Port au Prince (1790 ship)
| History | |
|---|---|
 France
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| Launched: | 1790 |
| Captured: | 1793 |
| History | |
 United Kingdom
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| Name: | Port au Prince |
| Acquired: | 1793 or early 1794 by purchase |
| Fate: | Taken and scuttled 1806 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen: | 446 (1790-1795), and 466 (1796-1805) (bm) |
| Complement: |
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| Armament: |
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Port au Prince was built in France in 1790. The British Royal Navy captured her in 1793 off Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Her original name is currently unknown, but her new owners named her for her place of capture. She became a letter of marque, slave ship, and privateer cum whaler. In 1806 she anchored at a Tongan island where the local inhabitants massacred half her crew and then scuttled her.
Port au Prince's origins are obscure. Although she appears to have been pierced for a large number of guns, perusal of a compendium of French naval vessels for the period 1786-1861 does not yield any likely candidates. She first appears in Lloyd's Register in 1794 with the notes that she was built in 1790, and was a French prize.
Her captain's name is given as H. Hayne, her owner's name variously as Muilman, Mulement, or Muilmen, and her trade as Portsmouth - "SDom". This last is a little problematical as the trade remains unchanged through 1796, and France took complete control of San Domingo in 1795. Furthermore, war with France had begun already in 1793. In any case, Henry Hayne received a letter of marque for Port au Prince on 5 March 1794
Ownership changed in 1796, at about the time she underwent repairs. Her new owner was Lee & Co., and her new captain William Corran (or Curran). He received a letter of marque dated 5 August 1796. Her trade changed to Liverpool - Africa, indicating that she had become a slave ship. A database of slave voyages from Liverpool indicates that in 1797 Port au Prince gathered slaves in the Bight of Biafra and Gulf of Guinea islands and delivered them to British Guiana.
Ownership changed again in 1798. Port au Prince's new owner was Thomas Parr & Co., and her trade became London - Demerara. In 1799 and 1800 her trade was London - Martinique. For all three years her captain was George Hall, who had received a letter of marque for her on 25 November 1797.
R. Bent & Co. acquired Port au Prince in 1800. Robert Bent had previously owned the slave ship Ellis, which the French Navy had captured in 1793. Her captain was Charles Kneal (or Kneale), who received a letter of marque on 7 June 1800. Her trade again became Liverpool - Africa. In 1801 Kneal gathered slaves in the Bight of Biafra and Gulf of Guinea islands, and delivered them to Jamaica.
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Wikipedia