Bann, 1814
Type: 6th Rate ; Armament 20
Launched : June 1814 ; Disposal date or year : Jan 1829
Notes:

9 Feb 1815 departed Portsmouth for Leith Roads.

26 Jul 1815 remains in the Downs.

10 Aug 1815 departed Deal for Woolwich to be paid off.

5 Sep 1815 Capt. Lewis Shepheard appointed in command of the frigate at Woolwich.

1 Jan 1816 Anti-slavery patrols, Goree, Africa.

26 Jan 1816 is reported at Sierra Leone to have captured the armed schooner Rosa, under Spanish colours, with 276 slaves.

4 Jun 1816, it is reported at Portsmouth, that prior to leaving the West Coast of Africa, she captured, after a chase, the armed Spanish felucca Signora del Carmen, of Cadiz, bound for Havannah.

11 Oct 1820 the Admiralty announced that the commanding officers of the following vessels now cruising on the Jamaica Station, ie the Euryalus, Tamar, Confiance, Ontario, Bann, Parthian, Sophie, Nautilus, and Raleigh, have been supplied with their instructions, should the right circumstances arise, authorising them to detain Portuguese or Spanish vessels in accordance with the several Treaties with foreign powers for preventing the Illegal Traffic in slaves with those countries.

11 Mar 1822 arrived Spithead from Chatham, fitted for the Coast of Africa.

20 Jun 1922 Is reported to have arrived Sierra Leone from Portsmouth.

15 Aug 1822 One of the vessels captured at the River Bonny on 15 Apr 1922, the French brig Petite Betsey, of Nantes, has arrived in the charge of Lieut. Caswell, late of the Bann, leaving Sierra Leone on the 23d June.

27 Aug 1822 detained off Whydah in lat. 6� 19' N. long. 2� 26' E. the Spanish slave schooner San Raphael, Francisco Chunchurreta, master, and 150 slaves, which was sent for adjudication to the British and Spanish Mixed Court of Justice, Sierra Leone, but was not condemned, although the slaves appear to have been emancipated. However no claimant appearing, the Court decreed the sale of the same on 17 Jun 1823, and that the proceeds thereof should be lodged in the Registry to await further proceedings in this Case, and in the process the vessel would appear to have been acquired for use as a tender by the Bann.

29 Sep 1822, detained in lat. 1� 9' N. long. 7� 54' E., the Portuguese slave vessel Magdalena da Praca, with 33 slaves on board when detained, which was sent for adjudication to the British and Portuguese Court of Mixed Commission, Sierra Leone, and sentenced to be condemned.

5 Oct 1822, detained in lat. 5� 35' N. long. 3� 40' E., the Portuguese slave vessel St Antonio de Lisboa, Joze Machado, master, Francisco Xavier Leao, owner, with 336 slaves on board when detained, which was sent for adjudication to the British and Portuguese Court of Mixed Commission, Sierra Leone, and sentenced to be condemned, 291 slaves being emancipated, 45 having died.

30 Oct 1822, detained in lat. 5� 43' N. long. 3� 17' E., the Portuguese slave vessel Juliana da Praca, Joao Ezequiel Leal, master, Inocencio Marques de Santana, owner, with a crew of 28 men, with 112 slaves on board when detained, which was sent for adjudication to the British and Portuguese Court of Mixed Commission, Sierra Leone, and sentenced to be condemned, and 99 slaves emancipated, 13 having died en route.

21 Oct 1822 The Bridges spoke with a schooner, bound to Sierra Leone, with 135 slaves, prize to the Bann, which had also captured a Portuguese polacre.

13 Nov 1822, detained off the Island of St. Thomas the Portuguese slave vessel Conceicao, with 207 slaves on board when detained, which was sent for adjudication to the British and Portuguese Court of Mixed Commission, Sierra Leone, and sentenced to be condemned.

3 Dec 1822, detained in lat. 0� 80' S. long. 5� 26' W., the Portuguese slave schooner Sinceridade, with 124 slaves on board when detained, which was sent for adjudication to the British and Portuguese Court of Mixed Commission, Sierra Leone, and was restored to her master, having been detained South of the Line.

11 Jan 1823 anchored off Freetown, and continued there until the 25th of March, her ship's company on board being in excellent health. On this day, one case of fever, having severe inflammatory symptoms, was put on the sick list, and the patient died on the 30th, the fifth day of his illness. 19 Mar 1823 sent her pinnace to assist in bringing to the anchorage the Caroline, a vessel which, having been loaded with timber in a very swampy situation about thirty miles up the river of Sierra Leone, had lost by a fever, at least fifteen of her crew.

26 Mar 1823 the master and two seamen were attacked in the same manner, and recovered.

27 Mar 1823 departed Sierra Leone for Ascension but three more cases occurred on board the Bann and on the 31st, a similar case of the same kind was added to the list ; and on the 3 Apr, four more of her people were seized with the same complaint. From this time the sick list rapidly increased, and, according to the account of Captain Phillips, beginning forward in the ship, came gradually to the after part, till nearly all the officers and men were attacked ; indeed, when it ceased, at Ascension, only about sixteen had escaped of the whole of the officers and ship's company. The total number attacked was 99, of whom thirty-four died, fifteen of them before the Bann reached Ascension. It is stated by the surgeon, that at the time of sailing from Sierra Leone, the weather was very hot and sultry, and subsequently became cloudy, with occasional heavy showers of rain, accompanied by thunder and lightning, indicating the approach of the tornado season. The thermometer stood at about 78� to 80� during the day, becoming about two degrees lower than usual in the night ; but, from the dampness of the air, the impression of cold on the feelings was greater than that which was indicated by the mercury, and produced a sensation of chill in the night. The ship was ordered to St. Thomas', but, from the unhealthy state of the crew, and the bad weather, it was deemed advisable to proceed directly to the Island of Ascension ; and on her arrival at that place, on the 25th of April, tents were immediately erected on shore at the distance of nearly five hundred yards from the garrison, with which all intercourse was interdicted, and the whole of the sick, amounting to forty-five, labouring under the prevailing fever, were landed, and placed in the tents provided for them. " In this voyage to Ascension, the Bann was accompanied by a Spanish schooner, named the San Raphael, which she had detained off Whydah, in September, 1822, having on board one hundred and fifty slaves, and which arrived in the river of Sierra Leone in December following. During the interval. Captain Phillips had, at different times, put into this vessel a commissioned officer, two midshipmen, an assistant surgeon, and twenty men, all of whom returned perfectly well.
"The schooner, while lying off Freetown, was anchored very close to the Caroline, a timber ship, after that vessel, from becoming leaky, returned to be repaired. The schooner was sent up to Bance Island, in the River Sierra Leone, about fifteen miles above Freetown, to have her bottom repaired, but no sickness took place in consequence ; and while the Bann lay in the river, the schooner was sent, with a lieutenant and forty men, to reconnoitre the Gallinas, and was absent on this service about a fortnight, during which time four of her men suffered severe attacks of fever; none, however, died, and they returned generally in good health or convalescent, and it was after this cruize she anchored near the Caroline, and, consequently, before the fever appeared in the Bann. " The fever, according to the testimony of the surgeon, made its appearance first on board this schooner ; and this vessel suffered more in proportion to the number of her crew than the Bann, fifteen being, at different times, attacked on board of her : indeed, Captain Phillips states, that every person on board, excepting Mr. Crockat, the second master, and the Portuguese pilot, was taken ill, and removed to the Bann, and that the number taken ill on board of the schooner, in the early part of the disease, was so great, that at one time he had determined to destroy her ; but that, on further consideration, he decided on taking all the Europeans out of her, except the second master, pilot, and two seamen, sending a proportionate number of blacks to assist in navigating her, and after he had so done no sickness prevailed. Much more of interest regarding the Island per A practical medico-historical account of the western coast of Africa [electronic resource] : embracing a topographical description of its shores, rivers, and settlements, with their seasons and comparative healthiness : together with the causes, symptoms, and treatment, of the fevers of western Africa : and a similar account respecting the other diseases which prevail there by Boyle, James, active 1831; Great Britain. Colonial Office. Library former owner; King's College London.

" The report of Mr. Thompson, the medical officer of the garrison, states, that the appearance of the fever amongst them is dated eighteen days after the arrival of the Bann, viz. on the 11th of May ; but he adds, however, that one of the people was attacked, as early as the 28th of April, with symptoms of fever, which he then thought might be a mild case of the Bann's, which was scarcely above two days after the landing of the sick. The man thus attacked was a convalescent on the 7th of May. On the 11th of May, a boy (son of one of the sergeants) was violently attacked, and ultimately died ; but it is neither known nor believed that he had any nearer communication with the sick of the Bann than passing daily at no great distance from the tents to feed his father's poultry, and he was never on board that ship.

Up to this time, the restrictions on the intercourse between the ship herself and the garrison had not been much attended to, and certainly not at all as regards the communication of the garrison with each other ; several things, such as sideboards, &c., had been landed from the Bann, which had been brought by her from Sierra Leone, and some of the officers and men had gone on board that ship (after the sick were landed), to the sale of the effects of some deceased person. From this time, however, every proper precaution was taken for preventing the extension of the disease to the outposts ; notwithstanding which, six men, two women, and seven children, were taken ill at Springs, but fortunately none at the Green Mountain, though one of the men belonging to that post had been on board the Bann, at the sale before mentioned. Some days after the arrival of the Bann, Captain Phillips took up his residence at Springs but, though he was much indisposed with a low fever, both the surgeon of the Bann and the assistant of the garrison are of opinion, that he did not suffer from the prevailing fever.

"About this time, the fever in the Bann had nearly ceased ; but it went on, daily attacking some of the garrison ; and it appears, by the official report, that twenty-eight were taken ill, of which number fifteen died, and thirteen recovered. Independently of the officers and marines above stated, two boys were attacked, both of whom died ; and of six women, four died ; seven children likewise suffered attacks of this fever, all of whom recovered; but, unfortunately, three younger children, the eldest being only four months old, died from want of their usual sustenance, after the demise of their mothers.

" While the Bann remained at the Island of Ascension, His Majesty's sloop Driver arrived at the same place, from the African station, in perfect health ; the latter vessel had previously been in the river of Sierra Leone, subject to the same causes as the Bann, so far as Captain Phillips knows ; but he is not acquainted whether she had communication with the Caroline timber-ship. Soon after her arrival at Ascension two clerks were sent on board the Bann, one of them to act as purser, and the other to make up the accounts of Captain Phillips ; one died with fever, the other was seized with a bilious attack, of which he recovered ; while Lieutenant King and Mr. Sinclair, who visited the Bann at the same time, both escaped. It appears, by the official returns from the Driver, however, that three in the whole were taken ill with the prevailing fever, two of whom were sent on shore, and one died on board; and the captain very properly put to sea, and used every precaution ; and with these three cases the disease ceased."

10 Mar 1824, detained in lat. 1� 42' N. long. 3� 23' E., the Portuguese slave vessel Bom Caminho, which was sent for adjudication to the British and Portuguese Court of Mixed Commission, Sierra Leone, and sentenced to be condemned.

23 Nov 1824, detained in lat. 2� 21' N. long. 5� 42' E., bound from Lagos to Bahia the Portuguese slave schooner Bella Eliza, Placido J. de Maio / da Maria, Master, which was sent for adjudication to the British and Portuguese Court of Mixed Commission, Sierra Leone and sentenced to be condemned and slaves emancipated.

4 Jun 1825 arrived Portsmouth from the West Coast of Africa.

From the British and Foreign Medico-chirurgical Review :- Dr. Bryson does no doubt in the least that yellow fever is sometimes contagious. Did the cases of the Bann or the Eclair permit us to hesitate upon this point, we could find ample proof from other cases adduced in the work before us. But it is unnecessary to take up any of our narrow space, with what would be merely a repetition of almost similar arguments. We will proceed to some other points connected with the origin and development of yellow fever on the western coast.

The most probable opinion seems to be, that an endemic fever is seen every year in Sierra Leone, which is most prevalent in the lowest and most crowded parts of the town, and arises, according to the opinion of all who have witnessed it, from local causes. It is presumed not to be contagious. At certain periods this fever acquires a great development, and becomes epidemic; although its symptoms remain the same, they are much heightened

� That is, no valid distinctions when all the forms of marsh yellow fevers are taken into account. As we formerly observed, when an observer has seen only the milder forms of marsh remittent fever, and is then suddenly called upon to witness an incursion of epidemic yellow fever, he may well believe that the affections are entirely distinct. But, after a time, when the intermediate forms have been more closely scrutinized, it is found, that at no point can any valid line of demarcation be drawn between these two affections, so numerous are the connecting links which bind them to each other

8-iv. 11 in intensity; remissions are less common, black vomit is more frequent, the mortality is much greater, and, in addition to other modes of propagation, it spreads itself occasionally by contagion. Its contagious character has been chiefly manifested on ship-board, where, from the circumstances of the case, the sick are supposed to be placed under unfavorable hygienic conditions. The cause of this fever becoming epidemic is to be looked for partly in some increased development of the active cause, and occasionally also from the fact, that in some of these epidemics the arrival at the place, of unacclimatized individuals who are peculiarly susceptible to the disease, has unfortunately coincided with the epidemic diffusion of the poison.

In the first epidemic recorded by Dr. Bryson, viz. that of 1823, there is no doubt that a contagious character did attach to a yellow fever which the crew of H.M.S. Bann contracted at Sierra Leone. The evidence now brought forward by Dr. Bryson seems to us decidedly to indicate, that the fever thus contracted by the Bann was an offshoot from the common endemic fever, which had at that time acquired an increased development, and subsequently seemed to merge altogether into the intenser epidemic disease. There is no evidence of any importation into Sierra Leone of the contagious disease, as there is subsequently of its introduction into Ascension by the Bann. The statement, as far as we can see, leads to this conclusion. The endemic fever prevailed among merchant seamen at the end of 1822. No one seems inclined to call this the epidemic yellow fever; then on the 11th December, an isolated fatal case occurred of a remittent fever with black vomit, which is termed "a suspicious case" by the medical attendants, and is considered by Sir William Pym the first case of the epidemic. This patient was the harbour-master of Sierra Leone, and he had been on board no infected vessel, nor had been exposed, as far as is now known, to any other except to the causes of the common endemic and local fever. Six weeks subsequently, another case occurred, the exact symptoms of which are not known. The third case occurred on the 22d of February, 1823, in the person of a seaman who had been loading timber up the river, and the crew of whose vessel (the Caroline), while engaged in thus loading, had lost several men from a fever, whose symptoms are unknown.

Subsequently, cases occurred among the crews of other vessels, and among the inhabitants of Sierra Leone, and gradually the cases became so numerous as to be called epidemic. The epidemic fever continued to prevail till June or July, 1823, when it disappeared, and the endemic fever, which it had seemed to displace, was found to again reoccupy its old ground, and to manifest about its ordinary severity. Taking away the case of the Bann, there is not in this epidemic the slightest evidence of contagion, but, on the contrary, some arguments against it. The channel of introduction cannot be indicated; the early cases were isolated, and separated from each other by long intervals of time; there is no proof that there had been any proximity between the affected persons; the symptoms did not present any decided characters, but it seemed doubtful whether they were instances simply of the endemic fever, or of the fever which was shortly afterwards to become epidemic. In the Bann, however, this fever was contagious, and as the account of the fever in this vessel is given with great precision by Dr. Bryson, we shall quote his account in full:

"Her Majesty's sloop Bann anchored in the Sierra Leone river on the 11th of January, 1823, after cruising in the Bight of Benin. She remained at Sierra Leone until the 25th of March, part of her crew being employed in her tender, the San Raphael. The men were greatly exposed in refitting the rigging of both vessels, and the schooner having been sent up the river to Bunce Island to have her bottom repaired, she was there laid on the beach, and the men exposed on shore in one of the most unhealthy spots in the colony. On the 1st of March, Mr. Higgon was seized with fever in this vessel, where he had been for some days with a party of men actively employed getting her ready for sea. On the morning of the 2d, he was better, but became worse again in the evening; he had more fever, which increased until the 3d, when in the evening it remitted. On the 4th and 5th, it appears to have been moderate, and on the 6th, he was free from all complaint but debility. His eyes were slightly yellow. On the 10th of March, four cases occurred in the same vessel, the San Raphael, while at sea. In the only one of these cases which is detailed at length, there were slight remissions as in the preceding. On the 15th, the skin assumed a yellow tinge, but the patient recovered, and was discharged to duty on the 24th. On the 25th, another man was attacked in the tender, which had returned to the anchorage of Freetown (i. e. at Sierra Leone); he had been only three days on board. On the 26th, there was a slight remission followed by an accession of fever. On the 27th, there was a second remission followed by an accession. On the 89th, he began to sink, and died early on the 30th. The integuments, which were slightly yellow, assumed a very deep colour after death. This was the first fatal case that occurred amongst the crew of the Bann, but whether it, or the one which occurred on the 1st of March, or either of them, was the first of the malignant fever that followed�that is, if there were any difference in the type of the fever�I shall not attempt to explain. Three men, two in the San Raphael and one in the Bann, were attacked on the 26th, but they all recovered. The Bann departed on the 27th of March, but appears to have remained about the mouth of the river until the 29th. Three cases occurred on the 27th, but they were all of an ephemeral nature, the whole of the men having returned to duty within a week. On the 31st, there was a case of more severity, the patient having been on the sick list for nineteen days. On the 3d of April, there were four attacks: these, with the exception of one, were all slight cases. On the 7th of April, eleven days after the Bann left Sierra Leone, there was a severe case which terminated fatally on the 12th. On the 9th, there was another of a similar character, which proved fatal on the 13th. From this time the disease assumed a greater degree of malignancy, and the deaths became more frequent. There is only one of the cases which occurred about this period that is fully detailed in the Surgeon's journal. The patient was attacked on the 14th, but had felt unwell for a few days previously. He had the usual symptoms of fever, viz. general pains, a burning hot skin, and a quick full pulse, which appeared to have been relieved by bleeding. On the 15th early, he suffered less from pain; the skin was hot, but moist, the pulse was full and quick; at 9 a.m. he was again bled, which seemed to relieve him, but at noon the bad symptoms returned; the skin became very hot, the pulse 120 and strong; there was, in fact, an accession of fever. On the evening of the 16th, slight stupor supervened, and the fever continued urgent. On the 17th, the symptoms were more favorable, and there was a decrease of pyrexia, "the fatal lull." On the 18th, about noon he became suddenly worse, and died almost immediately afterwards. Neither black vomit, nor yellowness of the skin is mentioned.

"The great difficulty of classifying these cases according to Sir William Pym's general or first division of tropical fever, will at once appear. One class of observers would be inclined to place them with the first, the endemic or bilious remittent; another with the second, or bilious continued; and another with the third, or Bulam�vomito-negro. Had the fever ceased at this time, they most likely would have been designated the common endemic of the coast; but as it did not, and as black vomit subsequently appeared in other cases, they may, I presume, be named endemic, or epidemic, according to the whim or fancy of the nosologist.

"It was intended to proceed with the vessel to the Island of St. Thomas, in the Bight of Biafra; but on account of the rapid increase of fever cases, and the bad state of the weather, it was deemed advisable to run for the Island of Ascension, which she reached on the 25th of April, having lost thirteen men altogether up to that period. The virulence of the fever about the third week in April, a few days after she crossed the equator, and when within a few hundred miles of Ascension, running nearly before a strong south-east trade wind, appears to have frightfully increased. On the 22d, there were no fewer than eight men attacked, not one of whom survived. Three died on the 26th, two on the 27th, two on the 29th, and one on the 3d of May." (p. 22.)

In reference to this remarkable increase in violence at this period, Dr. Bryson remarks:

"How are we to account for this sudden aggravation of the malady? Most unquestionably not from the impulse of any new morbific agent received from without the ship; neither can it be supposed that the fevers which were then occurring arose solely from the individual inhibition of any peculiar miasma at Sierra Leone, because a period of four weeks had elapsed since her departure from that port, and because it would be contrary to experience to suppose that the exciting poison, whether it were of a personal or a terrestrial nature, should acquire a greater degree of potency by the stage of latency being protracted. Therefore, as there is no reason to believe that there was any new physical cause evolved by the accumulation or the decomposition of foreign matters in the hold or bilges, or otherwise produced within the vessel, we are forced back upon the disease itself for an explanation of this extraordinary change; and this seems to be more reasonable than that which has been already adduced, viz. that although the fever did not at first appear to be contagious, yet from want of ventilation, and a great number of sick being confined in a small space, it ultimately became contagious. The type of the fever, which in the first instance was mild, and by no means fatal, in the course of a few weeks totally changed its character; it became virulently and dreadfully fatal; hence the unavoidable conclusion, that the causes which operated in the production of the first cases were either greatly altered, producing a corresponding alteration in the nature of the disease, or that there was an additional cause, the product of an excess of morbid action, emanating from the bodies of the sick, which, as a necessary consequence, multiplied itself, and increased in virulence as the number of sick increased, and the proportional space for their accommodation and ventilation diminished. There is nothing new in this mode of reasoning; the same result has been observed time out of mind, under similar circumstances, in every region of the world. And as a further proof that the type, or if that term should seem objectionable, the general character of the disease was thus changed by accidental circumstances; no sooner were the men landed than it reverted to the mild form it originally possessed, and the mortality greatly diminished." (p. 23.)

We presume that the whole history of the fever in the Bann is now as far elucidated as we can ever hope it will be; and, considering all things, we are strongly inclined to believe that the opinions advanced in the above extract will turn out to be correct.

It is perfectly true that the evidence in favour of this fever being at one time at least possessed of contagious properties, is stronger than the evidence which derives it from a local source; yet our readers will see that this evidence also is tolerably stringent. For here we have the Bann exposed at Sierra Leone to the common local causes of fever, and some of her crew in the San Raphael on duty "at one of the most unhealthy spots in the colony;" and the fever produced by the emanations at this place did not differ in symptoms from the cases which occurred after the Bann had left Sierra Leone altogether, and which must be supposed to be examples of the epidemic contagious yellow fever, if we are desirous of keeping up the series of cases, so that one might communicate the disease to the subsequent case. These early cases are therefore so considered by Sir William Pym. While, however, there is proof of this local influence, and of severe fevers consequent upon it, there is no evidence of the crew of the Bann having been in contact with any of the few cases of epidemic yellow fever which had occurred before the 1st of March, and which cases, as we have already seen, appeared to be themselves attributable to local causes, and not to any imported contagion.

Still, as this mode of viewing the case rests in part at least on negative evidence, viz. that no exposure to a contagious virus was traceable, and in part also upon the supposition that the severe yellow fevers, which obviously did arise from local causes, were identical in kind with those which afterwards were proved to be contagious,�a supposition which, though probable, is not absolutely proved,�an objection may possibly be taken to it.

In order, then, to see what importance is to be attached to such an objection, it will be necessary to consider the additional light which is thrown on the fever of the Bann by the study of the subsequent epidemics at Sierra Leone. If it appear that the case of the Bann is a solitary exception to an otherwise universal rule; if in all the other epidemics the contagious virus has been clearly introduced, and propagated from person to person; then we might conclude that this mode of production occurred also in the case of the Bann, but escaped the observation of those who witnessed the epidemic. If, on the contrary, there is any evidence in subsequent epidemics, that fevers which appeared to be derived from common endemic and local sources, also appeared subsequently to acquire contagious properties, then the argument that the fever of the Bann originated in like manner, and became afterwards contagious, will be much strengthened.

In the account of the epidemics subsequent to 1823, which Dr. Bryson has given us, we find this story of the Bann, with slight variations, repeated over and over again. Continually we find the same series of sequences; an endemic fever becoming more prevalent; dropping cases of a severer fever, which seems to arise out of the endemic disease; then, under certain circumstances, this latter appearing to propagate itself by reproduction of its active cause in the human body. We cannot pretend to follow Dr. Bryson through his most instructive treatise. We must content ourselves with selecting one or two of the most important points of evidence. After 1823, epidemic yellow fever prevailed to some extent at Sierra Leone for a year or two, and more severely for four or five years at various other stations on the west coast, particularly at Bathurst, Cape Coast, and Accra. But for some time previous to 1829, the only fever seen in Sierra Leone itself appears to have been the common endemic. In April 1829, however, the epidemic fever reappeared. As in 1823, the first cases were scattered and were not imported; they seemed to grow out as it were from the endemic fever, from which, indeed, some of them appear to have been scarcely distinguishable. Then, gradually increasing, the disease spread as an epidemic among the European seamen and the white population residing along the lower left bank of the river, the very locality in which the fever of 1823 had committed such terrible ravages. In this locality.......