Port au Prince (Privateer)

The Port-au-Prince was an English 'private ship of war' or privateer that was scuttled by Tongan natives of Lifuka Island in 1806 and her crew massacred. She was a captured French vessel of 500 tons armed with 24 long nine and twelve pound guns as well as 8 twelve pound carronades on the quarter deck. She carried a "letter of marque" and this document permitted her captain and crew to become pirates against the enemies of England, primarily France and Spain. In payment for their pirate raids any plunder they seized was to be their own.

Legendary history
Commanded by Captain Duck she sailed for the New World on 12 February 1805 having been given a twofold commission by her owner, a Mr. Robert Bent of London. Their primary goal was to attack the Spanish ships of the New World capturing gold and valuables but if she failed in that task her secondary objective was to sail into the Pacific in search of Whales to be rendered for their oil.

The Atlantic crossing was rough but uneventful and she lay off the coast of Brazil by April and then rounded Cape Horn in July before proceeding north in search of Spanish Galleons laden with treasure. They captured a number of ships but most yielded little in the way of valuables and at times the men began to get disgruntled by capturing what they contemptuously referred to as dung barges. The Port-au-Prince was now also on the lookout for whales as well but, although catching a few, experienced little success in this endeavour.

After leaving Hawaii in September under the command of Mr. Brown, she intended to make port at Tahiti but missed the target and instead sailed westward for the Tonga Islands. She arrived in Ha’apai on 9 November 1806, almost two years since departing England and after numerous engagements, leaking badly and having already witnessing the death of her captain. She was laden with the spoils of war and cargo amounting to approx twelve thousand dollars plus a considerable amount of copper plus silver and gold ore. A large quantity of silver candlesticks, chalices, incense pans, crucifixes and images complemented the treasure.

She weighed anchor for what was destined to be the last time in seven fathoms water off the North West Point of Lifuka Island. A number of chiefs visited the ship on the evening of her arrival and brought with them barbecued pigs, yams and a native of Hawaii who spoke some English informing Captain Brown that the Tongans had only friendly intentions. The Port-au-Prince also had Hawaiian crew who did not trust the situation and expressed concern to the captain that the Tongans were feigning friendliness while planning attack. Captain Brown chose to ignore the warnings, therein signing his own death warrant and that of many of his crew.

The next day the natives began to swarm the boat until there were around 300 in different parts of the ship. They invited Captain Brown ashore to see the Island and assured of their friendly motives he agreed. On arrival he was clubbed to death, stripped and left lying in the sand. Simultaneously the main attack commenced on the Port-au-Prince. The sailors were outnumbered and overwhelmed easily. The massacre was brutal and swift seeing all but four of the crew members clubbed to death, their heads so badly beaten as to be unrecognizable to the survivors. For the next three days the ship was stripped of her iron, a valuable commodity, and had her guns removed before being burnt to the water line to more readily remove what iron remained. After this was done the ship was set on fire and the remains of its valuable cargo sank into the shallow sea.

"'The first object that struck my sight on coming aboard was enough to thrill the stoutest heart, upon the deck a short squat naked figure, about 50 years of age, was seated with a seaman's jacket soaked in blood thrown over one shoulder. On the other, rested his iron wood club, spattered with blood and brains. On another part of the deck, there lay 22 bodies perfectly naked and arranged side by side in regular order, but so dreadfully bruised and battered about the head that only two or three of them could be recognised. At this time, a man had just counted them and was reporting the number to the chief, immediately after which they began to throw them overboard.' The Tongan Islands, William Mariners account by John Martin"

One of the survivors was a boy by the name of William Mariner and Finau Ulukalala, the king of Nomuka, Tooboueitoa and the surrounding islands of the Kotu and Ha'apai groups, had taken a shining to the lad when they first met aboard the Port-au-Prince. William reminded the King of his son who had died of illness and when the attack on the ship was being planned Finau had given instructions that the life of Mariner should be spared if at all possible. He was renamed Toki 'Ukamea (Iron Axe) and spent the next four years living amongst the islanders. During this time he would witness the attempted unification of the Kingdom by Finau using the very guns seized from the Port-au-Prince. One long nine still lies on Ha'ano Island. After rescue and his return to England Mariner related his story to John Martin who penned the famous book The Tongan Islands, William Mariners account.

Possibly discovery by archaeologists
On 8 December 2009, almost two hundred and three years to the day, a local diver named Tevita Moala was conducting a dive course when a heavy squall forced him to abandon the planned site and make haste for shelter in the lee of Lifuka Island. They dropped anchor directly off Mui Kuku point on the North West tip of the island and after diving for a few minutes discovered the rusted anchor of a 19th Century ship that he immediately realised was probably the anchor of the Port au Prince.

The Greenwich Maritime Museum and the Marine Archaeological Society both confirmed the age of the wreck after analysing copper sheathing found at the site. The sheathing was only used between 1780 and 1850 to combat shipworm and marine weeds and so given the location of the wreck it is considered likely to be the remains of the Port au Prince.