Rebecca was launched at Charleston in 1802, possibly under another name. She first appeared in online British sources in 1805. In 1805, Rebecca began a voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people but fell prey to Spanish privateers after she had embarked captives.
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Rebecca |
| Launched | 1802, Charleston |
| Acquired | 1805 |
| Captured | 1805 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 265,[1] or 272[2] (bm) |
| Complement | 34 |
| Armament | 16 × 4&6-pounder guns[2] |
Career
editRebecca first appeared in Lloyd's Register in 1805.[1]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1805 | Thompson | M'Dowell | Liverpool–Africa | LR |
Captain William Thompson sailed from Liverpool on 18 March 1805. He acquired captives at Loango and Cabinda.[3]
Fate
editIn December 1805, Lloyd's List reported that Rebecca, Thompson, master, William, Christie, master, and Clarendon, Grice, master, had been captured at Angola on 1 September.[4] They were among the seven vessels off the Congo River that had fallen prey to a privateer.[a] The privateer was described as being of 22 guns and 350 men. Rebecca's captor sent her to the River Plate.[5]
A second report named the captors as L'Orient, of 14 guns, and Dromedario, of 22 guns. The captured vessels arrived in the River Plate before 12 November.[6]
Spanish records report that in June 1805, Viceroy Sobremonte, of Argentina, issued two letters of marque, one for Dolores (24 guns), Currand, master, and Berro y Errasquin, owner, and one for Dromedario (20 guns), Hippolito Mordel, master, and Canuerso y Masini, owner. The two sailed for the African coast, looking to capture enslaving ships. In three months of cruising Dolores captured three ships and one brig, carrying a total 600 enslaved people. Dromedario captured five ships, carrying a total of 500 enslaved people.[7]
Rebecca's entry in the 1806 volume of the Register of Shipping (RS), carried the annotation "Captured".[2]
In 1805, 30 British slave ships were lost. Thirteen were lost on the coast of Africa.[8] During the period 1793 to 1807, war, rather than maritime hazards or slave resistance, was the greatest cause of vessel losses among British slave vessels.[9]
Notes
editCitations
edit- ^ a b LR (1805), Supple. pages "R", Seq.no.R9.
- ^ a b c RS (1806), Seq. no.R99.
- ^ Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Rebecca voyage #83294.
- ^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4282. 24 December 1805. hdl:2027/uc1.c2735022.
- ^ "LIVERPOOL, DEC. 26". 28 December 1805, Lancaster Gazetter (Lancaster, England), Volume: 5, Issue: 237.
- ^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4294. 4 February 1806. hdl:2027/mdp.39015005721496.
- ^ Anon. (1864), p. 19.
- ^ Inikori (1996), p. 62.
- ^ Inikori (1996), p. 58.
References
edit- Anon. (1864). "History of the Argentine Republic: First English invasions, 1804–1806". River Plate Magazine. 2. Buenos Aires Typographical Society: 17–21.
- Inikori, Joseph (1996). "Measuring the unmeasured hazards of the Atlantic slave trade: Documents relating to the British trade". Revue française d'histoire d'outre-mer. 83 (312): 53–92. doi:10.3406/outre.1996.3457.