| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Herald |
| Namesake | A bearer of news |
| Launched | 1797, Newburyport, Massachusetts[1] |
| Acquired | 15 June 1798 |
| Out of service | 1801 |
| Fate | Sold 1801 |
 France | |
| Name | Africaine |
| Acquired | 1801 by purchase |
| Captured | 4 May 1804 |
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Africaine or African |
| Acquired | 1805 |
| Captured | late 1807 or early 1808 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Full-rigged ship |
| Tons burthen | 267, or 279[1] (bm) |
| Length | 92 ft 8 in (28.2 m) |
| Beam | 26 ft 3+1⁄2 in (8.0 m) |
| Depth | 13 ft 1+3⁄4 in (4.0 m) |
| Complement | 140 (US Navy) |
| Armament |
|
USS Herald was a full-rigged ship of about 270 tons burthen built in 1797 at Newburyport, Massachusetts. The US Navy purchased her on 15 June 1798, and sold her in 1801. She became the French 20-gun privateer corvette Africaine. In 1804 a British privateer seized her on 4 May 1804 off the coast, near Charleston, South Carolina. The seizure gave rise to a case in the U.S. courts that defined the limits of U.S. territorial waters. The U.S. courts ruled that the privateer had seized Africaine outside U.S. jurisdiction. Africaine then became a Liverpool-based slave ship that made two voyages carrying slaves from West Africa to the West Indies. After the abolition of the slave trade in 1807 she became a West Indiaman that two French privateers captured in late 1807 or early 1808.
- ^ a b Phillips (1937), p. 100.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
LR1809was invoked but never defined (see the help page).