🇬🇧⚓ She was built to outrun the Royal Navy. She was built to carry people as cargo. The Royal Navy caught her anyway, and sent her back to hunt her own kind. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿⛓️⚫️ Her name was Henriquetta, a Brazilian slaving ship, built for speed by a captain who wanted one thing: to deliver enslaved people before any patrol could catch him. In 1827, HMS Sybille ran her down. ⚓ The Royal Navy did not sink her. They bought her, armed her, and gave her a new name: Black Joke. A lieutenant took command, and she sailed back to the African coast, this time hunting the ships she once sailed alongside. Over the next 5 years she became one of the most successful ships of the whole West Africa Squadron. In one year alone she took 11 prizes. Free West African Kroomen served alongside her Royal Navy crew. 🌊 Her most famous chase began in 1829. She ran down the Spanish slaver El Almirante over 31 hours, neither ship able to shake the other, until Black Joke's guns finally found their range. Aboard El Almirante, 466 enslaved people, waiting in the hold. Every single one was freed. Career totals for people freed across her whole career are less certain, sources vary, and we won't pretend otherwise. What is certain: she was one of the most effective ships the Squadron ever had. By 1832, 5 hard years had worn her out. Her timbers were too rotten to sail home. She was broken up on the African coast that had made her famous. A ship built for one purpose became the opposite of it. Britain inherited a fast ship, and a choice about which side it would serve. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ We are the home of British heroes. There is a place for you in it. 👇🙏 If you can afford to support our mission: proudofus.co.uk/support Be part of us. ☝️🇬🇧 Be Proud Of Us. 🙏🇬🇧