Dispatch (1784 ship)


Dispatch was built in Bermuda in 1784 and came to England possibly as early as 1786. In 1792 she made a voyage carrying slaves from Africa to the West indies. She was then briefly a privateer before returning to the slave trade. The French captured her in 1795 while she was on her third slave trading voyage.

History
Great Britain
Builder: Bermuda[1]
Launched: 1784[1]
Captured: December 1795
General characteristics
Tons burthen: 73,[1] or 90[2] (bm)
Complement:
  • 1793 (April):45[2]
  • 1793 (October):12[2]
Armament:
  • 1793 (April):14 × 3-pounder guns[2]
  • 1793 (October):*6 × 3&4-pounder guns[2]

Career

Dispatch first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1789.[1] Missing issues or missing pages in extant issues mean she may have appeared earlier. Dispatch, Croke, master, first appeared in the ship arrival and departure (SAD) data in Lloyd's List (LL) in 1787.

Year Master Owner Trade Source
1789 N.Croke Kough Ross–Portsmouth LR
1791 N.Croke Kough Ross–Portsmouth LR

1st slave voyage (1792–1793): Captain Caleb Gardner sailed from Liverpool to Africa on 7 May 1792. Dispatch arrived at Saint Ann's Bay, Jamaica on 23 November. There she delivered an estimated 200 slaves. She sailed for home on 1 January 1793 and arrived back at Liverpool on 15 February 93. She had left Liverpool with 15 crewmembers and suffered one crew member death on her voyage.[3]

Shortly after Dispatch returned, war with France broke out. Her owners decided to send her privateering.

Year Master Owner Trade Source
1793 J.Gardner
J.Bellis		 Gregson & Co.
Case & Co.		 Liverpool–Africa LR
1794 J.Bellis Case & Co. Liverpool privateer LR

Captain John Bollis acquired a letter of marque on 30 April 1703.[2] LL carried only one mention of her taking any prizes. In July, the "Dispatch privateer", of Liverpool, recaptured Three Brothers, of Dartmouth, which was laden with fish.[4]

Dispatch's owners removed her from privateering. On 31 October Captain Edward Jackson acquired a letter of marque, but with a third fewer men and guns than before.[2] She then returned to the slave trade.

Year Master Owner Trade Source
1793 E.Jackson Case & Co. Liverpool–Africa LR; large repair 1794

2nd slave voyage (1793–1794): Captain Edward Jackson sailed from Liverpool on 22 December 1793, bound for West Africa. Dispatch arrived at Kingston on 15 June 1794. There she landed 146 slave. She sailed from Kingston on 9 July 1794 and arrived at 18 September 1794. She had left Liverpool with 17 crewmembers and suffered one crew death on the voyage.[5]

3rd slave voyage (1794–loss): Captain Jackson sailed from Liverpool on 20 November 1794, bound for Malembo. She sailed from Africa on 1 November.[6]

Fate

Lloyd's List reported that a French privateer had captured three British slave ships off the west coast of Hispaniola on about 15 December 1795 as they were on their way to Jamaica. Dispatch, Jackson, master, was carrying 250 slaves. Cyclops, Grice, master, carrying 470 slaves. African Queen, Williams, master, was carrying 411 slaves.[7]

Dispatch arrived at Saint Vincent, most of which was then under French control as a result of the Second Carib War. There Dispatch landed 158 slaves on 1 December.[6]

Citations
  1. LR (1789), Seq.№D120.
  2. "Letter of Marque, p.58 - accessed 25 July 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  3. Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Dispatch voyage #81047.
  4. LL 2 July 1793, №5221.
  5. Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Dispatch voyage #81048.
  6. Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Dispatch voyage #81049.
  7. Lloyd's List 30 October 1796, №2796.
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