Dutch ship Minerva (1787)

Minerva was launched in 1787 at Veere for the navy of the Dutch Republic. In 1799 the Royal Navy captured her. She became HMS Braak, but the Navy sold her with the arrival of the Peace of Amiens. Daniel Bennet purchased her and she became the whaler Africaine or African or Africa. She made two whaling voyages. After 1805 she was still listed in Lloyd's Register for some years but there is no record of further whaling or other voyages.

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

History
Dutch Navy Ensign Batavian Navy EnsignDutch Republic & Batavian Republic
NameMinerva
BuilderVeere, Zeeland Admiralty[1]
Launched1787[1][2]
Captured1799
Great Britain
NameBraak
Acquired1799 by capture
FateSold 1802
United Kingdom
NameAfrican
Acquired1802 by purchase
FateLast listed in 1810; broken up 1817
General characteristics [2]
Class and type
TypeBrig
Tons burthen6136⁄94, or 615[3] (bm)
Length
  • Overall:116 ft 6+1⁄2 in (35.5 m), or 136',[lower-alpha 1] or 120 ft 10 in (36.8 m)[4]
  • Keel: 95 ft 8+1⁄8 in (29.2 m)
Beam34 ft 8+1⁄2 in (10.6 m), or 36'5⁄11", or 35 ft 1 in (10.7 m)[4]
Depth of hold10 ft 6 in (3.2 m), or 13'10⁄11"
PropulsionSails
Complement
  • Dutch service:150[1]
  • British service:155
  • Whaler:32, or 40[3]
Armament
  • Dutch service:20–26 guns[1]
  • Royal Navy service:
    • Upper deck:22 × 32-pounder carronades
    • QD:2 × 6-pounder guns
  • Whaler:20 × 6&9-pounder guns[3] (16 × 9-pounder + 4 × 6-pounder guns)
NotesThree decks and three masts

Dutch navy

Admiral Mitchel's squadron captured Minerva on 28 August 1799 in the New Diep off Texel.

Royal Navy

Minerva arrived at Sheerness on 3 May 1800. The Royal Navy took Minerva into service as HMS Braak, the former Braak having been lost in 1798. Braak underwent fitting between July 1800 and September 1801.[2]

Captain John Mason Lewis commissioned Braak in August 1801. However, the Navy sold her in 1802.

The "Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy" offered "Braak, 615 Tons, Copper-bottomed, lying at Deptford" for sale on 9 September 1802.[5] She sold on that day or shortly thereafter.[2]

Whaler

The shipowner Daniel Bennett purchased Braak and renamed her Africaine (or Africa, or African). She first appeared in Lloyd's Register in 1803 as African with R. Jones, master, and Bennett, owner, and trade London–South Seas.[6]

See also: List of ships owned by Daniel Bennett & Son

Captain Ransom Jones sailed from England on 4 February 1803, bound for the Isle of Desolation. He returned on 22 May 1804 with a reported 7000 barrels of oil.[7]

Captain Ransom (or Ranson) Jones received a letter of marque on 18 July 1804.[3] He sailed on 18 August 1804, again bound for the Isle of Desolation.[7] She was reported to have been "all well" there on 25 February 1805.[8]

On 3 August 1805 African left Saint Helena in a convoy under escort by HMS Calcutta. On 26 September the convoy was in the Channel south of the Isles of Scilly when it encountered Admiral Allemand's squadron. Calcutta ordered the convoy to make for England while she engaged the French. The French ultimately captured Calcutta, but by her sacrifice Calcutta had saved the convoy.

A French frigate chased African for some time but African escaped by "superior sailing".[7] African reached Falmouth,[9] and then returned to her moorings on 4 October 1805 with 70,000 seal skins, and oil.[7]

Fate

African was last listed in 1810 but with data unchanged from 1805. One source reports that she was broken up and her registration cancelled in 1817.[4]

Notes
  1. All linear measurements are in Amsterdam feet (voet) of 11 Amsterdam inches (duim) (see Dutch units of measurement). The Amsterdam foot is about 8% shorter than an English foot. All Dutch measurements are from van Maanan.[1]

Citations
  1. van Maanen (2008).
  2. Winfield (2008), p. 235.
  3. "Letter of Marque, p.48 - accessed 25 July 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  4. Stanbury et al. (2015), p. App.7.
  5. "No. 15509". The London Gazette. 24 August 1802. p. 904.
  6. Lloyd's Register (1803), Supple. pages "A", Seq.№A11.
  7. British Southern Whale Fishery database: Voyages: African/Africaine.
  8. Lloyd's List №4226.
  9. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 4260. 8 October 1805. hdl:2027/hvd.32044105232953. Retrieved 23 August 2022.

References
  • Stanbury, Myra; Henderson, Kandy-Jane; Derrien, Bernard; Bigourdan, Nicolas; Le Touze, Evelyne (2015). "Chapter 18: Epilogue". In Stanbury, Myra (ed.). The Mermaid Atoll Shipwreck: A Mysterious Early 19th-century Loss. Fremantle, W.A: Australian National Centre of Excellence for Maritime Archaeology and the Australasian Institute for Maritime Archaeology. ISBN 978-1-876465-09-4. OCLC 1004566520.
  • van Maanen, Ron (2008). "Preliminary list of Dutch naval vessel built or required in the period 1700-1799" (PDF).
  • Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.
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