Letter from Sir J.T. Duckworth to Sir E. Nepean while on board of the Shark off Port Royal, Jamaica dated 2 October 1803 dealing with the Spanish privateers fitted out from Cuba

Thanks to the by T.C. Hansard published The Parliamentary Debates from the year 1803 with the discussed papers, it’s possible to get an impression on what’s going in the Spanish navy at that moment an ally of the French empire and an enemy of the British empire.

P. 231: “Sir; The report I stated to you for the information of the lords commissioners of the admiralty in my letter of the 12th June, by the Goliath, of a horde of privateers, being in the act of fitting at St. Jago de Cuba, is, I am concerned to say, confirmed, and the sad effects of it are felt most particularly by the coasting trade of this island, notwithstanding the utmost exertions are used by his maj.’s squadron under my command; but the vessels they have to counteract are of such description, that large ships can be of little utility; I therefore hope, that their ldps. will have allowed of the national schooners, which are uncommon fine vessels of the sort, being purchased for that service”.

Source

T.C. Hansard. The Parliamentary Debates from the year 1803 to the present time. vol III comprising the period from the fifteenth day of January to the twelfth day of March 1805. London, 1812. Parliamentary Debates, February 4, 1805, Second Additonal Papers relative to the war with Spain, p. 231. Digitized by Google.com.