| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | Sultana |
| Launched | 1787, [1] or 1788, [2] Yarmouth [1] |
| Captured | 1799 |
| Fate | 6 × 2-pounder guns [2] |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 172, [3] or 175, [1] or 180 [2] (bm) |
Sultana was launched in 1787 or 1788, at Yarmouth. She traded with the Mediterranean and the West Indies. A French privateer captured her in April 1799. She quickly returned to British ownership, but was recaptured again in 1801.
Unavailable issues resulted in Sultana first appearing in online issues of Lloyd's Register (LR), in 1789. [3] She appeared, with Thompson, master, in an advertisement stating her readiness to sail to Leghorn. The advertisement described her as newly built. [4]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1789 | Thompson | B.Dowson | London–Leghorn | LR |
| 1798 | Thompson | London | London–Martinique | LR |
| 1799 | Dunstan | Captain & Co. | London–Lisbon | LR |
1st capture: In April 1799 Lloyd's Register reported that a privateer had captured Sultana, Danson, master, and taken her into Vigo. [5] The privateer Legere, of Bayonne, captured the English three-masted ship Sultana, Danson, master. Sultana was carrying "warlike stores and provisions". Legere sent Sultana into Vigo. [6] [lower-alpha 1]
French sources report that Legérè had been fitted out by the Bayonnais merchant Castro. She was of 83 tons (French; "of load"), was armed with eight 8-pounder, four 4-pounder, and two 3-pounder guns. She had a crew of 53 men under the command of Captain Mallenx. Before the British captured her, she had captured a British three-masted vessel named Sultane, Damon, master, and sent her into Vigo. [9] [lower-alpha 2]
Sultana quickly returned to British ownership by some process.
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1800 | J.Dawson | Captain & Co. | London–Lisbon | Register of Shipping (RS) |
| 1801 | T.Cole | Captain & Co. | London–Lisbon | Register of Shipping (RS) [2] |
2nd capture: Lloyd's List reported in May 1801 that Sultana, Cole, master, and another vessel, had been captured on their way from Halifax to London and taken into Passages. [10]
His Majesty's hired armed schooner Lady Charlotte served the British Royal Navy on contract between 28 October 1799 and 28 October 1801. She had a burthen of 120 85⁄94 tons (bm), and was armed with twelve 12-pounder carronades. As a hired armed vessel she captured several privateers and recaptured a number of British merchant vessels. After her service with the Royal Navy, she apparently sailed as a letter of marque until the French captured her in 1806.
Sylph was launched at Whitby in 1791. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) to New South Wales and China. However, a French privateer captured her in 1798 as she was returning to England.
Auguste was a French 14-gun privateer commissioned in Saint-Malo in November 1811 under Pierre Jean Marie Lepeltier. She captured numerous British merchant vessels before the Royal Navy forced her in January 1814 to run onshore and wreck.
Horatio was launched in 1800 at Liverpool. She made four voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. During two of these voyages she was captured and recaptured. Shortly before the British slave trade ended she left the slave trade and sailed between Britain and South America and as a West Indiaman. She was wrecked in 1817.
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.
Camilla was built in France in 1799 and was taken in prize by the British. Camillia first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1800 with Caitchern, master, Swane & Co., owners, and trade London–Barbados. Captain Robert Hunter Caitchion acquired a letter of marque on 20 August 1800.
Wright was a merchantman launched at Shields in 1794. From 1797 to 1801 she was a hired armed ship for the British Royal Navy during which service she captured a French privateer. She then returned to mercantile service, sailing out of Newcastle, first as a transport and then trading between Newcastle and Charleston. She was captured circa December 1809.
Huron, of Bordeaux, was commissioned in 1793 as a privateer. She made several cruises before the British Royal Navy captured her in 1801 as she was returning to France with cargo from Mauritius. She was sold and then proceeded to sail between England and America as a merchantman. She was last listed in 1808.
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.
General Augereau was a ketch launched in 1801 and recommissioned in Bayonne in 1803 as a privateer. She made a small number of captures during her first cruise, but then the British Royal Navy captured her in February 1805 during her second cruise. She became a British merchantman, sailing between Cork and Liverpool, and was last listed in 1813.
Lord Hawke was launched at Ostend in 1793, almost certainly under a different name. In 1798 she became a British privateer. The French captured her in 1799 and she became the French privateer Revanche. The British Royal Navy recaptured her in 1800. New owners returned her to her original British name. She disappeared in early 1801, presumed to have foundered with all hands.
Backhouse was launched in 1798 at Dartmouth. In all, she made four voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. 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.
Ellis was a French prize, captured in 1797, possibly built 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.
Several vessels have been named Venus for the planet Venus or the Roman goddess Venus:
Mon Oncle Thomas was a three-masted privateer from La Rochelle. She was possibly the former Spanish Rosa, of 300 to 350 tonnes, captured in 1793. From at least 1799 on she made four cruises as a privateer. She participated in the short-lived recapture of the island of Gorée from the British. She made several highly profitable captures and engaged in at least one successful single-ship action. The British Royal Navy captured her in late 1804.
Lord Duncan was launched in New Brunswick in 1798. She transferred to Britain circa 1799. A French privateer captured her in 1800 but the Royal Navy recaptured her. A second French privateer captured her in 1804 and took her into Guadeloupe.
Trelawney was launched in 1783 in Liverpool as a West Indiaman. In 1800 a French privateer captured her as Trelawney was sailing to the Mediterranean, but the Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. The ship traded with North America until she was wrecked on 19 February 1803.
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.
Mentor was launched in 1792 at Wemyss. With the out break of war with France in early 1793, the Royal Navy needed smaller vessels to protect convoys from privateers. The Navy employed Mentor as a hired armed vessel, releasing her from her contract at the end of 1801 after the signing of the Treaty of Amiens. She then returned to mercantile service, sailing first to Hamburg and then Oporto. She became a coaster on England's east coast, or a Baltic trader. She was last listed in 1832.
Oiseau was a privateer brig from Nantes, commissioned in May 1797. She had a short, but highly successful career. In her three to four months of cruising, before the Royal Navy captured her, Oiseau's captured eight prizes, seven of which were not recaptured. Her first prize required a single ship action. Her prizes had a cumulative value of Livres 1,168,150.