USS SHARK vs. Caroline
10 NOVEMBER 1822
USS SHARK VS. Caroline
Officially, the US government banned American participation in the African slave trade in 1808, although enforcement was not attempted until our Navy began patrolling off West Africa in 1820. Two years later those patrols ramped up as the American Colonization Society, a New England anti-slavery organization, began relocating slaves from America to the area which is now the Republic of Liberia. One of those patrolling warships was the 12-gun schooner USS SHARK, skippered by newly promoted Lieutenant Commandant (LCDR) Matthew Calbraith Perry in his first command. On this day, SHARK spied a sail off western Africa. A chase ensued during which SHARK employed several tricks to overhaul her target. Perry had his crewmen wet-down the sails with seawater to improve their wind-catching ability (sail cloth in these days was somewhat loosely woven). The sweeps were deployed, and at one point, Perry ordered the captain’s gig and the cutter to rig lines to SHARK and range ahead for towing. The day-long effort ended about 1800 when a shot across her bows brought the chase to heel. She proved to be the French slaver Caroline, three days out from Cape Mount carrying 133 slaves to Martinique.
One of Perry’s Midshipman, W.F. Lynch, described the overwhelming stench of the slaver. One hundred and thirty-three captives were found to be shoehorned and shackled into a space only 15′ X 40′ with a four-foot overhead. They had to “dovetail” in fetal positions–children had to rest on top of adults. All were naked and completely shaven to lessen vermin infestation. Most were starving, receiving only one pint of water and one-half pint of rice a day. Their faces reminded Lynch of Egyptian mummies. SHARK’s crew was aghast and hoisted a cask of water, along with bread and beef, aboard Caroline.
The slaver’s papers were indeed French and in good order. Perry had authority over Americans plying the slave trade but had no legal basis to interfere with a French-flagged ship. Nevertheless, Perry’s crew offered to pay any fines levied against him in overstepping that authority! One American sailor was removed from the French crew, then Perry reluctantly permitted the slaver to proceed. But he did so only after compelling Capt. Victor Ruinet to sign a pledge agreeing, “to abjure the slave trade forever,” and “treat with humanity and kindness the slaves now aboard.” SHARK’s Purser, T.B. Timberlake and Acting Surgeon J.S. Wiley witnessed the pact. Enforcement would have been impossible. American sympathies for the plight of the slaves and the heartache felt by Perry’s crew are hard to overstate as Caroline faded over the horizon.
Watch for more “Today in Naval History” 16-17 NOV 22
CAPT James Bloom, Ret.
Morison, Samuel Eliot. “Old Bruin”: Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry 1794-1858. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Co., 1967, pp. 74-75.
ADDITIONAL NOTES: Our West African Squadron was almost entirely ineffective in stemming American participation the slave trade–even that directly to our southern States. The profitable trade continued to expand, reaching its peak in the 1850s, driven by demand from Latin America.
Liberia, with her capital of Monrovia (for President James Monroe) remained an overseas American colony until her Declaration of Independence on 26 July 1847. The United States did not recognize that independence until 1862.
