Alknomac (or Alnomac) was launched in Boston in 1796. She began trading between the southern states of the United States and Great Britain. In 1800 a French privateer captured her, but she was released in 1801. As of January 2023, her subsequent fate is obscure.

History
United States
NameAlknomac
BuilderBoston[1][2]
Launched1796[1][2]
Captured1800
FateReleased 1801; subsequent fate is currently obscure
General characteristics
Tons burthen201,[1] or 240 (corrected from 201)[2] (bm)
Sail planBrig
Armament4 × 4-pounder guns + 2 × 12-pounder carronades[2]

Career edit

The earliest mention of Alknomac in readily available on-line sources occurred in an advertisement in the Georgia Gazette that stated that she was accepting cargoes for London to depart in December 1798. It gave the name of her master as Francis Miller, and her owner as Gairdner and Mitchell. Another advertisement stated that she had recently arrived from London.[3]

Alnomac first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1798.[1]

Alknomac first appeared in the Register of Shipping in the 1800 volume (the first year RS was published).[2]

Year Master Owner Trade Source
1798 F.Miller J.Gradner Cork–Georgia LR
1800 F.Miller J.Gradner London–Charleston RS

Lloyd's List reported on 8 April 1800 that a privateer had taken Alknomac, Miller, master, as she was sailing from London to Charleston, and sent her into Bordeaux.[4] Other records state that Alknomack, Miller, master, was brought into Lorient and Île de Ré. Her cargo included ten hogsheads of tobacco.[5] The Register of Shipping for 1800 had the annotation "captured" by her name.

United States records have her captor as the French brig Gironde. An extract of a letter dated 29 October 1801 from Fulwar Skipwith, the United States's commercial agent in Paris, shows the French prize Court having released Alknomac on 8 Brumaire Year 10 (28 October 1801). She had not sustained damages.[6] She benefited from Article 4 of the Convention of 1800 between France and America that stipulated that American vessels then in France but not yet definitively condemned, were to be returned.[7]

By its 1801 volume, LR had corrected her name to Alknomac, though it still showed her burthen as 201 tons.

Year Master Owner Trade Source
1801 F.Miller J.Gradner London–Charleston LR

Alknomac did not appear in RS after her capture. She did appear in LR up to the 1804 volume, but with unchanged data from 1801.

Citations edit

  1. ^ a b c d LR (1798), Seq.No.A620.
  2. ^ a b c d e RS (1800), Seq.No.A283.
  3. ^ Georgia Gazette (15 November 1798), No.786.
  4. ^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4039. 8 April 1800. hdl:2027/uc1.c3049070.
  5. ^ Williams (2009), p. 50.
  6. ^ State Papers (1814), p.123.
  7. ^ "American Vessels in France". (16 January 1801) National Intelligencer, Washington, DC, United States), Vol. 1, Issue: 33.

References edit

  • State Papers and Publick Documents of the United States from the Accession of Thomas Jefferson to the Presidency: Exhibiting a Complete View of Our Foreign Relations Since that Time ... (1814), T.B.Wait & sons.
  • Williams, Greg H. (2009). The French assault on American shipping, 1793-1813: a history and comprehensive record of merchant marine losses. McFarland. ISBN 9780786438372.