Pelican (privateer)
Encyclopedia
Pelican was a private man of war
commissioned by a Liverpool
merchant
for offensive operations against French
commerce following the outbreak of the French Revolutionary War in February 1793.
craft fitted with a number of cannon
designed to capture French merchant shipping for a profit under a letter of marque
from the British government. She was crewed and outfitted in the Mersey
, and on 20 March 1793 was taking her owners and their families and friends on a pleasure and working up cruise in the mouth of the river. On board were 94 sailors and approximately 40 civilians, including several women.
had died down. Unfortunately, because all unnecessary personnel had been ushered below and because the hatches were battened down during the storm, no one was able to escape the lower decks.
Just 32 people survived the disaster, 102 drowning
in the sunken ship. The survivors were mainly men who had remained on deck and were able to launch boats, or those who were rescued from the masts some time later by rescue craft from the nearby shoreline. The disaster was reported in The Times
three days later.
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
commissioned by a Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
merchant
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
for offensive operations against French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
commerce following the outbreak of the French Revolutionary War in February 1793.
Background
The ship was a small brigBrig
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
craft fitted with a number of cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
designed to capture French merchant shipping for a profit under a letter of marque
Letter of marque
In the days of fighting sail, a Letter of Marque and Reprisal was a government licence authorizing a person to attack and capture enemy vessels, and bring them before admiralty courts for condemnation and sale...
from the British government. She was crewed and outfitted in the Mersey
Mersey
Mersey may refer to:* River Mersey, in northwest England* Mersea Island, off the coast of Essex in England * Mersey River in the Australian state* Electoral division of Mersey in the state of Tasmania, Australian...
, and on 20 March 1793 was taking her owners and their families and friends on a pleasure and working up cruise in the mouth of the river. On board were 94 sailors and approximately 40 civilians, including several women.
Worsening Weather
During the brief journey, the weather took a sudden turn for the worse and the ship began to rock violently, causing many of those aboard to go below decks, worsening the impending tragedy.Pitching & Rolling
Suddenly and without warning, at about two in the afternoon, with the ship at the height of her pitch, several cannon, which had been improperly tied down, broke free. These became iron missiles which rolled across the deck and punched huge holes in the ship's opposite side, causing water to flood into the Pelican, which rapidly filled and sank. The location of the wreck was so shallow that her mast tops remained above the water, visible after the stormStorm
A storm is any disturbed state of an astronomical body's atmosphere, especially affecting its surface, and strongly implying severe weather...
had died down. Unfortunately, because all unnecessary personnel had been ushered below and because the hatches were battened down during the storm, no one was able to escape the lower decks.
Just 32 people survived the disaster, 102 drowning
Drowning
Drowning is death from asphyxia due to suffocation caused by water entering the lungs and preventing the absorption of oxygen leading to cerebral hypoxia....
in the sunken ship. The survivors were mainly men who had remained on deck and were able to launch boats, or those who were rescued from the masts some time later by rescue craft from the nearby shoreline. The disaster was reported in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
three days later.