This is a list of slave ships. These were ships used to carry enslaved people, mainly in the

Atlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade, transatlantic slave trade, or Euro-American slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and ...

between the 16th and the 19th centuries. * was launched in Liverpool in 1777. She traded locally until 1781 when her owners renamed her ''Spy'' and placed her in the slave trade The French Navy captured her in 1782 in the West Indies as she was arriving to deliver her cargo of enslaved people. * ''Ajax'' Brig mentioned in Bernard Raux slave trade papers, 1828-1836, Harvard University Library. * was built at Batavia in 1792 and captured in 1797. She sailed from London on 20 May 1798 to gather slaves from Africa. She embarked slaves at

Anomabu Anomabu, also spelled Anomabo and formerly as Annamaboe, is a town on the coast of the Mfantsiman Municipal District of the Central Region of South Ghana. Anomabu has a settlement population of 14,389 people. Anomabu is located 12 km east ...

, and later was reported off Grenada on her way to Jamaica. Her subsequent fate is currently unknown. * was Spanish slave ship captured near

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

in 1820 with 283 slaves aboard, leading to '' The Antelope'' case. * ''Ariel'' Brig mentioned in Bernard Raux slave trade papers, 1828-1836, Harvard University Library. * , along with ''Duc du Maine'', the first French slave ships that brought the first slaves to

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...

. * , general-purpose

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

that also carried slaves on occasion. A successful slave revolt on ship gave rise to a case that reached the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

in '' United States v. The Amistad''. * was launched at Chester. She initially sailed as 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 1792–1793 she made one voyage as a slave ship. Once in 1796 and again in 1797 she repelled attacks by French privateers in

single-ship action A single-ship action is a naval engagement fought between two warships of opposing sides, excluding submarine engagements; called so because there is a single ship on each side. The following is a list of notable single-ship actions. Single-shi ...

s. ''Backhouse'' made four more slave trading voyages and then returned to the West Indies trade. After about 1809 she became a London coaster and was last listed in 1813. * was launched at Dartmouth. In all, she made four 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 ...

. Between the second and the third, and after the fourth, she was a West Indiaman. A French privateer captured her early in 1810 as she was returning to Britain from Brazil. * ''

Beeckestijn Beeckestijn is a historical buitenplaats (summer house) dating from the 18th century in a park by the same name in Velsen-Zuid, Netherlands. History The Beeckestijn site was a buitenplaats in the 15th and 16th centuries before the current Engli ...

'',

Dutch West India Company The Dutch West India Company ( nl, Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie, ''WIC'' or ''GWC''; ; en, Chartered West India Company) was a chartered company of Dutch merchants as well as foreign investors. Among its founders was Willem Usselincx ...

slaver 1722-1736. * , sailing in the 1780s. * , was a vessel launched in 1788 at New Brunswick. She made one complete slave trading voyage taking slaves from West Africa to Jamaica. The French captured her on the outward leg of her second voyage. * ''City of Norfolk'', fitted out in New York City by Albert Horn. * , burned and sunk at Mobile, in 1859 or 1860. * ''Cora'', captured by in 1860. * ''Creole'', involved in the United States coastwise slave trade and the scene of a slave rebellion in 1841, leading to the ''Creole'' case. * ''Desire'', first American slave ship. * ''Duncan'', a Rhode Island slave ship on the African coast in August 1775. * , along with ''Aurore'', the first French slave ships that brought the first slaves to Louisiana. * ''Elisabeth'', sailing from

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

for

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali ...

. * was launched at Bermuda in 1786 (or 1790). She first 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 1802. She then made four voyages as a slave ship, during the second of which a French

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

captured her; the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

quickly recaptured her. After the end of the British slave trade in 1807, she spent a little over a year as a hired armed tender under contract to the British

. She returned to mercantile service trading with Madeira or Africa, until in late in 1809 another French privateer captured her. * was launched at Lancaster in 1798. She made five complete voyages as a slave ship. Spanish privateers captured her in 1805 while she was on her sixth slave voyage after she had embarked slaves. * was launched at Liverpool. A French privateer captured her in 1807 while she was on her first voyage as a slave ship. * ''Erie'', the ship owned and captained by

Nathaniel Gordon Nathaniel Gordon (February 6, 1826 – February 21, 1862) was the only slave trader in the U.S. to be tried, convicted, and executed for having "engaged in the slave trade," under the Piracy Law of 1820. Early life Gordon was born in Port ...

, the only American executed for slave trading * ''Esmeralda'', captured 1 November 1864 off Loango, West Coast of Africa, by HMS ''Rattler'' (1864) and Taken to St. Helena to prize court by C.G. Nelson midshipman in command. * ''Fletcher'', 1771-1783 ship owned by John Fletcher of London and mastered by Peleg Clarke of Newport, Rhode Island carried tea to the colonies and slaves to Jamaica. * , Danish slave ship, sank in 1768 off Tromøya in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

, after a journey in the

triangular trade Triangular trade or triangle trade is trade between three ports or regions. Triangular trade usually evolves when a region has export commodities that are not required in the region from which its major imports come. It has been used to offset ...

. wrote a book about the journey. * ''Gallito'', Spanish slave ship carrying 136 Africans when captured by 16 November 1829. * , Spanish slave ship wrecked in the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and e ...

in 1827 carrying 561 Africans. *

Hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The g ...

, a slave ship that plied the Atlantic slave trade. * , an English slaver of the Atlantic slave trade. * ''The Hawk'', ''The Hawk'' sailed for Calabar, with instructions to buy 340 slaves. * ''Hebe'', Portuguese slave ship carrying 401 Angolans when captured by 13 July 1832. * , sank in 1700 near

Marquesas Keys The Marquesas Keys form an uninhabited island group about west of Key West, in diameter, and largely covered by mangrove forest. They are an unincorporated area of Monroe County, Florida and belong to the Lower Keys Census County Division. The ...

, Florida, excavated in 1980s. * , a

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoo ...

whose 1840 grounding in the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the a ...

led to a controversy between the US and Britain over the 38 slaves who had been on board the ship. * , American

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the latter part ...

that brought slaves to

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

* , British slave ship that brought the first 150 African slaves to the American port of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

in 1684. * ''Jamaica Planter'', Mr. George Burton, merchant of London, was slave trading on Gold Coast and West Indies in 1775. * ''James'', was launched in Spain in 1802, almost certainly under another name. She was captured in 1804 and registered in Liverpool in 1806. Captain Robert Tyrer carried ~250 slaves during two voyages. She was condemned after having delivered the captives from her second enslaving voyage. * ''Joaquina'', Spanish slave ship carrying 348 Africans when captured by 10 November 1833. * ''Josefa'', Spanish schooner carrying 206 slaves when captured by 7 April 1829. * , a 700-ton ship used on the second voyage of

John Hawkins John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

to transport 400 captured Africans in 1564.

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

was his partner and rented him the vessel. * ''King David'', sailing from St Christophers, on St Kitts in the Caribbean 1749. * ''La Concord'', a slave ship captured by the

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

Blackbeard (Edward Teach), used as his

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the ...

and renamed . Run aground in June 1718. * ''La Negrita'', Spanish slave ship carrying 189 Africans when captured by May 1833. * ''

Leusden Leusden () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It is located about 3 kilometres southeast of Amersfoort. The western part of the municipality lies on the slopes of the Utrecht Hill Ridge and is largely co ...

'', Dutch West Indies Company slave ship wrecked in 1738 at the mouth of the Maroni river in Surinam where the crew killed nearly 700 African slaves. * ''Louisiana'' Brig mentioned in Bernard Raux slave trade papers, 1828-1836, Harvard University Library
WorldCat link
* . See '' Roots: The Saga of an American Family'' by

Alex Haley Alexander Murray Palmer Haley (August 11, 1921 – February 10, 1992) was an American writer and the author of the 1976 book '' Roots: The Saga of an American Family.'' ABC adapted the book as a television miniseries of the same name and ...

. * ''Lune'', a British ship, launched in 1794 at New Brunswick, possibly under another name. She first appeared in British records in 1798. She made one complete voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in slaves. A French privateer captured her in 1800 early in her second voyage before she reached Africa.''LR'' (1798), Seq.No.L299.
/ref>Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – ''Lune'' voyage #82409.
/ref> * ''Don Francisco'', a slave ship captured in 1837. Sold as a colonial trader and renamed . Excavated by

Western Australian Museum The Western Australian Museum is a statutory authority within the Culture and the Arts Portfolio, established under the ''Museum Act 1969''. The museum has six main sites. The state museum, now known as WA Museum Boola Bardip, officially re-ope ...

in 1974. * , 1567. John Hawkins captured this ship and transported 400 Africans. * * was launched in 1796 in the United States. She made one voyage as a slave ship in between May 1803 and late 1804, when she was captured. * ''Manuela'', built as

clipper ship A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "Cl ...

, captured by in

Mozambique Channel The Mozambique Channel (french: Canal du Mozambique, mg, Lakandranon'i Mozambika, pt, Canal de Moçambique) is an arm of the Indian Ocean located between the Southeast African countries of Madagascar and Mozambique. The channel is about l ...

with over 800 slaves aboard. *''

Marie Séraphique The ''Marie Séraphique'' was a late 18th-century slave ship that made six slave voyages out of Nantes, France. There are two illustrations of the ship that show how captives travelled, believed to have been painted by the captain and second lieu ...

'', French vessel sailing from Nantes *''Manuelita'', Spanish slave ship carrying 485 Africans when captured by 7 December 1833. * , confiscated and sunk as part of the Stone fleet in 1862 * , a

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

ship active between southern Africa and Madagascar, whose final voyage in 1766 ended in mutiny by the slaves: around half the crew and nearly 30 Malagasy died, and the ship was destroyed. * ''Midas'', 360-ton Spanish slave ship captured by 27 June 1829. ''Midas'' had left Africa in April 1829 with 562 Africans, but only 369 were still alive when she was captured, and 72 more died of "smallpox, diarrhea & scurvy" before ''Monkey'' and could take ''Midas'' into Havana. * was launched in 1769 at Liverpool. In 1776 she made one voyage as a slave ship. After, and possibly before, she was a West Indiaman. While sailing under a letter of marque, she captured some notable

prizes 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.

. Two French frigates captured her on 4 September 1782. * ''Molly'' was launched in Liverpool in 1775 as . ''Badger'' made one voyage as a slave ship. New owners renamed her ''Molly'' in 1778 and sailed her as a West Indiaman. In 1779 she repelled an American privateer in a sanguinary

single ship action A single-ship action is a naval engagement fought between two warships of opposing sides, excluding submarine engagements; called so because there is a single ship on each side. The following is a list of notable single-ship actions. Single-shi ...

. Her owners renamed her ''Lydia''. While trading with Tortola she captured one or two

prizes 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.

. ''Lydia'' was herself captured in 1782. * was launched at Liverpool in 1778 as a slave ship. Between 1778 and 1807 she made 18 complete voyages as a slave ship. During this period she also suffered one major maritime incident and captured two ships. After the end of Britain's involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, ''Molly'' became a merchantman trading with the West Indies, Africa, Brazil, Nova Scotia, and Africa again. She was last listed in 1832, giving her a 54-year career. * ''Nancy'' 1793 voyage John B. Cook, master in which the slaves revolted * , clipper ship captured by near

Cabinda, Angola Cabinda, also known as Chioua, is a city and a municipality located in the Cabinda Province, an exclave of Angola. Angolan sovereignty over Cabinda is disputed by the secessionist Republic of Cabinda. The city of Cabinda had a population of 550, ...

in 1861 with 961 slaves aboard. * was built in Spain in 1786 and was taken in prize. She first appears in readily accessible British records in 1800. She made two complete voyages as a slave ship, foundering on her third after having disembarked her slaves. * was launched at Nantes in 1795 and was captured or purchased from the French in 1802. She then made four voyages as a slave ship. Between her first and second slave trading voyages she cruised for less than a year as a privateer. With the abolition in 1807 of the slave trade, ''Nile'' became a regular merchantman, but now trading with Africa. She was sold in Barbados in 1811. * , American-built

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts having the fore- and mainmasts rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) rigged fore and aft. Sometimes, the mizzen is only partly fore-and-aft rigged, b ...

captured by on 1 December 1845 with 850–900 slaves. * ''Providencia'', Spanish brig carrying 400 slaves when captured by in 1829. * was built in France in 1779. The British captured her in 1781 and in 1789 she was a

whaler A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Japa ...

in the northern whale fishery (Greenland and

Davis Strait Davis Strait is a northern arm of the Atlantic Ocean that lies north of the Labrador Sea. It lies between mid-western Greenland and Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada. To the north is Baffin Bay. The strait was named for the English explorer John ...

). Then in December 1788 she left on the first of three voyages as a slave ship. On her third voyage as a slave ship ''Robust'' captured a French slave ship and recaptured two British slave ships that a French privateer had captured earlier. After her third voyage as a slaver owners shifted her registry to Bristol and she then made two voyages to the southern whale fishery. She returned from the second voyage in 1797 and is last listed in 1798. * was a vessel built at Nantes in 1789 as a slave ship that made her first and only slave-trading voyage in 1789-90. The French navy purchased her in December 1793 and she served as a 22-gun corvette in the Channel. The British captured her in 1796 and took her into the

as HMS ''Scourge''. She captured a number of French privateers, primarily in the West Indies, before the navy sold her in 1802. * , a Portuguese slave ship which sank off the coast of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

in 1794 killing over 200 of the enslaved men and women. * was launched at Liverpool. She then made six voyages carrying slaves from West Africa to the West Indies. A French privateer captured ''Sarah'' in 1803 on her seventh voyage. * was launched in Spain in 1791, presumably under another name. The British captured her c.1798. She made five voyages as a

before a Spanish privateer captured her in 1805. On her fourth voyage ''Sarah'' had captured two French slave ships at Loanga. * was launched at Liverpool. She made a short voyage as a privateer during which she captured a valuable prize. She then made two voyages as a slave ship. A French naval squadron captured her early in her third slaving voyage. * , Portuguese slave ship that transported the slaves who would later revolt aboard ''La Amistad''. * was launched at Southampton in 1790. Until 1798 she sailed across the Atlantic, trading primarily with

The Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the a ...

. She then made seven slave trading voyages. After the abolition of the British slave trade in 1807, ''Thames'' returned to trading with the West Indies. A French privateer captured ''Thames'' on 17 July 1811 and burnt her. * was launched in London. The French captured her in late 1795, but the British

recaptured her within weeks. She then disappeared from the Registers for some years. She reappeared as ''Thames'' in 1800, sailing as a

. In 1802 she made one full voyage as a slave ship. French privateers captured her in 1805 after she had gathered slaves in West Africa but before she could deliver them to a port in the British Caribbean. * ''Triton'' captured by USS ''Constellation'' in 1861. * , wrecked in

Turks and Caicos The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and n ...

1841. 193 slaves survived. Project commenced in 2004 to locate the ship. * was launched in France in 1777, captured, and became first a Liverpool privateer and then slave ship. She made some 10 voyages carrying slaves until the French captured her in 1794 early into her eleventh such voyage. * ''Wanderer'', formerly last slave ship to the U.S. (November 1858) until reported in 1859 or 1860. * ''Wildfire'', a barque, arrested off the Florida coast by the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

in 1860; carrying 450 slaves.Harper's Weekly, 2 June 1860, p344
Online at The Slave Heritage Resource Center
accessed 3 July 2006. * , a ship that transported cargo, passengers, and slaves. Captured by the pirate Captain Samuel "Black Sam" Bellamy and used for piracy, eventually grounded during a Nor'easter at

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

and sunk in April 1717. * ''Zong'', a British slave ship infamous for the 1781 massacre of 132 sick and dying slaves who were thrown overboard in an attempt to guarantee that the ship's owners could collect on their cargo insurance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slave ships Lists of sailing ships Lists of ships

List of Slave ships This is a list of slave ships. These were ships used to carry enslaved people, mainly in the Atlantic slave trade between the 16th and the 19th centuries. * was launched in Liverpool in 1777. She traded locally until 1781 when her owners re ...