Blockade of Africa
Encyclopedia
The Blockade of Africa began in 1807 when Britain
outlawed the Atlantic slave trade
, making it illegal for British ships to transport slaves. The Royal Navy
immediately established a presence off Africa in order to enforce the ban, called the West Africa Squadron
. Although the ban technically applied only to British ships, other countries were supportive of the ban and gave the Royal Navy the right to search any of their ships intercepted for slaves. A notable exception was the United States
, which refused. An 1807 Act of Congress technically abolished the intercontinental slave trade in the United States but the ban was not widely enforced and many of the slave ships which escaped the blockade were destined for the southern United States. Some effort by the United States Navy
was made to prevent the slave trade. This mostly consisted of patrols of the shores of the Americas and in the mid-Atlantic, the latter being largely unsuccessful due to the difficulty of intercepting ships in mid-ocean. In 1813 one American ship, the Chesapeake
, joined the British navy's blockade off Africa. As part of the Webster-Ashburton Treaty
of 1842 it was agreed that both countries would work together on the abolition of the slave trade, which was deemed piracy
, and to continue the blockade of Africa.
. Initially it was only two ships operating from Portsmouth. By 1818 it was six ships but it established a naval station at what is now Freetown
, with Ascension Island
then Cape Town
as a supply base.
The resources were increased - in the middle of the 19th century there were around 25 vessels and 2,000 personnel with a further 1,000 local sailors.
By 1860 the West Africa Squadron had captured 1,500 slave ships.
of 1787 had protected slavery
for twenty years; even so, the Pennsylvania Abolition Society was formed, and held its first meeting at the temporary Capital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, in 1794. On April 7, 1798, the fifth Congress passed an Act that imposed a three-hundred dollars per slave penalty on persons convicted of performing the illegal importation of slaves. It was an indication of the type of behavior and course of events soon to become commonplace in the Congress.
On Thursday, December 12, 1805, in the ninth Congress, Senator Stephen Roe Bradley of the State of Vermont
gave notice that he should, on Monday next, move for leave to bring in a bill to prohibit the importation of certain persons therein described "into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States, from and after the first day of January," which will be "in the year of our Lord 1808." His words would be repeated many times by the legislators in the ninth Congress. The certain persons were described as being slaves on Monday, December 16, 1805.
Wary of offending the slaveholders to the least degree, the Senate amended the proposed Senatorial Act, then passed it to the House of Representatives
whereat it became meticulously scrutinized and, figuratively, poked and prodded. Cautiously, ever mindful of not inciting the wrath of slaveholders, members of the House produced a bill which would explain the Senatorial Act. The two measures were bound together, with the House bill being called H R 77 and the Senate Act being called An Act to prohibit the importation of slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States, from and after the first day of January, in the year of our Lord, 1808. The bound measure also regulated the coastwise slave trade
. The bound measure was placed before President Thomas Jefferson
on March 2, 1807 for his approbation.
The 1807 Act of Congress was modified and supplemented by the fifteenth Congress. The importation of slaves into the United States was called "piracy" by an Act of Congress that punctuated the era of good feeling in 1819. Any citizen of the United States found guilty of such "piracy" might be given the death penalty. The role of the Navy was expanded to include patrols off the coasts of Cuba and South America. The naval activities in the western Atlantic bore the name of The African Slave Trade Patrol of 1820-61. The blockade of Africa was still being performed in the eastern Atlantic at the same time.
was the executive officer aboard Cyane
in 1819, which had escorted Elizabeth whose passengers included former slaves moving from the United States to Africa. In 1821, Perry commanded Shark
in the African Squadron. Alligator
under the command of Lieutenant Robert F. Stockton
was also in the African Squadron in 1821. She captured several slavers. Lieutenant Stockton also convinced the local African Chief to relinquish land around Cape Mesurado
about which Liberia
grew. Stockton became the commander of the U.S. Navy's first screw-propelled steamer, Princeton
, in 1843.
In 1842, aboard Somers
in the African Squadron, commander Alexander Slidell Mackenzie
ordered the arrest of three crewmen on November 26 and 27 who were plotting to take control of the ship. The three crewmen were convicted; they were hanged on December 1. This is the only occurrence of Maritime Mutiny at Law in the history of the United States Navy.
Commodore Perry was placed in command of the African Squadron in 1843. Ships which captured slavers while deployed with the African Squadron include Yorktown
, Constellation
, and the second Constellation
, which captured Cora on September 26, 1860, with 705 Africans on board. The first San Jacinto
captured the brig Storm King on August 8, 1860, off the mouth of the Congo River
, with 616 Africans on board. In its final act, Constitution
captured H.N. Gambrill in 1853.
The Navy attempted to intercept slave ships from 1808 (or 1809) to 1866. A small number of ships were intercepted; some of those ships were carrying Africans destined to be sold into slavery
, while other suspected ships which had none on board were captured and escorted away from the coast of Africa.
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The Louisiana Purchase
in 1803 created a great demand for more slaves to work in the vast new area. Jean Lafitte
was a pirate who brought many slaves to the United States
and sold them through an organized system established at New Orleans that included many very respectable merchants from the vicinity. After he helped Andrew Jackson
to defeat the British
during the War of 1812
, President Madison
issued a proclamation early in 1815 granting him and his men pardons for their misdeeds.
The United States Navy Africa Squadron, Brazil Squadron
and the Home Squadron
was assigned the task of intercepting the ships which were bringing kidnapped Africans across the Atlantic ocean to the slave markets where black ivory found numerous customers. Since the War for Independence had been costly, the federal government constructed no new ships in from 1783 to 1795. The Navy Department was created on April 30, 1798, four years after President George Washington
had communicated with Congress and expressed his alarm at the outrageous behavior of Algeria. On March 27, 1794, following communication with President Washington, Congress authorized the purchase or construction of six frigates. These ships included the first Constellation
, launched September 7, 1797 and Constitution
, a ship that would be briefly employed in the African Squadron. Few new ships were built in the United States after 1801 until Guerriere
was launched on June 20, 1814. It proved to be an effective warship in the War with the Barbary Pirates in 1815.
In its early efforts to enforce the law, the Navy used the ports of Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA from 1808 or 1809 to 1812 as home ports for several ships patrolling the Atlantic ocean in that area; however, USS Chesapeake sailed off the west coast of Africa early in 1813. The Navy created the African Squadron for the purpose of intercepting ships with "black ivory" on board; however, very few ships were operating together at any one time, which meant that the "blockade of Africa" was ineffective. More important tasks such as the War of 1812, the ongoing troubles with the Barbary Pirates, the extermination of the pirates in the West Indies from 1819 to 1827, the protection of American shipping in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Peru
in the 1830s, the War with Mexico
in the 1840s, the voyages to Japan
in the 1850s, and transporting of diplomats to other nations left little capability available for use in the African Squadron. Nevertheless, some noteworthy events involving ships while they were assigned to the African Squadron did occur.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
outlawed the Atlantic slave trade
Atlantic slave trade
The Atlantic slave trade, also known as the trans-atlantic slave trade, refers to the trade in slaves that took place across the Atlantic ocean from the sixteenth through to the nineteenth centuries...
, making it illegal for British ships to transport slaves. The Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
immediately established a presence off Africa in order to enforce the ban, called the West Africa Squadron
West Africa Squadron
The Royal Navy established the West Africa Squadron at substantial expense in 1808 after Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act of 1807. The squadron's task was to suppress the Atlantic slave trade by patrolling the coast of West Africa...
. Although the ban technically applied only to British ships, other countries were supportive of the ban and gave the Royal Navy the right to search any of their ships intercepted for slaves. A notable exception was the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, which refused. An 1807 Act of Congress technically abolished the intercontinental slave trade in the United States but the ban was not widely enforced and many of the slave ships which escaped the blockade were destined for the southern United States. Some effort by the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
was made to prevent the slave trade. This mostly consisted of patrols of the shores of the Americas and in the mid-Atlantic, the latter being largely unsuccessful due to the difficulty of intercepting ships in mid-ocean. In 1813 one American ship, the Chesapeake
USS Chesapeake
Five ships of the United States Navy have been named Chesapeake after the Chesapeake Bay, the body of water along Maryland and Virginia., a 38-gun frigate in commission from 1800 to 1813...
, joined the British navy's blockade off Africa. As part of the Webster-Ashburton Treaty
Webster-Ashburton Treaty
The Webster–Ashburton Treaty, signed August 9, 1842, was a treaty resolving several border issues between the United States and the British North American colonies...
of 1842 it was agreed that both countries would work together on the abolition of the slave trade, which was deemed piracy
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
, and to continue the blockade of Africa.
United Kingdom Involvement
Following the Slave Trade Act of 1807 the Royal Navy set up the West Africa SquadronWest Africa Squadron
The Royal Navy established the West Africa Squadron at substantial expense in 1808 after Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act of 1807. The squadron's task was to suppress the Atlantic slave trade by patrolling the coast of West Africa...
. Initially it was only two ships operating from Portsmouth. By 1818 it was six ships but it established a naval station at what is now Freetown
Freetown
Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...
, with Ascension Island
Ascension Island
Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island in the equatorial waters of the South Atlantic Ocean, around from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America, which is roughly midway between the horn of South America and Africa...
then Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
as a supply base.
The resources were increased - in the middle of the 19th century there were around 25 vessels and 2,000 personnel with a further 1,000 local sailors.
By 1860 the West Africa Squadron had captured 1,500 slave ships.
United States Involvement
The United States ConstitutionUnited States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
of 1787 had protected slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
for twenty years; even so, the Pennsylvania Abolition Society was formed, and held its first meeting at the temporary Capital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, in 1794. On April 7, 1798, the fifth Congress passed an Act that imposed a three-hundred dollars per slave penalty on persons convicted of performing the illegal importation of slaves. It was an indication of the type of behavior and course of events soon to become commonplace in the Congress.
On Thursday, December 12, 1805, in the ninth Congress, Senator Stephen Roe Bradley of the State of Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
gave notice that he should, on Monday next, move for leave to bring in a bill to prohibit the importation of certain persons therein described "into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States, from and after the first day of January," which will be "in the year of our Lord 1808." His words would be repeated many times by the legislators in the ninth Congress. The certain persons were described as being slaves on Monday, December 16, 1805.
Wary of offending the slaveholders to the least degree, the Senate amended the proposed Senatorial Act, then passed it to the House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
whereat it became meticulously scrutinized and, figuratively, poked and prodded. Cautiously, ever mindful of not inciting the wrath of slaveholders, members of the House produced a bill which would explain the Senatorial Act. The two measures were bound together, with the House bill being called H R 77 and the Senate Act being called An Act to prohibit the importation of slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States, from and after the first day of January, in the year of our Lord, 1808. The bound measure also regulated the coastwise slave trade
Coastwise slave trade
The coastwise slave trade existed along the eastern coastal areas of North America. Shiploads and boatloads of slaves were transported from place to place on the waterways that exist there. Hundreds of vessels of various sizes and capacities were employed in the transporting of slaves from place...
. The bound measure was placed before President Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
on March 2, 1807 for his approbation.
The 1807 Act of Congress was modified and supplemented by the fifteenth Congress. The importation of slaves into the United States was called "piracy" by an Act of Congress that punctuated the era of good feeling in 1819. Any citizen of the United States found guilty of such "piracy" might be given the death penalty. The role of the Navy was expanded to include patrols off the coasts of Cuba and South America. The naval activities in the western Atlantic bore the name of The African Slave Trade Patrol of 1820-61. The blockade of Africa was still being performed in the eastern Atlantic at the same time.
Africa Squadron Operations
American naval officer Matthew Calbraith PerryMatthew Perry (naval officer)
Matthew Calbraith Perry was the Commodore of the U.S. Navy and served commanding a number of US naval ships. He served several wars, most notably in the Mexican-American War and the War of 1812. He played a leading role in the opening of Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854...
was the executive officer aboard Cyane
USS Cyane (1796)
Cyane was a Royal Navy sailing Banterer-Class sixth-rate ship of 22 guns, built in 1806 at Topsham, near Exeter, England. She was ordered in January 1805 as HMS Columbine and was renamed Cyane on 6 December of that year....
in 1819, which had escorted Elizabeth whose passengers included former slaves moving from the United States to Africa. In 1821, Perry commanded Shark
USS Shark (1821)
The first USS Shark was a schooner in the United States Navy. Built in the Washington Navy Yard, Shark was launched on 17 May 1821. On 11 May 1821, Matthew C. Perry was ordered to take command of Shark, and the ship was ready to receive her crew on 2 June 1821.-History:Shark sailed from the...
in the African Squadron. Alligator
USS Alligator (1820)
The third USS Alligator was a schooner in the United States Navy. On 6 June 1996, the site of its wreck was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places....
under the command of Lieutenant Robert F. Stockton
Robert F. Stockton
Robert Field Stockton was a United States naval commodore, notable in the capture of California during the Mexican-American War. He was a naval innovator and an early advocate for a propeller-driven, steam-powered navy. Stockton was from a notable political family and also served as a U.S...
was also in the African Squadron in 1821. She captured several slavers. Lieutenant Stockton also convinced the local African Chief to relinquish land around Cape Mesurado
Cape Mesurado
Cape Mesurado is a headland on the coast of Liberia near the capital Monrovia and the mouth of the Saint Paul River. It was named Cape Mesurado by Portuguese sailors in the 1560s...
about which Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
grew. Stockton became the commander of the U.S. Navy's first screw-propelled steamer, Princeton
USS Princeton (1843)
The first Princeton was the first screw steam warship in the United States Navy. She was launched in 1843, decommissioned in 1847, and broken up in 1849....
, in 1843.
In 1842, aboard Somers
USS Somers (1842)
The second USS Somers was a brig in the United States Navy during the Mexican-American War, infamous for being the only U.S. Navy ship to undergo a mutiny which led to executions....
in the African Squadron, commander Alexander Slidell Mackenzie
Alexander Slidell Mackenzie
Alexander Slidell Mackenzie Born in New York City, Mackenzie was a U.S. Navy officer who served during the first half of the 19th century. He was an accomplished author and writer who wrote several contemporary essays and biographies of notable US naval figures of the early 19th century. He was...
ordered the arrest of three crewmen on November 26 and 27 who were plotting to take control of the ship. The three crewmen were convicted; they were hanged on December 1. This is the only occurrence of Maritime Mutiny at Law in the history of the United States Navy.
Commodore Perry was placed in command of the African Squadron in 1843. Ships which captured slavers while deployed with the African Squadron include Yorktown
USS Yorktown (1839)
The first USS Yorktown was a 16-gun sloop-of-war of the United States Navy. Used mostly for patrolling in the Pacific and anti-slave trade duties in African waters, the vessel was wrecked off Maio Island in 1850.-Ship History:...
, Constellation
USS Constellation (1797)
USS Constellation was a 38-gun frigate, one of the six original frigates authorized for construction by the Naval Act of 1794. She was distinguished as the first U.S. Navy vessel to put to sea and the first U.S. Navy vessel to engage and defeat an enemy vessel...
, and the second Constellation
USS Constellation (1854)
USS Constellation constructed in 1854 is a sloop-of-war and the second United States Navy ship to carry this famous name. According to the US Naval Registry the original frigate was disassembled on 25 June 1853 in Gosport Navy Yard in Norfolk, Virginia, and the sloop-of-war was constructed in the...
, which captured Cora on September 26, 1860, with 705 Africans on board. The first San Jacinto
USS San Jacinto
Three ships of the United States Navy have been named USS San Jacinto, after the Texas battle of San Jacinto in 1836, and the navy considered acquiring a fourth ship of the name:...
captured the brig Storm King on August 8, 1860, off the mouth of the Congo River
Congo River
The Congo River is a river in Africa, and is the deepest river in the world, with measured depths in excess of . It is the second largest river in the world by volume of water discharged, though it has only one-fifth the volume of the world's largest river, the Amazon...
, with 616 Africans on board. In its final act, Constitution
USS Constitution
USS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. Named by President George Washington after the Constitution of the United States of America, she is the world's oldest floating commissioned naval vessel...
captured H.N. Gambrill in 1853.
The Navy attempted to intercept slave ships from 1808 (or 1809) to 1866. A small number of ships were intercepted; some of those ships were carrying Africans destined to be sold into slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
, while other suspected ships which had none on board were captured and escorted away from the coast of Africa.
Black Ivory
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...
in 1803 created a great demand for more slaves to work in the vast new area. Jean Lafitte
Jean Lafitte
Jean Lafitte was a pirate and privateer in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. He and his elder brother, Pierre, spelled their last name Laffite, but English-language documents of the time used "Lafitte", and this is the commonly seen spelling in the United States, including for places...
was a pirate who brought many slaves to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and sold them through an organized system established at New Orleans that included many very respectable merchants from the vicinity. After he helped Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
to defeat the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
during the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
, President Madison
James Madison
James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
issued a proclamation early in 1815 granting him and his men pardons for their misdeeds.
The United States Navy Africa Squadron, Brazil Squadron
Brazil Squadron
The Brazil Squadron, the Brazil Station, or the South Atlantic Squadron was an overseas military station established by the United States in 1826 to protect American commerce in the South Atlantic during a war between Brazil and Argentina...
and the Home Squadron
Home Squadron
The Home Squadron was part of the United States Navy in the mid-19th century. Organized as early as 1838, ships were assigned to protect coastal commerce, aid ships in distress, suppress piracy and the slave trade, make coastal surveys, and train ships to relieve others on distant stations...
was assigned the task of intercepting the ships which were bringing kidnapped Africans across the Atlantic ocean to the slave markets where black ivory found numerous customers. Since the War for Independence had been costly, the federal government constructed no new ships in from 1783 to 1795. The Navy Department was created on April 30, 1798, four years after President George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
had communicated with Congress and expressed his alarm at the outrageous behavior of Algeria. On March 27, 1794, following communication with President Washington, Congress authorized the purchase or construction of six frigates. These ships included the first Constellation
USS Constellation (1797)
USS Constellation was a 38-gun frigate, one of the six original frigates authorized for construction by the Naval Act of 1794. She was distinguished as the first U.S. Navy vessel to put to sea and the first U.S. Navy vessel to engage and defeat an enemy vessel...
, launched September 7, 1797 and Constitution
USS Constitution
USS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. Named by President George Washington after the Constitution of the United States of America, she is the world's oldest floating commissioned naval vessel...
, a ship that would be briefly employed in the African Squadron. Few new ships were built in the United States after 1801 until Guerriere
USS Guerriere (1814)
The first USS Guerriere was the first frigate built in the United States since 1801. The name came from a fast 49-gun British frigate captured and destroyed in a half-hour battle by 19 August 1812. This victory was the United States' first success in the War of 1812.She was built at the...
was launched on June 20, 1814. It proved to be an effective warship in the War with the Barbary Pirates in 1815.
In its early efforts to enforce the law, the Navy used the ports of Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA from 1808 or 1809 to 1812 as home ports for several ships patrolling the Atlantic ocean in that area; however, USS Chesapeake sailed off the west coast of Africa early in 1813. The Navy created the African Squadron for the purpose of intercepting ships with "black ivory" on board; however, very few ships were operating together at any one time, which meant that the "blockade of Africa" was ineffective. More important tasks such as the War of 1812, the ongoing troubles with the Barbary Pirates, the extermination of the pirates in the West Indies from 1819 to 1827, the protection of American shipping in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
in the 1830s, the War with Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
in the 1840s, the voyages to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
in the 1850s, and transporting of diplomats to other nations left little capability available for use in the African Squadron. Nevertheless, some noteworthy events involving ships while they were assigned to the African Squadron did occur.