History | |
---|---|
Great Britain | |
Name | Alfred |
Launched | 1780, Sunderland |
Renamed | Vigilant (1783) |
Captured | 1786 |
Fate | Lost 1786 |
General characteristics | |
Tons burthen | 280 (bm) |
Vigilant was launched in 1780 at Sunderland as Alfred but in 1783 new owners renamed her. She became a West Indiaman and then a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. As she was gathering slaves on the coast of Africa the slaves on board captured her and ran her aground, a relatively rare instance of a shipboard insurrection, and a successful one at that.
Alfred first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1783.
Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|
1783 | R.Kellock | E.Askell | Stockholm–Hull | LR |
In 1783 new owners renamed AlfredVigilant. [1]
Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|
1784 | Barnwell | A.Calvert | London–New York | LR |
1786 | J.Duncan | A.Calvert | London–Barbados | LR |
Slave voyage and loss: Captain J. Duncan sailed from London on 28 March 1786. [2] In October Lloyd's List reported that the Vigilant was at Assamaboe when the enslaved people on board took her over, killed Duncan and the second mate, and ran her ashore. [3]
The 1787 volume of Lloyd's Register carried the annotation "Lost" under her name. [4]
The revolt is one of 493 that appear in a chronology of slave revolts between 1509 and 1865, [5] but with no additional information. Inikori too listed the revolt on Vigilant, with the same information. [6] He also found that of 186 vessels lost to shipwrecks, slave insurrections and attacks by coastal natives, 79 were lost to insurrection and conflict with coastal Africans. [7] Behrendt, in his study of captains in the British slave trade between 1785 and 1807, focused on captains from Liverpool and Bristol. Duncan, therefore, did not enter the study. Still, Behrendt found that although 214 captains died, amounting to 27% of all captains in the trade, only three, or about 1% of the deaths, were due to slave uprisings. [8] Richardson, in his study of slave revolts, found a relatively high incidence of shipboard slave revolts in Senegambia and Upper Guinea, and a generally lower incidence of revolts on ships in the Gold Coast, Bight of Benin, Bight of Biafra, and West Central Africa. [9] All of this suggests that Vigilant's fate, though not unique, was relatively rare.
Britannia, was a vessel launched in 1783 at Saltcoats, possibly under another name. She made four voyages from Liverpool as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She grounded at Liverpool in 1793 after the first. A French privateer captured her in 1795 during the second, and took her to Guadeloupe where the Republican Government almost certainly freed the captives. She returned to British ownership and made two more voyages as a slave ship. A French privateer captured her during her fourth voyage.
Banastre, was built at Ringsend, Dublin, in 1759, though under what name is unclear. By 1787 she was in the hands of the Tarletons and Daniel Backhouse of Liverpool. She made five complete voyages as a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade, transporting enslaved people from West Africa to the Caribbean. On her first voyage an incident in which one enslaver fired on her led to a landmark court case. A French warship captured her in 1793 as she was on her way from West Africa to Jamaica on her sixth voyage transporting captives.
Iris was launched at Liverpool as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. In all she made eight voyages (1783-1800) transporting captives from West Africa to the Caribbean. She also made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) to Bengal and back (1795-1796). She was condemned in Jamaica in December 1800 as unseaworthy.
Albion was launched at Liverpool in 1783. She made two voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people before she was sold to a Bristol merchant. She then made two more enslaving voyages. In 1793 as she was on the homeward-bound leg of her fourth voyage a vessel ran into her and Albion's crew abandoned her. She then drifted to Salem, Massachusetts, where she was recovered. She was sold in Boston.
African Queen was built at Folkestone in 1780, though almost surely under a different name. In 1792, she became a Bristol-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made two complete voyages transporting enslaved people. On the first of these voyages she suffered a high mortality, both among her captives and her captains and crew. A privateer captured her in 1795 as she was on her way to Jamaica with captives while on her third voyage transporting enslaved people.
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.
Prince was launched at Bristol in 1785 as Alexander and then made two complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Her owners changed her name to Prince in 1787. As Prince, she made six more complete voyages as an enslaving ship. She sailed on enslaving voyages for owners in Bristol, Liverpool, and London. She foundered in 1800 as she was returning to England from her ninth, having delivered captives to Jamaica.
HMS Garland was a frigate of the British Royal Navy, launched at Sheerness in 1748. She had an apparently uneventful career in the Royal Navy, not being listed as participating in engagements or battles. She did capture some French and American merchant vessels. Her most important capture in 1782, was that of the privateer Fair American, which had in some two years captured over 40 British vessels. The Navy sold her in 1783 and she became a slave ship, making six full voyages in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was wrecked as she started for home having delivered the captives from her seventh voyage.
Duchess of York was a Spanish prize that started on a voyage as a slave ship. She was cut off on the coast of Africa in 1807 on her first slave trading voyage and disappears.
Cadiz Dispatch was launched at Liverpool in 1785. Until 1791 she traded between London and Spain. From 1791 she made two voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. On the second she was subject first to a maritime incident and then to an unsuccessful insurrection by her captives. Still, she delivered her captives to St Vincent. She was condemned in 1795 at Tortola on her way home.
Liverpool Hero was built in France in 1777, probably as Jeune Emilia. She was taken in prize in 1780. In 1781 she entered into the triangular trade in enslaved people. From 1781 she made six complete voyages from Liverpool as a slave ship. On her fourth enslaving voyage she suffered an exceptionally high mortality rate among the captives she had embarked. Her third voyage had been marred by high mortality, but on the fourth 330 captives, 59% of the number she had embarked, died. She was lost in 1794 off the coast of Africa on her seventh voyage, probably with her crew and captives.
Molly was launched at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1783. From at least 1785 on she sailed from Lancaster as a West Indiaman. In 1792 she made one voyage as a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. A French squadron captured her in 1794 at the outset of her second slave voyage, before she could acquire any slaves.
Onslow was a Spanish vessel launched in 1789 that was taken in prize in 1795. She became a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made one complete slave trading voyage before a French privateer captured her in 1797 as she was just on her way to embark slaves for a second voyage.
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.
Nassau was launched at New Providence in 1784. From 1785 to 1792 she sailed from London to New Providence, Philadelphia, Jamaica, Smyrna, and Quebec. A new owner in 1792 moved her registration and homeport to Bristol to sail her as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made one complete slave trading voyage. A French squadron captured and burnt her in 1794 as she was on her way to Africa on her second such voyage.
Chaser first appeared under that name in British records in 1786. She had been launched in 1771 at Philadelphia under another name, probably Lord North. Lord North became Cotton Planter, and then Planter, before she became Chaser. Between 1786 and 1790 Chaser made four voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She then became a merchantman. In 1794 a privateer captured her but the Spanish recaptured her. She became a Liverpool-based Slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. In 1796 she was condemned in West Africa on her first voyage in the triangular trade before she could embark any enslaved people.
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.
Doe was built in 1780, in the Thirteen Colonies, possibly under another name. She was taken in prize. Between 1783 and 1786 Doe made three complete voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. New owners in 1787 renamed Doe to Ellen. Ellen was registered in Liverpool in 1787. Between 1789 and 1792, she made two complete voyages transporting enslaved people. A French privateer captured her in 1793 as she was on her way to the West Indies having embarked captives in Africa on her sixth voyage transporting enslaved people.
Golden Age was launched at Havana in 1779, almost certainly under another name. She was taken in prize circa 1783. From late 1783 she sailed from Liverpool as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She made four complete voyages. On her third her captives rebelled, but were unsuccessful. A French private frigate captured her in 1793 after she had disembarked her captives from her fifth enslaving voyage. Her captors took her into Philadelphia where she was sold to a French owner who named her Republican, and sailed her to France.
Brothers was launched in the Thirteen Colonies in 1772, probably under another name. From 1785 she became a Bristol-based slave ship. She made six complete voyages in the triangular trade, in all embarking 1880 enslaved people. The French captured her in December 1794 as she was on the first leg of her seventh such voyage and before she had embarked any captives. The main source for this article provided detail on crew turnover and death rates for her first three voyages. The first voyage had a particularly heavy mortality rate among the crew. The main source also provided data for her fourth, fifth, and sixth voyages for mortality rates on the Middle Passage among the enslaved people that she was carrying.