History
Great Britain
NameOrakabeza
NamesakeOracabessa
BuilderHull
Launched1785
FateBurnt 1797
General characteristics
Tons burthen400[1] (bm)
Armament2 × 4-pounder guns

Orakabeza (or Aracabessa in some United States sources), was launched in 1785 at Hull as a West Indiaman. A French privateer captured and burnt her in a notable incident that violated the neutrality of the United States.

Career

Orakabeza first appeared Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1786. It gave the name of her master as C.Burton, that of her owner as Burton, Senior, and her trade as Hull, changing to London–Jamaica.[1]

Year Master Owner Trade Source
1790 C. Burton Burton, Senior London–Jamaica LR
1795 Js Burn Burton London–Jamaica LR

Fate

Captain Jonathon Storey loaded Oracabissa with sugar and rum at Jamaica and in early October sailed for England. Oracabissa ran into a gale that damaged her masts and caused a leak. She arrived at Charleston around 9 October and crossed the bar on 16 October.[2]

On 17 October 1797 a French privateer believed to be Vortitude (or Vertitude or Fortitude), commanded by a Captain Jourdain and belonging to Cape Francois, captured and burnt Oracabessa within the bar of Charleston Harbour, in violation of the United States's neutrality. Governor Charles Pinckney forwarded to President John Adams affidavits about the incident. Pinckney stated that he had dispatched the cutter USRC South Carolina to the scene, but that by the time she arrived Oracabessa had burnt and the privateer had fled.[3][4][lower-alpha 1]

Lloyd's List (LL) reported on 15 December 1797 that a French privateer had burnt Orracabeza, Storey, master, off Charleston. Orracabeza had been sailing from Jamaica to London.[5]

Notes

  1. ↑ For a detailed account of the capture and the political context, see Zeig (2019).

Citations

  1. 1 2 LR (1797), Seq.№O53.
  2. ↑ Williams (2009), pp. 272–4.
  3. ↑ Founders Online: To John Adams from Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, 22 October 1797.
  4. ↑ United States Congress (1851), Appendix, p.3277-8.
  5. ↑ LL №2975.

References

  • United States Congress (1851) Annals of the Congress of the United States. (Gales and Seaton).
  • Williams, Greg H. (2009). The French assault on American shipping, 1793-1813: a history and comprehensive record of merchant marine losses. McFarland. ISBN 9780786438372.
  • Zeig, Emma (2019) "“Nothing Material Occurred”: The Maritime Captures That Caused Then Outlasted the United

States’ Quasi War with France". Masters Theses. 863. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/masters_theses_2/863

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