View source for Sunny South (clipper)

{{Short description|1854 extreme clipper}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image               = HMS Brisk and Emanuela.jpg
| Ship caption             = Capture of slave ship ''Emanuela'' by HMS ''Brisk''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header              =
| Ship country             = United States
| Ship flag                = {{USN flag|1854|civil}}
| Ship name                = '''''Sunny South'''''
| Ship owner               = Napier, Johnson & Co, [[New York City]] 
| Ship ordered             = 
| Ship builder             = [[George Steers and Co]], [[Williamsburg, Brooklyn|Williamsburg, NY]]
| Ship original cost       = $70,000
| Ship laid down           = 
| Ship launched            = Sept. 7, 1854
| Ship acquired            = 
| Ship commissioned        = 
| Ship decommissioned      = 
| Ship in service          = 
| Ship out of service      = 
| Ship renamed             = 
| Ship struck              = 
| Ship reinstated          = 
| Ship honours             = 
| Ship captured            = 
| Ship fate                = 
| Ship notes               = 
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header              = title
| Ship country             = Slave traders
| Ship flag                = 
| Ship name                = 
| Ship owner               =  
| Ship ordered             = 
| Ship builder             = 
| Ship cost       = $18,000
| Ship laid down           = 
| Ship launched            = 
| Ship acquired            = Sold to [[Havana]] in 1859.
| Ship commissioned        = 
| Ship decommissioned      = 
| Ship in service          = 
| Ship out of service      = 
| Ship renamed             = '''''Emanuela''''' or '''''Manuela'''''
| Ship struck              = 
| Ship reinstated          = 
| Ship honours             = 
| Ship captured            = 10 August 1860, by {{HMS|Brisk|1851|6}}, with 846 slaves aboard
| Ship fate                =Condemned as a prize, sold to British Navy
| Ship notes               = 
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header              =title
|Ship country              = United Kingdom
|Ship flag                 = {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
| Ship name                = '''''Enchantress'''''
| Ship owner               =  
| Ship ordered             = 
| Ship builder             = 
| Ship original cost       = 
| Ship laid down           = 
| Ship launched            = 
| Ship acquired            = 
| Ship commissioned        = 
| Ship decommissioned      = 
| Ship in service          = 
| Ship out of service      = 
| Ship renamed             = 
| Ship struck              = 
| Ship reinstated          = 
| Ship honours             = 
| Ship captured            = 
| Ship fate                = Wrecked in the [[Mozambique Channel]], Feb. 20, 1861
| Ship notes               = Used as store ship on African coast
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header              = 
| Header caption           = 
| Ship class               = [[Extreme clipper]]
| Ship tons burthen        = 776 tons
| Ship length              = 154 ft., or 135 ft. 4 in.
| Ship beam          = 31 ft. 4 in., or 30 ft. 4 in.
| Ship draft          = 16 ft. 6 in., or 17 ft. 3 in.<ref name = "bruzelius" >
{{Cite web
  | last = Bruzelius
  | first = Lars
  | title = Clipper Ships: ''Sunny South'' (1854)
  | work = Sunny South
  | publisher = The Maritime History Virtual Archives
  | date = 1997-03-22
  | url = http://www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/Ships/Clippers/Sunny_South%281854%29.html
  }}
</ref><ref name = "howev2" >
{{Cite book
  | last1 = Howe
  | first1 = Octavius T
  | last2 = Matthews
  | first2 = Frederick C.
  | title = American Clipper Ships 1833-1858. Volume 2, Malay-Young Mechanic
  | publisher = Marine Research Society
  | year = 1927
  | location = Salem, MA
  | pages = 638–640
  }}
</ref><ref name = "Crothers" >
{{Cite book
  | last = Crothers
  | first = William L.
  | title = The American-Built Clipper Ship, 1850-1856: Characteristics, Construction, Details
  | publisher = International Marine
  | year = 1997
  | location = Camden, ME
  | pages = xvii
  | isbn = 0-07-014501-6}}
</ref>
| Ship hold depth          = 
| Ship propulsion          = 
| Ship sail plan          = 
| Ship complement          = 
| Ship armament            =
| Ship notes               =
}}
|}

{{Coord|13.048|S|45.195|E|display=title}}

'''''Sunny South''''', an [[extreme clipper]], was the only full-sized sailing ship built by [[George Steers]], and resembled his famous sailing yacht [[America (yacht)|''America'']], with long sharp entrance lines and a slightly concave bow. Initially, she sailed in the California and Brazil trades.<ref name = "howev2" /> Sold in 1859 and renamed '''''Emanuela''''' (or '''''Manuela'''''),<ref name = "bruzelius" /> she was considered to be the fastest [[Slave ship|slaver]] sailing out of [[Havana]].<ref name = "chapelle" /> The British [[Royal Navy]] captured ''Emanuela'' off the coast of Africa in 1860 with over 800 slaves aboard.<ref name = "tstdb" /> The [[Royal Navy]] purchased her as a prize and converted her into a Royal Navy store ship, '''''Enchantress'''''.<ref name = "bruzelius" /> She was wrecked in the [[Mozambique Channel]] in 1861.

==Construction==
''Sunny South'' was built for the China trade, but she was too small to be profitable on that route. The timbers of her wooden hull were somewhat lighter than usual for a ship of her size, and diagonally strapped with iron. ''Sunny South'''s topsides were black, and a scaly sea serpent was her [[figurehead]].<ref name = "howev2" /><ref name = "chapelle" >
{{Cite book
  | last = Chapelle
  | first = Howard I.
  | author-link = Howard I. Chapelle
  | title = The Search for Speed Under Sail, 1700-1855
  | publisher = W.W. Norton & Co.
  | year = 1967
  | location = New York
  | pages = 303, 380
  | oclc = 569193}}
</ref>

A description of her launch (7 September 1857) in the ''[[New York Times]]'' stated that a large number of people were in attendance, and praised her beauty and fine sailing characteristics, as was characteristic of press coverage of that time.<ref>
{{Cite news 
  | title = A New Clipper-- The Sunny South
  | newspaper = New York Times
  | location = New York
  | date = September 8, 1854
  | url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C0DE5D61538EE3BBC4053DFBF66838F649FDE
 | access-date = Jan 19, 2011}}
</ref>

==Voyages to California and Brazil==
On her maiden voyage in 1854, ''Sunny South'' made a 143-day passage from New York to San Francisco under Capt. Michael Gregory,<ref name = "cutler">
{{Cite book
  | last1 = Cutler
  | first1 = Carl C.
  | title = Greyhounds of the Sea   
  | publisher = United States Naval Institute
  | year = 1960
  | location = Annapolis, MD
  | pages = 439
}}
</ref> putting in at [[Rio de Janeiro]]. She made unusually good time in the Pacific on this passage between the [[Equator]] and the [[Golden Gate]]. She then sailed to [[Hong Kong]] in ballast in 51 days, with a 102-day return passage to [[New York City]], arriving in January 1856.<ref name = "howev2" />

''Sunny South'' began sailing to Brazilian ports with her voyage of March 1, 1856. Her fastest passage to Rio was 37 days; her three other trips ranged from 40 to 46 days. The three return passages from [[Santos, Brazil]] ranged from 41 to 49 days.<ref name = "howev2" />

On April 14, 1858, ''Sunny South'' arrived in New York from Santos, transporting a portion of the crew of the clipper ship [[John Gilpin (clipper)|''John Gilpin'']], which was lost off the Falkland Islands. The crew members had been dropped off in Bahia, Brazil, after their rescue by the British ship ''Hertfordshire''.<ref name = "howev2" />

==Capture of ''Emanuela''==
{{Suppression of the Slave Trade}}
In 1859, ''Sunny South'' was sold to Havana for $18,000.<ref name = "bruzelius" /> She was renamed ''Emanuela'' (or ''Manuela'') and put into the [[Atlantic slave trade]].

''Sunny South''/''Emanuela'' was one of three American-built clipper ships known to have engaged in the slave trade. (The other two were [[USS Nightingale (1851)|''Nightingale'']] and ''Haidee''.) <ref name = "chapelle"/>
  
[[Clipper ships]] were the fastest sailing ships available in the 1850s, and Howard I. Chapelle asserts in ''The Search for Speed Under Sail'' that ''Sunny South'' had the reputation of being the fastest slaver sailing out of Havana.<ref name = "chapelle" />

On March 5, 1860, ''Emanuela'' left Havana, allegedly bound for Hong Kong, under the Chilean flag.<ref name = "bruzelius" />

On August 10, 1860, the British [[screw sloop|screw]] [[sloop-of-war]] {{HMS|Brisk|1851|6}} captured ''Emanuela'' with 846 slaves aboard,<ref name = "tstdb" /> in the [[Mozambique Channel]].<ref name = "bruzelius" />

At 11:30 am ''Brisk'', under Captain Algernon de Horsey,<ref>A de Horsey wrote "On the Comoro islands" for the ''Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London'', 1864.</ref> bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral the [[Henry Keppel|Hon. Sir Henry Keppel]], K. C. B., was running to the northward in the Mozambique Channel when she sighted a ship in the haze with many sails set, which proceeded to change course as if attempting to avoid contact. ''Brisk'' made sail and steam, and reached a speed of 11 1/2 [[Knot (unit)|knots]] as she pursued ''Emanuela.''<ref name = "Clark">
{{Cite book
  | last = Clark
  | first = Arthur H.
  | title = The Clipper Ship Era, An Epitome of Famous American and British Clipper Ships, Their Owners, Builders, Commanders, and Crews, 1843-1869
  | publisher = G.P. Putnam’s Sons
  | year = 1910
  | location = Camden, ME
  | pages = [https://archive.org/details/cu31924020891416/page/n316 251]
  | url = https://archive.org/details/cu31924020891416
  | quote = clipper ship era clark.
  | oclc= 24385738 }}
</ref> Even so, it was at least four hours later before she could draw close enough to fire a shot across ''Emanuela'''s bow, board her, and take the slaver captain and officers into custody. ''Brisk'' then put into [[Pomoni]] in possession of ''Emanuela'' to make arrangements to replace the slaver crew with a [[Prize money|prize crew]].<ref name = "Speke" /><ref name = "Dickens" />

The speed of this slave ship under sail was sufficiently memorable that years later, in a 1914 novel, ''The Mutiny of the Elsinore'', [[Jack London]] had an old sailor character exclaim,
<blockquote>
I was on the ''Emanuela'' that day in Mozambique Channel when ''Brisk'' caught us with nine hundred slaves between-decks. Only she wouldn't 'a' caught us except for her having steam.<ref>{{Cite book
  | last = London
  | first = Jack
  | author-link = Jack London
  | title = The mutiny of the Elsinore
  | publisher = The Macmillan Company
  | year = 1914
  | location = New York
  | page = [https://archive.org/details/mutinyofelsinor00lond/page/14 14]
  | url = https://archive.org/details/mutinyofelsinor00lond
  | quote = emanuela brisk.
  | oclc = 288483}}
</ref> </blockquote>

This comment concurs with the opinion of an eyewitness. The explorer [[John Hanning Speke]] was aboard ''Brisk'' as a passenger, and described the capture scene in ''The Discovery of the Source of the Nile.'' According to Speke, if the wind had been more favorable, ''Sunny South'' could have outsailed ''Brisk'' and escaped, despite ''Brisk'' having the advantage of an auxiliary steam engine.<ref name = "Speke" >{{Cite book
  | last = Speke
  | first = John Hanning
  | author-link = John Hanning Speke
  | title = The Discovery of the Source of the Nile
  | publisher = Harper
  | year = 1864
  | location = New York
  | page = 4
  | isbn = 9781406830088
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sz5xAOxILCsC&q=brisk+manuela&pg=PA4
  | oclc = 1498438}}
</ref>

Speke inspected the slave ship and bore witness in his writings regarding the appalling and inhumane conditions on board. When Speke boarded ''Manuela'' as she lay in Pomoni Harbor, he saw half-starved people below decks, mostly children, along with a few old women who lay dying in "the most disgusting [[ferret#Behavior|ferret box]] atmosphere." Other slaves who had the strength were ripping open the ship's [[Trapdoor|hatches]] and scrambling for the salted fish packed beneath.<ref name = "Speke" />

The slaver's voyage had been stopped in its first few days, and the {{convert|7|ft|adj=on}} slave deck had adequate ventilation.<ref name = "Dickens" /> As a result, many of the slaves proved healthy despite their lack of food and the horrible stench of the ship. After the prize crew washed down the slave deck as best they could, the two ships proceeded to Mauritius.<ref name = "Speke" />

According to Speke, the slaves he encountered were mostly from the ''Wahiyow'' tribe. They had been captured during local wars and sold to Arab traders, taken to the coast, and then taken to ''Manuela'' in [[dhow]]s. The slaves were half starved because they had been kept for nearly a week without food while the traders negotiated their deal.<ref name = "Speke" />

The Transatlantic Slave Trade Database says ''Emanuela'' picked up slaves at [[Quirimbas Islands|Quirimba]] on August 10, 1860. Of the 846 slaves who embarked, 105 died en route, and 741 arrived at the first place of landing. Over half were children (appx. 55%); appx. 87% male, 13% female. Of this number appx. 47% were boys, 40% men, 9% girls, and 5% women.<ref name = "tstdb" >
{{Cite web
  | title = Manuela (a) Sunny South 
  | publisher = Transatlantic Slave Trade Database, Voyages Database
  | year = 2009
  | url = http://www.slavevoyages.org/voyages/vAuYykpw
  | access-date = 28 November 2017}}
</ref>

Author [[Charles Dickens]], who paid a visit to ''Manuela'' six months after its capture, wrote that the ship still smelled horrible despite all attempts to disinfect it. He was told that the crew had been observed dumping ''Manuela''{{'}}s [[Logbook|logs]] and [[Ensign (flag)#Maritime ensigns|flag]] overboard shortly before being boarded.<ref name = "Dickens" >{{Cite journal
  | last = Dickens
  | first = Charles
  | author-link = Charles Dickens
  | title = A Cruise in the Mozambique, in Three Parts. Part III
  | journal = [[All the Year Round]]
  | volume = 34
  | issue = Sept. 20
  | pages = 489–491
  | publisher = Chapman and Hall
  | location = London
  | year = 1884
  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=81sEAAAAYAAJ&q=manuela+brisk+ship&pg=PA489
  | oclc = 19663618
  | access-date = Jan 17, 2011}}
</ref>

==Release of captured slaves and crew==
The captain of ''Brisk'', [[Algernon de Horsey|Captain de Horsey]] was angered by the lack of punishment for Manuela's 45-member slaver crew when they reached shore. An official letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty, dated December 31, 1860, expressed his displeasure:
<blockquote>
There appears to be no specific instructions as to the disposal of the crews of captured slavers, such captures having been made with respect to vessels not entitled to the protection of any flag. I consequently discharged the ''Manuela''{{'}}s crew, 45 in number, to the shore.
It is to be regretted that these men should have escaped unpunished. If the severest penalty of the law was inflicted on all crews of slavers, it would prove a considerable check to men engaged in that nefarious traffic.<ref>{{Citation
  | last1 = De Horsey
  | first1 = Sir Algernon
  | author-link = Algernon Frederick Rous de Horsey
  | last2 = Great Britain. Foreign and Commonwealth Office
  | title = Letter, No. 100, of Dec. 31 1860, Captain De Horsey to the Secretary of the Admiralty
  | journal = British and Foreign State Papers
  | volume = 52
  | page = 615
  | year = 1861–1862
  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=V7laDn7SKGoC&q=brisk+manuela&pg=PA615
  | oclc = 1605536}}
</ref>
</blockquote>
The freed slaves were put ashore at [[Mauritius]], where they were later hired out to sugar planters.<ref name = "Dickens" />

==''Enchantress''==
[[image:HMS_Sidon_destroying_Enchantress_at_Mayotte.jpg|thumb|HMS ''Sidon'' destroying ''Enchantress'' at Mayotte|right]]
''Sunny South'' was taken to [[Mauritius]], where a [[prize court]] condemned her. The Royal Navy renamed her ''Enchantress'' and used her as a store ship on the coast of Africa, to prevent the ship being purchased by slavers.<ref name = "bruzelius" /><ref name = "howev2" /><ref name="hepp2">{{cite book |last=Hepper |first=David |title=British Warship Losses in the Ironclad Era 1860–1919 |year=2006 |location=London |publisher=Chatham Publishing |isbn=9781861762733 |page=2}}</ref> ''Enchantress'' ran aground on a reef at [[Mayotte]] in the Mozambique Channel on 20 February 1861. According to Dickens, she sailed so fast that the crew did not realize they were already eleven miles offshore and standing into danger.<ref name = "Dickens" /> 

The Royal Navy sent {{HMS|Sidon|1846|6}} to destroy the wreck by burning.<ref name="hepp2"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Bouquet, Michael R. "The Capture of the 'Sunny South' Slaver." ''History Today'' (Aug 1960) 19#8 pp 573–578

==External links==
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=sz5xAOxILCsC&dq=brisk+manuela&pg=PA4 Account of the Capture of the ''Manuela''], by [[John Hanning Speke]]
*[https://www.nytimes.com/1860/12/25/news/affairs-havana-slaver-sunny-south-significant-order-spanish-authorities-yellow.html Slaver ''Sunny South'' in Havana], 1860 NYT article
*[http://www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/Maritime_History/New_Ships/USNM-1%281854%29_p62.html Description of new vessel, ''Sunny South''], transcription from ''The U.S. Nautical Magazine'', Vol. I (1854), pp.&nbsp;62–63.
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=750AAAAAMAAJ&q=%22sunny+south%22&pg=PA62 Description of new vessel ''Sunny South''], pdfs from ''The U.S. Nautical Magazine'', Vol. I (1854), pp.&nbsp;62–63.

{{Clipper ships}}
{{1860 shipwrecks}}{{1861 shipwrecks}}

[[Category:California clippers]]
[[Category:Slave ships]]
[[Category:Age of Sail merchant ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Storeships of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Individual sailing vessels]]
[[Category:Ships built in New York City]]
[[Category:History of Havana]]
[[Category:1861 in Africa]]
[[Category:Quirimbas Islands]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of Africa]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Indian Ocean]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1860]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in February 1861]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents involving slave ships]]
[[Category:Captured ships]]
[[Category:1854 ships]]
[[Category:Charles Dickens]]