Tonyn (1781 ship)

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

Tonyn was launched at Newfoundland in 1779 as Plato. Plato was renamed to Tonyn in 1781. She then traded with North America and as a West Indiaman. From 1797 she made two voyages from Liverpool as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was captured and recaptured in 1798 on her first voyage, and sunk on her second circa 1800 as she was returning home.

History
Great Britain
Name	Plato
Launched	1779, Newfoundland
Renamed	Tonyn (1781)
Captured	1798 (and recaptured)
Fate	Wrecked circa 1800
General characteristics
Tons burthen	179,[1] 190,[2] or 196, or 220 (bm)
Length	81 ft 0 in (24.7 m)[1]
Beam	23 ft 0 in (7.0 m)[1]
Complement	20[2]
Armament	1797: 16 × 4&6-pounder guns[2] 1799: 8 × 4-pounder + 8 × 6-pounder guns
Notes	Two decks & three masts[1]

Career

Tonyn was launched as Plato and renamed in 1781. Missing pages in extant issues of Lloyd's Register (LR) has resulted in her first appearing in LR in 1781.^[3]

Year	Master	Owner	Trade	Source & notes
1781	M.Winters	Rogers & Co.	Bristol–Newfoundland	LR "now the Tonyn, Welch"
1782	W.Haseldine		Liverpool–New York	LR; ex-Plato

Because a second Tonyn, and a third Tonyn, also of about 200 tons (bm), were sailing out of Liverpool, there was some initial confusion between the three vessels.^[a]

Year	Master	Owner	Trade	Source & notes
1786	W.Hafeldine Henry Crane	J.Kenyon	Liverpool–New York	LR; repairs 1783
1787	H.Crane T.Parr	J.Kenyon	Liverpool–New York Liverpool–Barbados	LR; repairs 1783
1790	T.Parr J.Sall	J.Kenyon	Liverpool–Barbados	LR; repairs 1783 & 1789
1794	J.Sall	J.Kenyon	Liverpool–Barbados	LR; repairs 1783 & 1789
1795	R.Watson T.Yates	J.Kenyon	Liverpool–Barbados	LR; repairs 1783, 1789, & large repair 1794
1796	T.Yates J.Crow	J.Kenyon	Liverpool–Barbados	LR; repairs 1783, 1789, & large repair 1794
1797	J.Crow T.Smith	J.Kenyon	Liverpool–Barbados	LR; repairs 1783, 1789, large repair 1794, and repairs 1795 & 1796

1st voyage transporting enslaved people (1797–1798): Captain Thomas Smith acquired a letter of marque on 15 April 1797.^[2] He sailed from Liverpool on 12 May, bound for Calabar.^[4] In 1797, 90 vessels sailed from Liverpool to West Africa to participate in the slave trade.^[5] Tonyn arrived at St Croix on 16 December with 314 captives.^[4]

At the time Saint Croix was a Danish colony. In 1792, the Danish government passed a law that from early 1803 on, would outlaw Danish participation in the trans-Atlantic enslaving trade. This led the government in the Danish West Indies to encourage the importation of captives prior to the ban taking effect. One measure that it took was to open the trade to foreign vessels. Records for the period 1796 to 1799 show that 24 British enslaving ships, most of them from Liverpool, arrived at St Croix and imported 6,781 captives.^[6]

Tonyn apparently sailed from St Croix directly back to Calabar. There she picked up a cargo of palm oil and "elephant's teeth" (ivory tusks). On 14 March 1798 the French privateer Buonaparte captured her.^[b] Then on 21 March a squadron under the command of Captain Sir John Borlase Warren, in the 74-gun third rate Canada, and including Phaeton and Mermaid, recaptured Tonyn.^[7] Tonyn, Smith, master, prize to Canada, arrived at Plymouth on 29 March. She arrived back at Liverpool on 6 May.^[4] By the time she arrived at Plymouth, only one of her original crew remained aboard Tonyn.^[8] She had sailed from Liverpool with 29 crew members and had suffered eight crew deaths on her voyage.^[4]

Year	Master	Owner	Trade	Source
1798	T.Smith Phillips	J.Gibbons	Liverpool–Africa	LR; repairs 1783, 1789, large repair 1794, and repairs 1795 & 1796
1799	T.Phillips	J.Gibbons	Liverpool–Africa	LR; repairs 1783, 1789, large repair 1794, and repairs 1795 & 1796

2nd voyage transporting enslaved people (1798–1799): Captain James Towers sailed from Liverpool on 21 November 1798, bound for the Congo River. That year 149 vessels sailed from Liverpool on voyages to transport enslaved people.^[5] Tonyn arrived at Kingston on 22 August 1799 with 299 captives,^[9] having first stopped at Martinique. She may have embarked 326 captives.^[10]

Fate

In January 1800 Lloyd's List reported that Tonyn, Towers, master, had been sunk in Waterford harbour after having been run into. She had been on her way from Jamaica to Liverpool.^[11] She had left Liverpool with 38 crew members and she had suffered 16 crew deaths on her voyage.^[9] Her entry in the 1800 volume of the Register of Shipping carried the annotation "Lost".^[12]

In 1800, 34 British slaving vessels were lost, at least four were lost on the homeward leg of their voyage.^[13] In 1800, 133 British vessels sailed on enslaving voyages, 120 from Liverpool.^[5] The 34 vessels lost represent a 26% loss rate.

Note

1. An American warship captured the second Tonyn, Wade, master, in 1781. The third Tonyn, Welch, master, was wrecked in 1783.
2. Bonapart was a popular name for French privateers so absent further information it is not possible to pin down which Bonapart was the captor.