| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | Speedy |
| Owner |
|
| Launched | 1779, Thames [3] |
| Fate | Captured 1807; no longer listed after 1814 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 313 [3] or 320 [2] (bm) |
| Armament |
|
Speedy was a whaler launched on the Thames in 1779. She also made voyages to New South Wales, transporting female convicts in 1799. She made two voyages transporting enslaved people in 1805 and 1806, and was captured in January 1807, on her way into London after having delivered her captives to Antigua in 1806.
Speedy was under the command of Captain John Locke in 1791, when she sailed to the British southern whale fishery. She was reported at the Cape Verde islands in January 1792, Rio de Janeiro in February, and off the coast of Peru in November. She was back in Britain in August 1793. [6]
She was mentioned in the Protection Lists in 1793, 1794, and 1796. [6] [lower-alpha 1]
Captain Thomas Melville sailed in late 1793, to transport stores to Port Jackson and then engage in whaling. However, he was reported to have had to return to Rio de Janeiro in February 1794, to undertake repairs. [6]
Melville had been captain on Britannia, also a whaler belonging to Samuel Enderby & Sons, in 1791, when she had been one of 11 ships of the Third Fleet, bound for the Sydney penal settlement. He had seen sperm whales off Van Diemen's Land and Port Jackson, and after delivering the convicts, Britannia had gone whaling; her crew killed the first four whales taken off the coast of Australia. Melville then wrote to his employers about the prospects for whaling in the region. [8]
On this second voyage, Melville sailed Speedy to the coast of Chile, where she was reported "well" in November. She stopped at Rio in January 1796, and arrived back in Britain in October. [6]
Between 1797 and 1799, Speedy was under the command of Captain Abraham Bristow, serving in the South Seas Whale Fisheries. At this point she was armed, though with only two 3-pounder guns. She was back in Britain by July 1799. [6]
Captain George Quested replaced Bristow later in 1799. Speedy is on the Protection List for 1799. [6] She then sailed from England on 24 November 1799, and arrived at Port Jackson on 15 April 1800. [3] She had embarked 53 female convicts, three of whom died on the voyage. [9]
Speedy left Port Jackson in July 1800, to whale off New Holland. [10] She returned to Sydney on 1 January 1801, with 300 barrels of oil and a crew of 24. [11] While at Port Jackson, Captain Quested was one of three South Sea whaling masters Governor King interviewed about the best route to Australia and the relative merits of the whale fishery offshore compared with that off the west coast of South America. [12] The vessel departed Sydney in 4 February. [13] Returned 11 July 1801, with 72 tuns of oil. [14] Speedy departed Sydney on 8 August, and arrived back in London in November 1802, with 150 tons of sperm oil. [6]
From 1801 to 1807, Lloyd's Register continued to carry her with "Questade" as master, S. Enderby as owner, and her trade as a transport operating out of London. She also was no longer armed. Between 1801 and 1804, however, she was listed as Speed, only reverting to the name Speedy in 1805.
The Register of Shipping for 1805 showed Speedy with H. Aitkins, master, Swansby, owner, and trade London-Africa. [1]
Then in 1805 and 1806 Speedy made two voyages as a slave ship, gathering captives on the Gold Coast, and carrying them to the West Indies. Henry Atkins sailed on 23 October 1804. Speedy started gathering captives at Cape Coast Castle and Accra on 11 February 1805. Speedy arrived at Demerara on 11 June, with 284 captives. [2] The Essequebo and Demerary Gazette published on 15 June the following advertisement: "William Mackenzie & Co. will expose for Sale, on Wednesday the 19th Instant; - 250 Prime Gold Coast Negroes, the Cargo of the Ship Speedy, Capt. Henry Atkins from Cape Coast.... N.B. The Speedy will take Freight for London by the July Convoy." [15]
At some point Captain C.C. Sall replaced Atkins. Speedy returned to London on 13 December. [2]
Henry Atkins sailed for Cape Coast Castle on 6 March 1806, and arrived on 14 June. She left Africa on 3 March, and arrived at St John, Antigua, on 1 October. At some point John Laten replaced Atkins as captain. [16]
The French captured Speedy after she had disembarked her captives. [16] Lloyd's List for 27 January 1807, stated that the reports that Speedy, Laten, master, had arrived in the Thames were premature. She had parted from the fleet on 27 December, and had not since been heard from. [17] Then on 17 February, Lloyd's List reported that the privateer Glaneur, of Saint-Malo had captured Speedy, from Antigua to London, and taken her into Île de Ré on 19 January. [18] [lower-alpha 2]
In 1806, 33 British slave ships were lost; in 1807, 12 were lost. The source for this information did not report any vessels being lost on the homeward leg of their triangular voyage. [20] However, that may be due to nothing more than not identifying when a vessel sailing from the West Indies was a slave ship returning home. During the period 1793 to 1807, war, rather than maritime hazards or resistance by the captives, was the greatest cause of vessel losses among British slave vessels. [21]
The registers both carried relatively unchanging information for some years thereafter. Speedy was no longer listed in the Register of Shipping after 1813 and in Lloyd's Register after 1814. As the registers often carried stale information, a failure to update is the most likely explanation.
Will was a ship launched at Liverpool in 1797 for Aspinal & Co., who were one of Liverpool's leading slave-trading companies. She made numerous voyages between West Africa and the Caribbean in the triangular trade in enslaved people, during which she several times successfully repelled attacks by French privateers. Will apparently foundered in a squall in July 1806, shortly before the passage of the Slave Trade Act 1807 abolished the slave trade for British subjects.
Tobago was a ship launched in 1790. She came into British hands in 1793 and was probably a prize taken immediately after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in early 1793. She traded with Tobago for several years before new owners purchased her for whaling. She made two whaling voyages to the East Coast of Africa before her owners sold her to new owners. She then made two voyages as a slave ship. She was abandoned or condemned in 1802 after having delivered her captives on her second such voyage.
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 in the triangular trade in enslaved people. In 1805 she became a whaler. She was lost in 1807 off Patagonia while homeward bound from her first whaling voyage.
Lord Nelson was launched in 1798 at Liverpool and subsequently made five voyages carrying enslaved people 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 vessel by that vessel's captives. This gave rise to an interesting case in salvage money. A French naval squadron captured Lord Nelson off Sierra Leone on her sixth voyage, before she had embarked any captives.
Allison was launched in France in 1776, almost certainly under another name. The British captured her in 1795. Between 1796 and 1799 she made two whaling voyages to the British southern whale fishery. Then between 1799 and 1807 she made three voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Between the first and the second a French privateer captured her, but British letters of marque recaptured her. The British slave trade was abolished in 1807 and thereafter Allison traded primarily as a coaster. After about 1840 she began to trade to America and Africa. She was lost c.1846.
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 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.
Aurora was launched at Philadelphia in 1779. She did not appear in British registers until 1800. She then made five voyages from London as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was damaged and condemned at Jamaica in 1807 after having landed the captives from her fifth voyage.
Caroline was a ship launched in France in 1792, possibly under another name. She was taken in prize in 1794 and sailed first as a West Indiaman, then as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery, and finally as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was lost in 1801, after she had delivered her captives to Kingston, Jamaica on her second voyage from Africa.
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.
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.
Nimble was built in Folkestone in 1781, possibly under another name. In 1786 Nimble was almost rebuilt and lengthened. Between 1786 and 1798 she made nine voyages as a whaler in the British Southern Whale Fishery. Between 1799 and 1804 she made four voyages from Liverpool as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. On her first voyage as to gather captives she detained a neutral vessel, an action that resulted in a court case. On her second voyage to gather captives, a French privateer captured her, but the Royal Navy recaptured her. She was wrecked in 1804 or so after she had delivered her captives to St Thomas.
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.
Expedition was launched in 1763, almost certainly under another name. She entered the registers as Expedition in 1795. Between 1799 and 1807 she made seven voyages as a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was condemned as unseaworthy at Antigua in early 1808, after having earlier disembarked at Jamaica the captives from her seventh voyage.
Active was built in Chester in 1781. Initially, she traded with the Baltic and North America. From 1798 she made four complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved persons. A privateer captured her on 1 September 1805 during her fifth slave voyage, after she had embarked her slaves, and took her into the River Plate.
Louisa was launched in France in 1794, probably under another name. She was taken in prize and between 1798 and 1804 she made five complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Her fourth voyage gave rise to an influential, and exaggerated, estimate of the profitability of trading in enslaved people. She was lost in 1804 on the coast of Africa on her sixth voyage.
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.
Nelly was launched at Liverpool in 1798. She initially sailed as a West Indiaman. From 1803 she made two complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Spanish privateers captured her in 1805 while she was on her third voyage after she had embarked captives.
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.
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.