| Capture ofVeloz Passagera | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theSuppression of the Slave Trade | |||||||
 HMSPrimrose engagingVeloz Passagera. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United Kingdom | Slave Trader | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 William Broughton | Jozé Antonio de la Vega | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 1sloop-of-war | 1ship | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 3 killed 12 wounded 1 sloop-of-war damaged | 43 killed 20 wounded 1 ship captured | ||||||
TheCapture ofVeloz Passagera was asingle-ship action that occurred during the BritishRoyal Navy's anti-slaveryblockade ofAfrica in the early and mid 19th century. Thesloop-of-warHMS Primrose, of 18 guns, underCaptain William Broughton, captured the 20-gun Spanishslave shipVeloz Passagera,Jozé Antonio de la Vega,master.[1]
Veloz Passagera, of 408 tons (bm), Jayme Tinto, owner, sailed fromHavana on 25 August 1828 with a crew of 100 men. She acquired her slaves at Jacquin and sailed on 7 September 1830.[2]
Primrose encounteredVeloz Passagera offPrince's Island,West Africa, in the evening of 6 September 1830. The British attacked early in the morning of 7 September. A severesingle-ship action ensued in which the British ultimately boardedVeloz Passagera, capturing her. Forty-three slavers out of 150 were killed in action and another 20 were wounded; the British lost three killed and 12 wounded. The engagement was one of the few fought during several decades of anti-slavery operations off the African coast, and was the most significant in terms of casualties and the strength of the opposing forces.
Veloz Passagera had 556 slaves aboard her whenPrimrose opened fire. Five died as a result of the broadsides fromPrimrose, and another 21 died before the court condemnedVelos Passagera and emancipated the slaves.[3]
Primrose sentVeloz Passagera toSierra Leone for adjudication by the Anglo-Spanish Court of Mixed Commission. She arrived on 9 October,[2] and the Court condemned her on 16. The British wanted to try 24 of surviving crew in England withpiracy. Captain Broughton sailedPrimrose back toEngland as well, leaving Africa in December to follow up on the court proceedings.[1][4] He took with him the 24 crew men. However, LordPalmerston, the Foreign Secretary, decided that British courts had no jurisdiction and that charges of piracy were not appropriate. He had the 24 men transported to Spain, where they stood trial in 1831.[3]
The proceeds of the bounty granted for 551 slaves and a moiety of the hull, etc., were deposited in the Registry of theHigh Court of Admiralty on 16 June 1831.[5]
