could the slave ships of the 1790s be rowed?

Question

bearing in mind the design of these ships - could they be rowed at any point and would a beat of a drum be used at anytime - like the old roman/greek ships

further to the information - im a teaching assistant and i listened to a teacher tell the class studying the poem 'Limbo' that the ships could be rowed and a drum was used - i had never ever heard of this before but was sceptical to the point of querying it

Answer 1

No. They were sailing ships, not galleys. Galleys were only used on sheltered seas like the Mediterranean Sea or the Baltic Sea. Furthermore, galleys were on their way out in the 1790's, only used in the Battle of Valcour Island in 1776, the Mediterranean battle in the Battle of Chesma in 1770; the shallow Baltic Sea and the Russo-Swedish War in 1790, and some raiding in coastal waters..

If a sailing ship got stuck in "the doldrums" (a a belt of low pressure girdling Earth at the equator), they regularly towed the ship with their rowing boats.

Answer 2

Yes but not the way you are thinking.

If a ship was becalmed anywhere (the doldrums are a set of winds -/+ 10 degrees off the equator and can mean days or even weeks of calm weather with no wind. The ships boats would be lowered and filled with a number of sailors a tow rope would then be hauled onto the ship and the boats would literally tow the ship into the wind, or attempt to find wind for the ships sails.

Also there was other style ships around, in the Med, Indian Ocean and Red Sea still used Galleons and slave rowers (penal subjects and slaves) to propel these ships around those seas.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

I just completed a study on the Victorian Navy for a graduate course. Their main task other than protection of commerce was to stop the slave trade. One book in particular,

Lloyd, Christopher. The Navy and the Slave Trade
The Suppression of the African Slave Trade in the Nineteenth Century. London: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd, 1968.

says nothing of slave ships being rowed. Slavers needed speed and stealth to outrun ships of the Royal Navy. Also steam had not yet appeared and the journey from West Africa to the Carrib, S America, and the US was long, rowing would not get them far. Transporting a large number of slaves was also more economical. Many slaves = Heavy drought, therefore rowing would be impractical and one would think impossible. Hope some of this helps.