''Amazon'' was launched in France in 1775 under another name and taken in prize in 1780. British owners named her ''Amazon'' and she became a

West Indiaman West Indiaman was a general name for any merchantman sailing ship making runs from the Old World to the West Indies and the east coast of the Americas. These ships were generally strong ocean-going ships capable of handling storms in the Atlantic ...

. In 1782 an American letter-of-marque, a former British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

frigate, captured her, but the Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. She then became ''Dumfries''. She may have been renamed again. She reappeared as ''Amazon'' in 1790, and traded between London and

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

. In 1798 she made one voyage for the British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sout ...

(EIC) between 1797 and 1798. She then made three voyages as a

slave ship Slave ships were large cargo ships specially built or converted from the 17th to the 19th century for transporting slaves. Such ships were also known as "Guineamen" because the trade involved human trafficking to and from the Guinea coast i ...

between 1800 and 1804. Her subsequent history is currently obscure.

Career

''Amazon'' appears in ''

Lloyd's Register Lloyd's Register Group Limited (LR) is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research and education in science and ...

'' in 1781 with W. Gray, master, Robinson & Co., owners, and trade London–Jamaica.''Lloyd's Register'' (1781), Seq. №A138.
/ref> Then on 16 August 1782, ''

Lloyd's List ''Lloyd's List'' is one of the world's oldest continuously running journals, having provided weekly shipping news in London as early as 1734. It was published daily until 2013 (when the final print issue, number 60,850, was published), and is ...

'' reported that the transport ''Amazon'', Gray, master, had been taken while carrying clothing to Quebec. Her captor was the American letter of marque ''Flora'', formerly HMS ''Flora'', which sent her capture to Bordeaux. However, shortly thereafter recaptured ''Amazon'' and sent her into Newfoundland. In 1793 ''Portland''s officers and crew received

prize A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

money for the recapture of ''Amazon'' and her cargo.

''Dumfries''

In 1783 ''Amazon'' was renamed ''Dumfries'', with Nicholson, master, and trade London transport.''Lloyd's Register'' (1783), Seq.№A130.
/ref> She had damages repaired in 1783, and in 1784 her master was J. Tullock. Her owner was still Robinson, but her trade was now London–West Indies. She may then have been resold or renamed because both ''Amazon'' and ''Dumfries'' disappear from ''Lloyd's Register'' for some years.

''Amazon'' again

''Amazon'' reappears in ''Lloyd's Register'' in 1790 with Waring, master, Chapman, owner, and trade London−Smyrna. She had undergone "good repairs" in 1785 and 1790. In 1792 she received a "thorough repair" and her master became R. Stanning. Waring became master of . On 19 April 1791 ''

'' reported that ''Amazon'', Waring, master, had returned from Smyrna. ''Lloyd's Register'' for 1795 (published in 1794), showed Waring again as master, though her trade remained London–Smyrna.''Lloyd's List'' (1795), Seq.№A242.
/ref> Captain William Waring acquired a letter of marque on 19 September 1794.

EIC voyage

Waring sailed from Falmouth on 16 February 1797, bound for China. ''Amazon'' arrived at

Whampoa Anchorage Pazhou is a subdistrict of Haizhu in southeastern Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, in China. , formerly Whampoa Island, has a total area of and is the site of Pazhou Pagoda. Its eastern bay was formerly the chief anchorage for ships part ...

on 11 July. Homeward bound, she was at Lintin on 1 January 1798 and Malacca on 16 January. She reached the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is ...

on 18 March and

St Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

on 14 April. She was at Cork on 25 June and arrived at Long Reach on 11 July. At some point Charles Hooper replaced Waring as master, but when and why is currently not clear.British Library: ''Amazon''.
/ref> ''Lloyd's List'' for 1799 showed ''Amazon''s master changing from Waring to M'Dowell, and her ownership from Chapman to Cullen.

Slave ship

''Amazon'' became a slave ship and made three voyages transporting slaves from West Africa to the Caribbean.Slave voyages database.
/ref> First slave voyage (1799–1800): Captain William Grahame acquired a letter of marque on 25 February 1799. He sailed from Liverpool on 10 March 1799, bound for the

Bight of Biafra The Bight of Biafra (known as the Bight of Bonny in Nigeria) is a bight off the West African coast, in the easternmost part of the Gulf of Guinea. Geography The Bight of Biafra, or Mafra (named after the town Mafra in southern Portugal), betwe ...

and the Gulf of Guinea Islands. He gathered his slaves at

Calabar Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language. The city is adjacent to the Calabar and Great Kwa rivers and ...

and delivered them to Kingston, Jamaica, on 16 January 1800. He had embarked 426 slaves and disembarked 390, for a loss rate of 8.5%. ''Amazon'' left Jamaica on 31 May 1800. ''Amazon'' left the Jamaica fleet on 10 June, and arrived back at Liverpool on 16 July 1800. She had had a crew of 62 and suffered 23 crew deaths on the voyage. Second slave voyage (1800–1802): captain James Cosnahan acquired a letter of marque on 6 December 1800. He sailed from Liverpool on 30 December 1800, bound for the

and the Gulf of Guinea Islands. He gathered his slaves at Bonny and

and delivered them to Kingston, Jamaica, on 16 August 1801. He had embarked 358 slaves and disembarked 323, for a loss rate of 9.8%. ''Amazon'' sailed for England on 25 March 1802. She had to put back leaky, but still arrived at Liverpool on 19 May. She had 15 deaths among her crew of 43. Third slave voyage (1802–1803): Captain John Hunter sailed from Liverpool on 22 October 1802 for Africa and arrived at Havana in July 1803 with 396 slaves.

Fate

There is no further data on ''Amazon''. A brig ''Amazon'', Wales, master, was taken on 10 October 1803 off Cape Antonio as she was sailing from Jamaica to Halifax,''Lloyd's List'' №4441.
/ref> but it is not currently possible to determine definitively whether she was or was not the slaver ''Amazon''.

Data from the registers

The following table presents data from ''Lloyd's Register'': The following table presents data from the ''Register of Shipping'':

Notes, citations, and references

Notes Citations References *{{cite book , last=Hackman , first=Rowan , year=2001 , title=Ships of the East India Company , location=Gravesend, Kent , publisher=World Ship Society , isbn=0-905617-96-7 1775 ships Ships built in France Captured ships Age of Sail merchant ships of England Ships of the British East India Company Liverpool slave ships