Urania (1800 ship)

Last updated

History
British-Red-Ensign-1707.svgGreat Britain
NameUrania
Namesake Urania
Launched1795, Spain [1]
Acquired1800
FateCondemned 1804
General characteristics
Tons burthen155 [1] (bm)
Armament12 × 4-pounder guns [1]

Urania was launched in 1795 in Spain and taken in prize. Starting in 1800 she made three voyages from Liverpool as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. During the third voyage she was involved in two engagements with French vessels. She was so damaged in the second of these engagements that she was condemned in 1804 after she landed her captives at Demerara.

Contents

Career

Urania does not appear to have ever received a letter of marque.

1st voyage transporting enslaved people (1800–1801): Captain David Williams sailed from Liverpool on 30 December 1800. [2] In 1800, 133 vessels sailed from English port, bound for Africa to acquire and transport enslaved people; 120 of these vessels sailed from Liverpool. [3]

Urania acquired captives at New Calabar and arrived at St Vincent on 29 July 1801. Urania sailed for Liverpool on 6 September and arrived there on 29 October. She had left Liverpool with 24 crew members and suffered one crew death on her voyage. [2]

2nd voyage transporting enslaved people (1802): Captain John Preston sailed from Liverpool on 12 February 1802. [4] In 1802, 155 vessels sailed from English port, bound for Africa to acquire and transport enslaved people; 122 of these vessels sailed from Liverpool. [3]

Urania arrived at the Bahamas on 20 July with 189 captives. She left on 11 September and arrived back at Liverpool on 20 October. She had left Liverpool with 18 crew members and had suffered two crew deaths on her voyage. [4]

Urania did not appear in Lloyd's Register (LR) until 1804. [1]

YearMasterOwnerTradeSource
1804C.M.LyonWinder & Co.Liverpool–AfricaLR

3rd voyage transporting enslaved people (1804):Urania sailed from Liverpool on 13 February 1804. [5] It is not clear who her master was. A key source gives the name of her master as John Ramsey. [5] However, the accounts of her encounter with a French warship gives it as Lyon. She sailed from Liverpool on 13 February, [5] in company with Kitty's Amelia and Laurel. [6] In 1804, 147 vessels sailed from English port, bound for Africa to acquire and transport enslaved people; 126 of these vessels sailed from Liverpool. [3]

Urania, Laurel, and Kitty's Amelia were out only three days when they encountered a French warship. They were able to escape though Laurel had one man killed and two wounded, and Urania had two men wounded. [7] [6] She acquired captives at Angola, [8] more specifically at Loango and Malembo.

At some point Thomas Mellor replaced C.M.Lyon or John Ramsey as master. [5]

Lloyd's List reported in January 1805 that Laurel, Phillips, master, and Urania, Melling, master, had encountered a French vessel while they were off Suriname on their way to Demerara. Phillips and his chief mate were killed, and Urania had suffered so much damage it was feared that she would be condemned. [9]

Urania arrived at Demerara on 19 November 1804 with 187 captives and sold them there. [5] The Essequebo and Demerary Gazette of 24 November 1804 reported that "on Wednesday the 28th Instant, at the Store of Robert Younghusband Esqr. A small Cargo of Healthy Young Angola Slaves; Imported in the Ship Urania, Capt. Mellor."

Urania had left Liverpool with 25 crew members and had suffered two crew deaths on her voyage. [5]

Fate

Urania was condemned at Demerara. [5]

In 1804, 30 British vessels in the triangular trade were lost; 11 were lost in the Middle Passage, i.e., in the leg delivering captives to the west Indies. [10] 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 vessels transporting enslaved people. [11]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 LR (1804), Supple. pages "UV", Seq.no.UV13.
  2. 1 2 Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Urania voyage #83914.
  3. 1 2 3 Williams (1897), p. 680.
  4. 1 2 Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Urania voyage #83915.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Urania voyage #83916.
  6. 1 2 Hand (1932), p. 70.
  7. "LIVERPOOL, JULY 28", 28 July 1804, Lancaster Gazetter (Lancaster, England) Volume: 4, Issue: 163.]
  8. "LIVERPOOL, NOV. 15", 24 November 1804, Lancaster Gazetter (Lancaster, England) Volume: 4, Issue: 180.
  9. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4186. 25 January 1805. hdl:2027/uc1.c2735022.
  10. Inikori (1996), p. 62.
  11. Inikori (1996), p. 58.

Related Research Articles

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.

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.

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.

Minerva was launched in 1795 at Lancaster as a West Indiaman. In 1801 she was captured but immediately recaptured. Between 1802 and 1808 she made five voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was last listed in 1816.

Minerva was built in the Americas in 1791 and taken in prize from the Spanish. She made six voyages from London as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She is last listed in 1813 but with data stale since her last voyage transporting enslaved people in 1807.

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.

Active was launched at Bermuda in 1789. She transferred to Liverpool circa 1798 and then spent a few years as a West Indiaman. Between 1802 and 1803 she made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved persons. She was captured off West Africa around late 1804 on her second voyage before she could start acquiring slaves.

Prudence was built in Philadelphia in 1796. Between 1801 and 1803 she made two complete voyages from Liverpool as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was captured around late 1803 on her third voyage before she could purchase captives.

Alexander was launched in France or Spain in 1797, probably under another name, and taken in prize circa 1799, when she was lengthened and raised. She was registered at Liverpool in 1801 and proceeded to make six voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She then sailed to Brazil and the West Indies and was last listed in 1809.

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.

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.

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.

Princess Amelia was launched in 1798 at Liverpool. She made eight complete voyages as a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. After the end of British participation in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, she became a merchantman. She was probably the Princess Amelia, from Liverpool, that was lost in 1810.

Dart was launched at Plymouth in 1787. Dart initially traded with Newfoundland and then the Mediterranean. From 1797 she made four voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was condemned at Barbados in 1802 as she was returning to London after having delivered captives to Demerara.

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.

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.

References