Moctezuma (ship)

''Montezuma'' was launched in Philadelphia in 1804. She came into British hands c.1807 after having been seized for attempting to evade the British East India Company's monopoly on British trade with India. She then initially traded with Charleston until 1811 when she went whaling in the Galápagos Islands. There the Americans captured her in 1813. Her captors sailed her to Valparaiso where the Spanish colonial government seized her.

''Montezuma'' became ''Moctezuma'' and served as a sloop of the First Chilean Navy Squadron. The Chilean Navy sold her in 1828 and she returned to mercantile service.

American East Indiaman

John Ashmead sailed ''Montezuma'' from Philadelphia on 9 April 1804, bound for Bengal. She arrived at Calcutta on 8 August. She left Calcutta on 2 December and arrived back in Philadelphia on 8 April 1804.

On 21 May 1805 ''Montezuma'', John Anley, master, sailed to Batavia. Her voyage netted a profit of $9475.75. She then made a voyage too the Cape of Good Hope on behalf of the British Government. At the start of her journey a gale blew her out of the Delaware and she had to put into New York for $2000 in repairs and refitting before she could resume her voyage. Captain Anley delivered bread and wheat.

British career

The British seized ''Montezuma'' for violating the EIC's monopoly on trading between England and India, and she was condemned at London. She first appeared in ''Lloyd's Register'' in 1807. Her master was J. Smith, her owner was A. Snowden, and her trade was Belfast–Bristol.''Lloyd's Register'' (1807), Supple. pages "M", Seq.№M68.
/ref> ''Lloyd's Register'' for 1808 showed her trade changing to London–Charleston.

''Lloyd's List'' for 1811 showed ''Montezuma''s master changing from J. Smith to D.Baxter, and her trade from London–Charleston to London–south Seas.

Captain David Baxter sailed ''Montezuma'' from England on 2 November 1811, bound for Peru.
/ref>

captured ''Montezuma'' on 29 April 1813. ''Montezuma'' had already gathered 1400 barrels of sperm oil when taken. That same day ''Essex'' captured the British whalers and ''Policy''.

American prize

The next day Captain David Porter, of ''Essex'' put a prize crew of 10 men under the command of Midshipman William H. Odenheimer aboard ''Montezuma''.

Porter sent seven of his prizes ( (ex-''Atlantic''), ''Barclay'', , , ''Montezuma'', and ) into Valparaiso. They arrived on 12 August. Two days later a storm drove ''Policy'' and ''Montezuma'' into each other with some damage to ''Montezuma''. The Americans were unable to sell their prizes. Following Porter's instructions, ''Policy'' sailed for the United States. ''Essex Junior'' then sailed to rendezvous with Porter, leaving the remaining prizes at Valparaiso.

''Montezuma'' remained moored at Valparaiso at least through spring 1814. The Chilean government refused British and American claims to her. Eventually it seized and sold her, retaining the proceeds. It is currently unclear who she was sold to and what flag she sailed under.

''Moctezuma''

''Moctezuma'' re-appeared during the first blockade of Callao by the Chilean Squadron 1819. On 24 March 1819,Eccheveria, Gerrado ''Principales naves de guerra a vela hispanoamericanas'' – retrieved 11 January 2011
/ref> the warships under the command of Thomas Cochrane captured ''Moctezuma'', as she, with a US-flag, tried to break the blockade and deliver weapons to the royalists.

''Moctezuma'' participated in the Capture of Valdivia and in the Freedom Expedition of Perú as a dispatch boat. She was left in Callao, but when Cochrane arrived (1822) there he found ''Moctezuma'' under the flag of the new Peruvian Navy. He seized her again and put her officers ashore. He was unaware that during his absence Bernardo O'Higgins had given the sloop to San Martin as a personal present.

Later she was commissioned under Lieutenant John Pascoe Grenfell for Cochrane's use as a flag ship. On 18 January 1823 Cochrane's flag as Vice Admiral of Chile was lowered for the last time from ''Moctezuma''s main mast. He then sailed to Brazil where he assumed command of the Brazilian Navy.

In late 1823–early 1824 the Chilean Navy mounted an ultimately unsuccessful expedition to Peru. The expedition consisted of the frigate ''Lautaro'', the armed schooners ''Moctezuma'' and ''Mercedes'', and the transports ''Ceres'', ''Esther'' (of Liverpool, Davis, master), ''Santa Rosa'', and .

Fate

She was sold into mercantile service in 1828.Website of the Chilean Navy
Moctezuma
retrieved on 22. January 2011

Notes

Citations

References

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*''The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History''. (2002) Volume III: 1814–1815, Chesapeake Bay, Northern Lakes, and Pacific Ocean, Part 6 of 7. (Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy, Washington.
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* {{Cite book, last=Vale, first=Brian, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r8ldyD9n56YC, title=Cochrane in the Pacific: Fortune and Freedom in Spanish America, date=2008, publisher=Bloomsbury Academic, isbn=978-1-84511-446-6, language=en

1804 ships
Ships built in Philadelphia
Age of Sail merchant ships of the United States
Age of Sail merchant ships of England
Whaling ships
Captured ships
First Chilean Navy Squadron