Sunny South and Emanuela, the Clipper Captured as a Slave Ship

Sunny South was an extreme clipper ship and the only full-sized sailing vessel built by designer George Steers. Built in 1857, she gained fame first as a fast merchant ship on the California and Brazil routes, then as the slave ship Emanuela, and finally as the British naval store ship Enchantress before being wrecked in 1861.

Design and Launch

Sunny South was designed by George Steers, the naval architect behind the famous racing yacht America. Her hull featured the long sharp entrance lines and slightly concave bow that defined Steers’ style. The wooden hull was built with timbers somewhat lighter than standard for a ship of her size, reinforced with diagonal iron strapping. Her topsides were painted black, and a carved sea serpent served as her figurehead.

She was launched on 7 September 1857 to considerable public attention. The New York Times reported that large crowds attended and praised her beauty and sailing qualities, reflecting the press enthusiasm typical of that era for new clipper ships.

Early Trading Voyages

Although built for the China trade, Sunny South proved too small to operate profitably on that route. Instead, she found work in faster, more lucrative trades. On her maiden voyage in 1854, under Captain Michael Gregory, she sailed from New York to San Francisco in 143 days, stopping at Rio de Janeiro. The passage across the Pacific between the Equator and the Golden Gate was notably swift. She then sailed to Hong Kong in ballast in 51 days and returned to New York in 102 days, arriving in January 1856.

From March 1856 onward, Sunny South sailed regularly to Brazilian ports. Her fastest run to Rio de Janeiro took 37 days, while her other three passages ranged from 40 to 46 days. Return voyages from Santos, Brazil took between 41 and 49 days. In April 1858, she arrived in New York carrying part of the crew from the clipper ship John Gilpin, which had been lost off the Falkland Islands. The crew members had been rescued by the British ship Hertfordshire and dropped at Bahia before being picked up by Sunny South.

Conversion to a Slave Ship

In 1859, Sunny South was sold to Havana for $18,000 and renamed Emanuela, or Manuela. She entered the Atlantic slave trade, becoming one of only three American-built clipper ships known to have engaged in slavery. Her speed made her valuable for this illegal trade. Naval architect Howard I. Chapelle noted in his work The Search for Speed Under Sail that Emanuela gained a reputation as the fastest slaver operating out of Havana.

On 5 March 1860, Emanuela departed Havana under the Chilean flag, ostensibly bound for Hong Kong. On 10 August 1860, the British screw sloop-of-war HMS Brisk spotted her in the Mozambique Channel. Brisk, commanded by Captain Algernon de Horsey under Rear-Admiral Sir Henry Keppel, pursued the slaver for at least four hours, using both sail and steam to reach a speed of 11.5 knots before drawing close enough to fire a warning shot and board her.

Capture and Conditions Aboard

When HMS Brisk captured Emanuela, she carried 846 enslaved people. The explorer John Hanning Speke was aboard Brisk as a passenger and later described the scene in his book The Discovery of the Source of the Nile. He noted that Emanuela might have escaped if the wind had favored her, since the British vessel’s steam engine gave it the decisive advantage.

Speke boarded the slave ship at Pomoni Harbor and documented the horrific conditions. Below decks, he found half-starved people, mostly children, alongside elderly women dying in what he called the most disgusting atmosphere. The 7-foot-high slave deck had adequate ventilation, and the voyage had been interrupted early, so many captives remained in relatively better health than might otherwise have been the case. After the prize crew cleaned the deck, the two ships proceeded to Mauritius.

According to records in the Transatlantic Slave Trade Database, Emanuela had picked up slaves at Quirimba on 10 August 1860. Of the 846 people aboard, 105 died during the voyage and 741 reached the first port of landing. More than half were children, approximately 87 percent were male and 13 percent female. The breakdown included roughly 47 percent boys, 40 percent men, 9 percent girls, and 5 percent women. Speke reported that most were from the Wahiyow tribe, captured during local wars, sold to Arab traders, and transported to the coast in dhows before being loaded aboard the ship.

Author Charles Dickens visited Manuela six months after her capture and wrote that the vessel still reeked despite thorough attempts at disinfection. He was told that the slaver crew had been seen throwing the ship’s logs and flag overboard shortly before being boarded.

Aftermath and Naval Service

Captain de Horsey expressed anger over the light treatment given to Emanuela’s 45-member crew when they reached shore. In a letter to the Admiralty dated 31 December 1860, he lamented that no specific instructions existed for punishing captured slaver crews. He had discharged the men ashore, and he regretted that they escaped without legal consequences. He argued that severe punishment would deter others from engaging in the slave trade.

The freed slaves were put ashore at Mauritius, where they were later hired out to sugar planters. Emanuela herself was taken to Mauritius, where a prize court condemned her. The Royal Navy renamed her Enchantress and converted her into a store ship to supply anti-slavery patrols along the African coast, preventing her from being purchased by slavers.

On 20 February 1861, Enchantress ran aground on a reef at Mayotte in the Mozambique Channel. According to Dickens, her speed was such that the crew did not realize they were already eleven miles offshore and heading toward danger. HMS Sidon was sent to destroy the wreck by fire.

Understanding Clipper Ships and the Slave Trade

Clipper ships were the fastest sailing vessels of the 1850s, built with sharp bows and fine lines to cut through water with minimal resistance. Their speed made them prized for carrying high-value cargo like tea and spices, but also made them attractive to slave traders seeking to minimize the time captives spent aboard and reduce losses during the Middle Passage. A slaver was a ship engaged in the slave trade, whether carrying enslaved people or trading goods. The Mozambique Channel is the body of water between Mozambique and Madagascar, a major route for ships traveling along the African coast. A prize court was a legal tribunal that determined the fate of ships captured during wartime or while engaged in illegal activities like slavery, deciding whether they would be condemned, sold, or repurposed.

Further Reading

Wikipedia and maritime archives hold additional details on Sunny South, her designer George Steers, the capture of slave ships by the Royal Navy, and the experiences of those freed from the slave trade.