HMS Esperance (1795)
| History | |
|---|---|
| America | |
| Builder: | American |
| Launched: | 1781 |
| Fate: | Sold 1784 |
| History | |
 UK
|
|
| Name: | Clementina |
| Owner: |
|
| Acquired: | 1784 |
| Renamed: | Ellis |
| Captured: | July 1793 |
 France
|
|
| Name: | Elize |
| Acquired: | July 1793 by capture |
| Captured: | Summer 1793 |
.svg){kind=small} Spain
|
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| Acquired: | Summer 1793 by capture |
| Captured: | November 1793 |
|
France
|
|
| Acquired: | November 1793 by capture |
| Renamed: | Esperance |
| Captured: | 8 January 1795 |
 UK
|
|
| Name: | HMS Esperance |
| Acquired: | 8 January 1795 by capture |
| Fate: | Sold 7 June 1798 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Ship-sloop |
| Displacement: | 400 tons (French) |
| Tons burthen: | 280, 300, 325 9⁄94, 333, or 345(bm) |
| Propulsion: | Sails |
| Complement: |
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| Armament: |
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HMS Esperance was launched in America in 1781, and is first listed in Lloyd's Register in 1784 under the name Clementina. She then served as a slave ship, sailing out of Liverpool. In 1786 Brent and Co. purchased her, renamed her Ellis, but still sailed her as a slaver. In 1793 she became the privateer Ellis. The French captured her, then the Spanish, and then the French recaptured her. After returning to French ownership, she became the French corvette Esperance. The Royal Navy captured her in 1795 and took her into service as HMS Esperance. Thus, in her brief military career, Esperance had changed hands four times. She was sold in 1798.
The vessel that Esperance was built in America and launched in 1781, probably under the name Clementina. She first appears in Lloyd's Register in 1783 A database of slave trading voyages by vessels from Liverpool makes clear that Clementina was a slave trader. The next year Captain J. Elworthy sailed her to West Central Africa and St Helena. He transported his slaves to South Carolina. then in 1785 Elworthy gathered slaves in the Bight of Biafra and the Gulf of Guinea Islands that he delivered to Jamaica.
In 1786 Bent & Co. purchased Clementina and renamed her Ellis, presumably after Ellis Bent. She remained in the slave trade. In 1788 Captain John Ford sailed to the Bight of Biafra and the Gulf of Guinea Islands. He delivered his slaves to the island of Grenada. The next year, 1789, Ellis was almost completely rebuilt, and from the change in subsequent reports of her burthen, enlarged.
In 1791, Captain Joseph Matthews sailed to the Gold Coast. He delivered his slaves to the island of St Vincent. During the voyage some misfortune may have befallen Matthews because command apparently transferred to Thomas Given.
In 1792, Given sailed to Bight of Biafra and the Gulf of Guinea Islands. He then delivered his slaves to Jamaica. There is a parallel record, also for 1793, that Ellis under the command of Thomas Heart, and with the same itinerary.
The history of Clementina/Ellis, as outlined in Lloyd's Register is at the end of the article in the section Lloyd's Register. The entries in Lloyd's Register are broadly consistent with respect to masters' names and years with those from the database on slave voyages.
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Wikipedia