. In 1776 she made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved persons. After, and possibly before, she was a West Indiaman. While sailing under a letter of marque, she captured some notable prizes. Two French frigates captured her on 4 September 1782.
Several vessels have been named Saville :
General Keppel was launched in 1779, possibly under another name. She first appeared in British records in 1799 as a Liverpool-based privateer. A Spanish frigate captured her in 1801.
True Briton was launched at Liverpool in 1775. She made two voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. During the second of these voyages there was an unsuccessful insurrection by the captives she was carrying. Then in 1777–1778 she made another enslaving voyage, this time under the name John. On her return to Liverpool, she became the privateer Bellona, and succeeded in taking several prizes. Bellona then made three enslaving voyages. In 1786 her ownership changed, and so did her name. She became Lord Stanley, and under that name proceeded to make 11 more enslaving voyages. In 1794, at Havana, a deadly fever spread through the vessel, apparently after she had landed her captives. On her last voyage the captain acted with such brutality towards a black crew member that the man, who providentially survived, sued the captain when the vessel arrived at Liverpool and won substantial damages.