Patientia (ship)

The "Patientia" was a Danish frigate which gained a certain fame in 1753 through a slave revolt off the West African gold coast .

prehistory

The frigate "Patientia", the size of which is given as about 70 loads , had initially belonged to a man named Horstmann, who at that time was a personal servant of King Frederik V of Denmark . At the suggestion and mediation of the royal high court marshal and privy councilor Adam Gottlob von Moltke , however, the king personally bought the ship in early 1753 and shortly afterwards gave it to the Danish Vestindisk-Guinean Kompagni as a replacement for the ship that had been lost shortly before on the crossing from the West Indies to Denmark " Carefree ”. Under the leadership of Captain Ole Erichsen and on behalf of the Vestindisk-Guinean Kompagni , the "Patientia" sailed a short time later towards the Gold Coast, where she arrived on March 8, 1753 off Christiansborg .

revolt

On July 30, 1753, sails were set again and set sail with a south-south-west wind towards the West Indies . On board were 275 slaves (156 men, 82 women, 33 boys and 6 girls), which is a total of 26,561 Reichstaler had bought the equivalent to European goods. In addition, they had on board: 301 1/8 lot gold, which they had bought for 2409 Reichstaler, in addition to 62 "large" elephant teeth (2505½ pounds) valued at 1001 Reichstaler and 108 "Creveller" (1058 Pound) for 175 Reichstaler.

However, on Sunday morning of August 5, 1753, around 7:30 a.m., a slave revolt on board led by a man named Anim from the Krepi region. As the rebels gradually seized the ship and the ship was just about 8 miles off the coast between Anomabu and Cape Coast , the roadstead from Annamaboe and finally Cape Coast hurried to where, however, 249 of the 275 slaves on board delivered the translation Land and thus the escape succeeded. With the help of the English from the mainland and the local English ship "Triton" under Captain J. Chilcott from Bristol , the hunt could finally be stopped after several days of fighting, whereby the English managed to recapture 66 of the escaped. Two slaves were killed in the fighting.

However, Captain Ole Erichsen had to leave 13 men and 4 women to the English as mountain wages, the others (33 men, 10 women, 1 boy and 1 girl) could be bought back from the English for 106 ounces . In total, the Danes bought another 75 slaves in the fort for a total of 5185 Reichstaler.

On September 30, 1753, the "Patientia" sailed again with 165 slaves on board for the West Indies.

On May 24, 1754, the "Patientia" was back in Copenhagen. The crossing to and from the West Indies had gone without further disturbances. Despite the slaves who had fled, the trip was an economic success.

literature

Georg Nørregård: Slaveoprøret på 'Patientia' 1753 , in: Handels- og Søfartmuseet på Kronborg - Årbog , Helsingør, 1950, pp. 21–44
Astrid Friis, Kristof Glamann: A history of prices and wages in Denmark 1160–1800 , Copenhagen 1958

Individual evidence

↑ In order to be able to get an idea of the Danish ship sizes at that time, reference is made at this point to the historically handed down measurements of the "Crown Prince Christian", which belonged to the Royal Danish "Vestindisk-guineisk Komagni" and in the period between 1698 and 1720 had been used in the triangular trade to the West Indies. According to the information at the time, the "Kronprins Christian" had a size of 120 loads and had a length of 100 feet (31.4 m), the greatest deck width of 28 feet (8.79 m) and a cargo hold depth of 13 l / 3 feet (4.19 m), with armament with 20 cannons and a crew of 60 men. At this time, however, the volume specification “load” was heavily dependent on the goods being transported. By royal decree of May 1, 1683, 1 Copenhagen foot (Fod) = 1/10 rod (Rode) = 1/2 cubit (Alen, Ell) = 0.314 m (31.407 cm). To convert volume and weight, the royal Danish decrees of May 1, 1683 and January 10, 1698 stipulated that 1 Danish pound (“Skålpund”) should be set equal to the weight of 1/62 cubic foot of fresh water. This also results in the different volume dimensions for individual commercial goods.
↑ The Reichstaler of the imperial currency of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation was introduced in Denmark as a gold coin in circulation by decrees of 1541 and 1544. The Danish Reichstaler ( Rigsdaler ) was sometimes referred to as the Gyldengroschen .
↑ Classically, ivory is the tusks of larger elephants. But also the teeth or tusks of hippos , warthogs , wild boars and the horns of marine mammals such as sperm whales , walruses , narwhals and the like. a. were and are called ivory and collected as such. But also the teeth of prehistoric animals, in particular mammoths , mastodons or the tail tusks of a dinosaur are called ivory and can be worked just as well as fresh ivory. In the 17th and 18th centuries, ivory was traded in three categories on the West African coast. The definition and price of each category was based on weight. The lightest ivory (1 to 14 pounds) was also known in the trade as "crevellas", normal ivory was 15 to 30 pounds, and those over 30 pounds were called "large" ivory.
↑ in historical Danish usage: Annamaboe

[1] In order to be able to get an idea of the Danish ship sizes at that time, reference is made at this point to the historically handed down measurements of the "Crown Prince Christian", which belonged to the Royal Danish "Vestindisk-guineisk Komagni" and in the period between 1698 and 1720 had been used in the triangular trade to the West Indies. According to the information at the time, the "Kronprins Christian" had a size of 120 loads and had a length of 100 feet (31.4 m), the greatest deck width of 28 feet (8.79 m) and a cargo hold depth of 13 l / 3 feet (4.19 m), with armament with 20 cannons and a crew of 60 men. At this time, however, the volume specification “load” was heavily dependent on the goods being transported. By royal decree of May 1, 1683, 1 Copenhagen foot (Fod) = 1/10 rod (Rode) = 1/2 cubit (Alen, Ell) = 0.314 m (31.407 cm). To convert volume and weight, the royal Danish decrees of May 1, 1683 and January 10, 1698 stipulated that 1 Danish pound (“Skålpund”) should be set equal to the weight of 1/62 cubic foot of fresh water. This also results in the different volume dimensions for individual commercial goods.

[2] The Reichstaler of the imperial currency of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation was introduced in Denmark as a gold coin in circulation by decrees of 1541 and 1544. The Danish Reichstaler ( Rigsdaler ) was sometimes referred to as the Gyldengroschen .

[3] Classically, ivory is the tusks of larger elephants. But also the teeth or tusks of hippos , warthogs , wild boars and the horns of marine mammals such as sperm whales , walruses , narwhals and the like. a. were and are called ivory and collected as such. But also the teeth of prehistoric animals, in particular mammoths , mastodons or the tail tusks of a dinosaur are called ivory and can be worked just as well as fresh ivory. In the 17th and 18th centuries, ivory was traded in three categories on the West African coast. The definition and price of each category was based on weight. The lightest ivory (1 to 14 pounds) was also known in the trade as "crevellas", normal ivory was 15 to 30 pounds, and those over 30 pounds were called "large" ivory.

[4] storical Danish usage: Annamaboe