| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | Tartar |
| Launched | 1778, Bristol [1] |
| Captured | 1782 |
| General characteristics [2] | |
| Tons burthen | 110, or 160, or 200, or 250 [1] (bm) |
| Complement | 70, or 120 |
| Armament |
|
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.
Tartar first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR), in 1778. [1]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1778 | J[ohn] Chilcott, Jr. | Chilcott & Co. | Bristol privateer | LR |
The British Admiralty had given 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]
Tartar initially sailed as a privateer. Before Tartar sailed on her first and second cruises, her owners presented her captains with detailed instructions as to the conduct of the cruises. [lower-alpha 1]
On her first cruise, Tartar captured the American-built French brigantine Babet, which was sailing from Bordeaux to Martinique. Tartar was in company with another Bristol privateer, Albion, when they captured the snow Santa Maria.
Tartar, in company with the privateer Alexander, captured Ferme, prior to end-September 1778. Ferme was an East Indiaman, and so a major prize. Reportedly, she had been insured in London for £100,000. She was also the only major prize that Bristol privateers captured in 1778. [lower-alpha 2]
In November 1778 Tartar, in company with Saville, took a Swedish vessel that had been on her way from Venice to Bordeaux. They sent the prize into Kingroad, by Avonmouth.
In December, Tartar was off Ushant when she encountered a French frigate of 36 guns. After an engagement of one-and-a-half hours, the frigate left. Tartar had three men killed and several men wounded. [2]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1779 | J.Chilcott A[aron] Floyd [lower-alpha 3] | Chilcott & Co. | Bristol privateer | LR |
Captain Aaron Floyd acquired a letter of marque on 6 March 1779. [lower-alpha 4]
On 19 September 1779 Tartar engaged an American privateer armed with thirty 6 and 9-pounder guns for two hours before the American vessel sailed away. Tartar had suffered three men killed and 13 wounded. [6] [7]
Next, Tartar captured St Antonio E. Almas, which was carrying tobacco from Ostend to Lisbon. Tartar sent her prize into King Road, off Avonmouth. [6] The capture of St Antony Palmas, Sebastio Alfonso, master, took place on 24 September. [7]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1780 | LR not available on line | |||
| 1781 | Fraser | J.Anderson | Bristol–Africa | LR |
New owners in late 1779 sailed Tartar as a slave ship. Captain James Fraser acquired a letter of marque on 17 December 1779. He sailed from Bristol on 13 March 1780 with a crew of 60 men. Tartar started acquiring captives at Cape Coast Castle on 23 November. [lower-alpha 5] She embarked 250 captives and sailed from Africa on 1 February 1781. [8] She arrived at Barbados on 30 March. From there she sailed to Montego Bay, Jamaica. She arrived at the West Indies with 54 crew and discharged 28 at Barbados or Jamaica. Tartar sailed from Jamaica on 18 July, and arrived back at Bristol on 20 September 1781 with 26 crew members. On the way home she took on 40 tons of rice and 500 skins seized from a Spanish vessel that had been sailing from the Spanish Main to Havana. [9] [2]
On this voyage, Alexander's surgeon was Alexander Falconbridge. This was the first of four voyages that he made on board slave ships, the last being in 1787. He became an abolitionist and in 1788 published an influential account of the trade in enslaved people. [10]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1782 | Fraser | J.Anderson | Africa–Bristol Bristol–Africa | LR' lengthened 1782 |
Captain Fraser sailed from Bristol on 12 March 1782, [11] with a crew of 40 men. [12] Lloyd's List reported in August 1782 that a French vessel of 40 guns, a frigate, and a cutter had captured Tartar, of Bristol, Fraser, master, off the coast of Africa. Tartar had resisted and the capture only occurred after she had lost 10 men killed and a number of wounded. The French put Fraser and his surviving crews on Rose, of Liverpool, Stephenson, master, which the French had taken on about 9 June. The French made a cartel of Rose and she arrived at Bristol with some 200 men. [13] Other reports state that the captors were a French frigate, sloop-of-war, and cutter, and that the casualties on Tartar amounted to three men killed and five wounded. [12] A third source identified the frigate as Surveillante and the sloop as Ariel, and placed the capture as taking place off Cape Mount, West Africa. [14]
Surveillante was an Iphigénie-class 32-gun frigate of the French Navy. She took part in the Naval operations in the American Revolutionary War, where she became famous for her battle with HMS Quebec; in 1783, she brought the news that the war was over to America. She later took part in the French Revolutionary Wars, and was eventually scuttled during the Expédition d'Irlande after sustaining severe damage in a storm. The wreck was found in 1979 and is now a memorial.
HMS Otter was the French merchantman Glanure, which the Royal Navy (RN) captured early in 1778. The Royal Navy took her into service as the sloop HMS Otter and she served in the American theatre. The Navy sold her in 1783. She became a merchantman and then a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made two complete voyages bringing captives to Jamaica. The French captured her in December 1795 as she was on her way to deliver her third cargo of captives.
Vulture was built in France 1777 and captured. By early 1779 she was sailing as a privateer out of Liverpool. She then became a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made 10 voyages transporting enslaved people and was captured in 1795 on her 11th such voyage.
Duke of Buccleugh, was launched at Yarmouth in 1783. In 1789 she became a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made five complete enslaving voyages. On her fifth she had to repel an attack by a French privateer in a single ship action. A French privateer captured her in September 1797 after she had delivered her captives on her sixth voyage.
Union was launched in Philadelphia in 1774. She sailed between England, North America, and the West Indies. She made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She then returned to her previous trade. A privateer captured her in 1781.
Tartar was built in France in 1778, almost surely under another name. She was taken in prize and appears under British ownership in 1780. After a short career as a privateer, she made a voyage between 1781 and 1783 as an extra East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She then became a whaler in the northern whale fishery. After whaling she traded with the Baltic and then served as a London-based transport. She was probably lost in 1799, and was last listed in 1801. If Tartar is the vessel lost in 1799, in 1796 French warships captured her, but the Royal Navy quickly recaptured her.
Several vessels have been named Tartar:
Tartar was built in Spain in 1784, almost certainly under another name. She was taken in prize and appears under British ownership in 1799. She became a slave ship sailing from Liverpool in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was captured in late 1799 on her first enslaving voyage before she was able to embark any captives.
Harriot 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 in the triangular trade in enslaved people. 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.
Hector was launched at Bristol in 1781 as a West Indiaman. A new owner in 1802 sailed Hector as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made one complete voyage transporting enslaved people before a French privateer captured her on her second such voyage after Hector had disembarked her captives.
Tonyn was launched at Newfoundland in 1779 as Plato. Plato was renamed to Tonyn in 1781. She then traded with North America and as a West Indiaman. From 1797 she made two voyages from Liverpool as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was captured and recaptured in 1798 on her first voyage, and sunk on her second circa 1800 as she was returning home.
Mentor was launched in 1778 at Chester as a West Indiaman. She captured three vessels, including a valuable East Indiaman belonging to the French East India Company. She had an inconclusive single ship action with a French warship in 1779. She was wrecked in 1782.
Tartar was built in France in 1779, probably under another name, and taken in prize. She was in 1781 briefly a Bristol-based privateer. A French privateer captured her, but a British privateer recaptured her. She then became the merchantman Friends, and traded between Bristol and North America, primarily Newfoundland. Friends was last listed in 1793.
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.
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.
Several vessels have been named Molly:
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.
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.