Nimble, 1826
Type: Schooner ; Armament 5
Purchased : 1826 ; Disposal date or year : 3 Nov 1834
Disposal Details : Wrecked on Quay Verde, in the Bahama Channel, Lieut. Charles Bolton
Notes:

30 Jan 1828 cruising off the north cost of Cuba for the suppression of the slave trade.

17 Jul 1828 refitting at Nassau, New Providence.

6 Sep 1829 By the Druid, arrived from Jamaica, the Nimble was at the Bahamas, and among the Keys suppressing piracy.

16 Nov 1829 detained in lat. 23� 50' N., long. 77� 30' W., near the Berry Islands, bound from the River Pongo to Cuba, the Spanish slave schooner Gallito, Francisco Garcia, master, with 144 slaves on board, which was sent for adjudication to the British and Spanish Mixed Court at Havana, and on 26 Nov 1829 sentenced to be forfeited. see also p. 273 at www.archive.org/details/royalnavyhistory06clow.

1830 Jamaica Station

26 Jan 1831 Manly arrived at Nassau from Jamaica and remained with the Blossom, Nimble, and Monkey.

21 Feb 1831 prize money due for Gallito, captured 16 Nov 1829, due to be paid.

10 Apr 1832 remained at Port Royal when the packet Lord Melville departed for England.

1 Jul 1832 at Havannah when the packet for Falmouth departed.

13 Jul 1832 detained in lat. 21� 15' N. long. 83� 5' W., off the Isle of Pines, Cuba, whilst en route from Loando, the Portuguese slave vessel Hebe, Domingo Joz�d Almeida, master, with 401 slaves on board, were landed as Nassau and the case taken to Sierra Leone where the British and Portuguese Court of Mixed Commission, on 25 Oct 1832, sentenced the vessel to be condemned and the surviving slaves to be emancipated ; 22 May 1834 Bounty on slaves due for payment.

21 Oct 1832 when en route from Bermuda to Halifax, was spoke with 30 miles S,W, of Cape Sable.

13 Nov 1832 arrived Bermuda to refit.

10 Dec 1832 at Bermuda.

29 Mar 1833 detained the slave vessel Negrita, with 195 slaves on board. 7 May 1835 the proceeds arising due to be paid.

26 May 1833 arrived Jamaica from a cruise.

18 May 1833 supposed to have captured a slave ship off Barbadoes and departed with it to Trinidad ?

10 Nov 1833 Lieutenant Charles Bolton, appointed in command on the West Indies station, captured six vessels with 1902 slaves on board. One of his toughest opponents was the Spanish slave schooner Joaquina, with 327 slaves on board, which did not surrender until she had had her master and 2 men killed, and was in a sinking condition, off the Isle of Pines, whilst en route from the River Bonny to Havana, when she was sent for adjudication to the British and Spanish Mixed Court at Havana, and on 21 Nov 1833 sentenced to be condemned. See also p. 273 at www.archive.org/details/royalnavyhistory06clow
7 May 1835 proceeds arising due to be paid.

Extract of a Letter from Capt. Bolton, dated, His Britannic Majesty's schooner Nimble, Havanna, 16th November, 1833.
I beg to acquaint you, that I arrived this day, at this port, in his Britannic Majesty's schooner, Nimble, with the Spanish slave-schooner, 'Joaquina,' captured on the morning of the 10th inst. off the Isle of Pines. At daylight on the 10th inst. a sail was discovered about 9 or 10 miles to leeward, standing in for land. All sail was immediately made in chase, and having greatly the superiority of sailing, I soon made her out to be a large schooner, which we were closing very fast. When within three or four miles the stranger, perceiving there was no chance of escaping by sailing, wore round, shortened sail, and hove-to to receive us ; being then seven or eight miles from the south-west point of the Isle of Pines. I soon afterwards took in studding-sails and square sail, and prepared for action, still bearing down upon him ; he then hoisted Spanish colours and fired a blank gun, when I hoisted our colours, and as soon as we were within musket-shot (to ascertain positively what he was) I ordered two muskets to be fired over him, which he returned by a well-directed shot from a long 12-pounder.
I immediately opened fire upon him, closing as quickly as possible. The wind now becoming very light, he continued receiving and returning our fire until within half pistol-shot, when, having received two 8-pound shot between wind and water, several through his upper works and sails, his mainmast cut nearly through, and rigging much damaged, the captain desperately wounded (since dead), he struck his colours, and cried for quarter. His defence was most obstinate and desperate, continued nearly an hour, and he fought worthy of a better cause.

3 Dec 1833 the slave schooner Amistad Habanera was burnt by own crew on the Isle of Pines.

4 Dec 1833 discovered a slave schooner, Name Unknown, fitted out for the slave trade, burnt out on the coast of the Isle of Pines.

7 Dec 1833 detained off the Isle of Pines the slave schooner Manuelita, Joz� de Cano y Garay, master, with 485 slaves on board, which was sent for adjudication to the British and Spanish Mixed Court at Havana, and on 17 Dec 1833 sentenced to be condemned. 7 May 1835 proceeds arising due to be paid.

5 Feb 1834 at Barbadoes is reported to be at Port Royal.

18 Aug 1834 detained off Cape Maize, Cuba, the Portuguese slave schooner Felicidad, which was sent for adjudication to the British and Portuguese Court of Mixed Commission, Sierra Leone, and on 21 Nov 1834 was sentenced to be condemned.

29 Sep 1834 Refitting in Halifax harbour.

30 Oct 1834 detained the slave vessel Carlotto. �20 15s. 5d. paid by the Crown to or on behalf of captors, in satisfaction of expenses etc., arising from the seizure of a vessel alleged to be engaged in the Slave Trade.

3 Nov 1834 Nimble lost on Key Verde, the Bahama Channel, along with 70 slaves. The crew and 200 slaves were rescued.
On the 30th ultimo His Majesty's schooner, "Nimble," Lieutenant Charles Bolton, Commander, chased on shore, at Punta de la Vaca, on the eastern end of this island, a Spanish schooner, having slaves on board : the crew escaped into the woods with a part of the negroes, but the Captain of the vessel, Francisco Loureiro, being unable to fly, both by reason of sickness and his having been maltreated either by his crew or the negroes, was detained, with his servant, as were also two hundred and seventy-two negroes, who were all embarked on board the "Nimble."
On the 1st November the "Nimble" departed for Nuevitas, in order to procure provisions, and arrived there without the occurrence of any particular incident on the voyage, except the death of the Master of the slave-vessel, Don Francisco Loureiro, who previously declared his vessel to be the "Carlota" bound from Gallinas, on the Coast of Africa, with three hundred and fifty slaves, to the Havana. The "Nimble" departed from Nuevitas on the morning of the 3d, and Lieutenant Bolton being anxious, from, the crowded state of his vessel, to arrive at the Havana as soon as possible, determined the same night to make the passage through the Old Bahama Channel. Unfortunately, however, a furious storm from the north-east came on during the night, and, aided by the peculiar state of the currents, always so dangerous in this channel, drove His Majesty's schooner on a key, or coral reef, called Cayo Verde, where she was totally lost on the morning of the 4th instant, the Officers, crew, and the Spanish boy, saving their lives with difficulty, and upwards of seventy negroes perishing in the shipwreck.
Lieutenant Bolton having contrived to make his melancholy situation known at Guanaja, the Military Commandant of Marine there immediately forwarded supplies, and came afterwards, himself, to Cayo Verde, to give assistance. Through his means, Lieutenant Bolton chartered the Spanish schooner, "Amistad," to bring his crew and the one hundred and ninety-seven surviving negroes from off the rock to the Havana. They departed in this vessel on the 12th instant, and arrived here on the 14th. Early on the following morning one hundred and ninety-four negroes, all who remained alive, were delivered up to the Spanish Authorities, and Commodore Topete, Acting Commander-in-Chief on the Station since the death of Admiral Laborde, assigned the Officers and crew of His Majesty's schooner lodgings in the Havana Dock-yard.
And whilst I've not seen the correspondence, from subsequent tribunals, quoting the case of the Carlota, it would appear that the Carlota was condemned by the British and Spanish Mixed Court of Justice, Havana, who also emancipated the surviving slaves.

7 May 1835 bounty on slaves due for the Negrita, Joaquina, and Manuelita due to be paid.