View source for Africa Squadron

{{For|the earlier [[Royal Navy]] anti-slavery squadron|West Africa Squadron}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{more footnotes|date=February 2013}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name                     = Africa Squadron
| image                         = USS Jamestown 1844.jpg
| caption                       = A photograph of the sloop-of-war USS ''Jamestown'' (date unknown). She captured two slave ships with the Africa Squadron.
| dates                         = 1819–1861
| country                       = {{flag|United States of America|1819|size=23px}}
| allegiance                    = 
| branch                        = {{flagicon image|Naval_jack_of_the_United_States_(1859–1861).svg}} [[United States Navy]]
| type                          = [[Squadron (naval)|Naval squadron]]
| role                          = [[African Slave Trade Patrol]]
| size                          = 
| command_structure             = 
| garrison                      = 
| garrison_label                = 
| nickname                      = 
| patron                        = 
| motto                         = 
| colors                        = 
| colors_label                  = 
| march                         = 
| mascot                        = 
| equipment                     = 
| equipment_label               = 
| battles                       = 
| anniversaries                 = 
| decorations                   = 
| battle_honours                = 
| disbanded                     = <!-- Commanders -->
| commander1                    = 
| commander1_label              = 
| commander2                    = 
| commander2_label              = 
| commander3                    = 
| commander3_label              = 
| commander4                    = 
| commander4_label              = 
| notable_commanders            = <!-- Insignia -->
| identification_symbol         = 
| identification_symbol_label   = 
| identification_symbol_2       = 
| identification_symbol_2_label = 
| identification_symbol_3       = 
| identification_symbol_3_label = 
| identification_symbol_4       = 
| identification_symbol_4_label = 
}}

The '''Africa Squadron''' was a unit of the United States Navy that operated from 1819 to 1861 in the [[Blockade of Africa]] to suppress the [[Atlantic slave trade|slave trade]] along the coast of West Africa.  However, the term was often ascribed generally to [[Anti-Slavery operations of the United States Navy|anti-slavery operations]] during the period leading up to the [[American Civil War]].

The squadron was an outgrowth of the 1819 treaty between the United States and the United Kingdom that was an early step in stopping the trade, and further defined by the [[Webster–Ashburton Treaty]] of 1842. Although technically coordinated with a British [[West Africa Squadron]] based in [[Sierra Leone]], in practice the American contingent worked on its own.

[[Matthew Perry (naval officer)|Matthew Perry]] was the first commander of the squadron, and based himself in [[Portuguese Cape Verde]].

The squadron was generally ineffective, since the ships were too few, and since much of the trading activity had shifted to the [[Niger River]] delta area (present-day [[Nigeria]]), which was not being covered. In the two years of Perry's leadership, only one slaver was reported to have been captured, and that ship was later acquitted by a [[New Orleans]] court. In the 16 years of squadron operation, only the crews of 19 [[slave ship]]s went to trial.  These slavers were acquitted or only lightly fined. Other commanders, however, were more successful.

==African slave trade patrol==
{{Main|African Slave Trade Patrol}}
{{Campaignbox Suppression of the Slave Trade}}
The Africa Squadron's cruising area eventually ranged from [[Cabo Frio|Cape Frio]] to the south (about 18 degrees south latitude), to [[Madeira]] in the north. However, the squadron's supply depot was in [[Portuguese Cape Verde|Cape Verde archipelago]], approximately {{convert|2500|nmi|km|abbr=off|sp=us}} from the northernmost centers of the slave trade in the Bight of Biafra and southward. The navy department did not move the depot location until 1859, when it was set up at [[Luanda|São Paulo de Luanda]], in [[Portuguese Angola]], about eight degrees south latitude.  At the same time the department put Madeira out of bounds for the squadron.

The majority of the squadron's cruising in its first decade was along the coast of Western Africa, with particular attention to [[Liberia]]n interests.  By the 1850s much of the slave trade in this area had been eliminated by the British, based in their colony at [[Sierra Leone]], as well as the Liberians.

This however, did not stop the board of directors of the [[American Colonization Society]] from writing the President of the United States to bolster the Africa Squadron's "fleet" in 1855 in accordance with the [[Webster–Ashburton Treaty|Webster-Ashburton treaty]] in an attempt to crack down on sailors and slavers use of sea-letters to claim American nationality in their attempt to further the slave trade on the African coast.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Foote |first=Commander A.H. |title=African Squadron: Ashburton Treaty: Consular Sea Letters |publisher=[[Philadelphia: William G. Geddes]] |year=1855 |location=Philadelphia |pages=1–16 |language=English}}</ref>

=={{anchor|Vessels seized by the Africa Squadron}}Vessels seized==

===Africa Squadron===

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Vessel !! Captor !! Date !! Location
|-
|''Uncas''
|{{USS|Porpoise|1836|2}}
|1 March 1844
|Gallinas
|-
|''Spitfire''
|{{USS|Truxtun|1842|2}}
|24 March 1845
|Pongas R.
|-
|''Patuxent''
|{{USS|Yorktown|1839|2}}
|27 September 1845
|Cape Mount
|-
|''Pons''
|{{USS|Yorktown|1839|2}}
|30 September 1845
|[[Cabinda (city)|Kabenda]]
|-
|''Merchant''
|{{USS|Jamestown|1844|2}}
|3 December 1845
|[[Sierra Leone]]
|-
|''Panther''
|{{USS|Yorktown|1839|2}}
|15 December 1845
|Kabenda
|-
|''Robert Wilson''
|{{USS|Jamestown|1844|2}}
|15 January 1846
|[[Praia|Porto Praya]]
|-
|''Malaga''
|{{USS|Boxer|1832|2}}
|13 April 1846
|Kabenda
|-
|''Casket''
|{{USS|Marion|1839|2}}
|2 August 1846
|Kabenda
|-
|''Chancellor''
|{{USS|Dolphin|1836|2}}
|10 April 1847
|Cape Palmas
|-
|''Excellent''
|{{USS|John Adams|1799|2}}
|23 April 1850
|[[Ambriz]]
|-
|''Martha''
|{{USS|Perry|1843|2}}
|6 June 1850
|Ambriz
|-
|''Chatsworth''
|{{USS|Perry|1843|2}}
|11 September 1850
|Ambriz
|-
|''Advance''
|{{USS|Germantown|1846|2}}
|3 November 1852
|Porto Praya
|-
|''R.P. Brown''
|{{USS|Germantown|1846|2}}
|23 January 1853
|Porto Praya
|-
|''H.N. Gambrill''
|{{USS|Constitution||2}}
|3 November 1853
|[[Kingdom of Kongo|Kongo]]
|-
|''Glamorgan''
|{{USS|Perry|1843|2}}
|10 March 1854
|Kongo
|-
|''W.G. Lewis''
|{{USS|Dale|1839|2}}
|6 November 1857
|Kongo
|-
|''Brothers''
|{{USS|Marion|1839|2}}
|8 September 1858
|[[Mayumba, Gabon|Mayumba]]
|-
|''Julia Dean''
|{{USS|Vincennes|1826|2}}
|28 December 1858
|[[Cape Coast Castle]]
|-
|''Orion''
|{{USS|Marion|1839|2}}
|21 April 1859
|Kongo
|-
|''Ardennes''
|{{USS|Marion|1839|2}}
|27 April 1859
|Kongo
|-
|''Emily''
|{{USS|Portsmouth|1843|2}}
|21 September 1859
|[[Kingdom of Loango|Loango]]
|-
|''Delicia''
|{{USS|Constellation|1854|2}}
|21 September 1859
|Kabenda
|-
|''Virginian''
|{{USS|Portsmouth|1843|2}}
|6 February 1860
|Kongo
|-
|''Falmouth''
|{{USS|Portsmouth|1843|2}}
|6 May 1860
|Porto Praya
|-
|''Thomas Achorn''
|{{USS|Mystic|1853|2}}
|29 June 1860
|Kabenda
|-
|''Triton''
|{{USS|Mystic|1853|2}}
|16 July 1860
|Loango
|-
|''[[Nathaniel Gordon|Erie]]''
| {{USS|Mohican|1859|2}}
|8 August 1860
|Kongo
|-
|''Storm King''
|{{USS|San Jacinto|1850|2}}
|8 August 1860
|Kongo
|-
|''Cora''
|{{USS|Constellation|1854|2}}
|26 September 1860
|Kongo
|-
|''Bonito''
|{{USS|San Jacinto|1850|2}}
|10 October 1860
|Kongo
|-
|''[[Express (Slaver Sloop)|Express]]''
|{{USS|Saratoga|1842|2}}
|25 February 1861
|Possibly Loango
|-
|{{USS|Nightingale|1851|2}}
|{{USS|Saratoga|1842|2}}
|21 April 1861
|Kabenda
|-
|''Triton''
|{{USS|Constellation|1854|2}}
|20 May 1861
|Kongo
|-
|''Falmouth''
|{{USS|Sumpter|1853|2}}
|14 June 1861
|Kongo
|}

Source: Canney, D.L., ''Africa Squadron'', Potomac Books, 2006, pp.&nbsp;233–234

==See also==
*[[Pacific Squadron]]
*[[Home Squadron]]
*[[West Indies Squadron (United States)|West Indies Squadron]]
*[[Mediterranean Squadron (United States)|Mediterranean Squadron]]
*[[Brazil Squadron]]
*[[North Atlantic Squadron]]
*[[East India Squadron]]
* [[Zanzibar slave trade]]
* [[Indian Ocean slave trade]]
* [[Red Sea slave trade]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* Richard Andrew Lobban Jr. and Peter Karibe Mendy, ''Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau'', 3rd ed. (Scarecrow Press, 1997 {{ISBN|0-8108-3226-7}}) pp.&nbsp;66–68
* {{cite book|last1=Canney|first1=Donald L.|title=Africa Squadron: The U.S. Navy and the Slave Trade, 1842–1861|date=2006|location=Washington, D.C.|isbn=9781597974646|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_E6WNW3ELi0C|publisher=Potomac}}

{{US Squadrons}}

[[Category:Slavery in Africa]]
[[Category:United States Navy in the 19th century]]
[[Category:Ship squadrons of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:19th century in Africa]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in the 1840s]]
[[Category:1843 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1861]]
[[Category:Abolitionism in Africa]]
[[Category:Anti-slavery military operations]]