Roe (1797 ship)

For other ships with the same name, see Roe (ship).

History
France
Launched| 1787[1]
Captured| c.1797
Great Britain
Name| Roe
Acquired| 1797 by purchase of a prize
Captured| 1798
General characteristics
Tons burthen| 210,[1] or 241[2] (bm)
Complement| 15[2]
Armament|

* 1797:2 × 9-pounder + 4 × 6-pounder guns[1]
* 1797:10 × 6-pounder guns[2]

Roe was launched in France in 1787, almost certainly under another name. She was taken in prize and became a Liverpool-based slave ship in the triangular trade of enslaved people. The French captured her in 1798, as she was on her way home after she had delivered captives to Demerara.

## Career

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Roe first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR), in 1797, with Carlisle, master, John Shaw, owner, and trade Liverpool–Africa.[1]

Captain Ledwick (or Ludwick) Carlisle acquired a letter of marque on 24 April 1797.[2] He sailed from Liverpool on 11 May 1797, bound for West Africa to acquire captives.[3] In 1797, 104 vessels sailed from British ports to acquire captives; 90 of these vessels sailed from Liverpool.[4]

Roe stopped in Barbados and on 1 March 1798, arrived at Demerara where she landed 394 captives. She had left Liverpool with 30 crew members and she suffered two crew deaths on the voyage.[3]

## Capture

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Lloyd's List (LL) reported on 3 August 1798 that Roe, Carlisle, master, from Demerara to Liverpool, had been captured and taken into Guadeloupe.[5]

In 1798, some 25 British vessels in the triangular trade were lost. At least two were lost on the homeward-bound leg of their voyage.[6] During the period 1793 to 1807, war, rather than maritime hazards or resistance by the captives, was the greatest cause of vessel losses among British enslaving vessels.[7]

In 1801, John Shaw would own a second slave ship named Roe that would make four voyages transporting enslaved people.

## Citations

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1. ^ a b c d LR (1797), Seq.№"5.
2. ^ a b c d "Letter of Marque, p.84 - accessed 25 July 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
3. ^ a b Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database – Roe voyage #83369.
4. ^ Williams (1897), p. 680.
5. ^ LL 3 August 1798, №3022/
6. ^ Inikori (1996), p. 62.
7. ^ Inikori (1996), p. 58.

## References

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* Inikori, Joseph (1996). "Measuring the unmeasured hazards of the Atlantic slave trade: Documents relating to the British trade". Revue française d'histoire d'outre-mer. 83 (312): 53–92.53-92&rft.date=1996&rft.aulast=Inikori&rft.aufirst=Joseph&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Roe+(1797+ship)" class="Z3988">
* Williams, Gomer (1897). History of the Liverpool Privateers and Letters of Marque: With an Account of the Liverpool Slave Trade. W. Heinemann.