Tonyn (1781 ship)

Tonyn was launched at Newfoundland in 1779 as Plato. Plato was renamed to Tonyn in 1781. She then traded with North America and as a West Indiaman. From 1797 she made two voyages from Liverpool as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She was captured and recaptured in 1798 on her first voyage, and sunk on her second circa 1800 as she was returning home.

Career
Tonyn was launched as Plato and renamed in 1781. Missing pages in extant issues of Lloyd's Register (LR) has resulted in her first appearing in LR in 1781.

Because a second Tonyn, and a third  Tonyn, also of about 200 tons (bm), were sailing out of Liverpool, there was some initial confusion between the three vessels.

1st voyage transporting enslaved people (1797–1798): Captain Thomas Smith acquired a letter of marque on 15 April 1797. He sailed from Liverpool on 12 May, bound for Calabar. In 1797, 90 vessels sailed from Liverpool to West Africa to participate in the slave trade. Tonyn arrived at St Croix on 16 December with 314 captives.

At the time Saint Croix was a Danish colony. In 1792, the Danish government passed a law that from early 1803 on, would outlaw Danish participation in the trans-Atlantic enslaving trade. This led the government in the Danish West Indies to encourage the importation of captives prior to the ban taking effect. One measure that it took was to open the trade to foreign vessels. Records for the period 1796 to 1799 show that 24 British enslaving ships, most of them from Liverpool, arrived at St Croix and imported 6,781 captives.

Tonyn apparently sailed from St Croix directly back to Calabar. There she picked up a cargo of palm oil and "elephant's teeth" (ivory tusks). On 14 March 1798 the French privateer Buonaparte captured her. Then on 21 March a squadron under the command of Captain Sir John Borlase Warren, in the 74-gun third rate HMS Canada (1765), and including HMS Phaeton (1782) and HMS Mermaid (1784), recaptured Tonyn. Tonyn, Smith, master, prize to Canada, arrived at Plymouth on 29 March. She arrived back at Liverpool on 6 May. By the time she arrived at Plymouth, only one of her original crew remained aboard Tonyn. She had sailed from Liverpool with 29 crew members and had suffered eight crew deaths on her voyage.

2nd voyage transporting enslaved people (1798–1799): Captain James Towers sailed from Liverpool on 21 November 1798, bound for the Congo River. That year 149 vessels sailed from Liverpool on voyages to transport enslaved people. Tonyn arrived at Kingston on 22 August 1799 with 299 captives, having first stopped at Martinique. She may have embarked 326 captives.

Fate
In January 1800 Lloyd's List reported that Tonyn, Towers, master, had been sunk in Waterford harbour after having been run into. She had been on her way from Jamaica to Liverpool. She had left Liverpool with 38 crew members and she had suffered 16 crew deaths on her voyage. Her entry in the 1800 volume of the Register of Shipping carried the annotation "Lost".

In 1800, 34 British slaving vessels were lost, at least four were lost on the homeward leg of their voyage. In 1800, 133 British vessels sailed on enslaving voyages, 120 from Liverpool. The 34 vessels lost represent a 26% loss rate.