HMS Black Joke

HMS Black Joke

Please note that this episode contains mentions of racial trauma, slavery and violence.


The most feared ship in Britain’s West Africa Squadron, His Majesty’s Black Joke was one of a handful of ships tasked with patrolling the western coast of Africa in an effort to end hundreds of years of global slave trading. Once a slaving vessel itself, only a lucky capture in 1827 allowed it to be repurposed by the Royal Navy to catch its former compatriots.


A.E. Rooks is an expert in this little-discussed facet of the transatlantic slave trade. Rooks joins Dan on the podcast to chronicle this history of the daring feats of a single ship - whose crew and commanders would capture more ships and liberate more enslaved people than any other in the Squadron.


Produced by Hannah Ward

Mixed and Mastered by Dougal Patmore


If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download the History Hit app please go to the Android or Apple store.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episoder(1490)

History and Human Nature

History and Human Nature

It's a belief which has dictated the writings of Machiavelli and Hobbes, Freud and Dawkins - that humans are fundamentally selfish and governed by self-interest. But Rutger Bregman has made a convinci...

19 Mai 202026min

The Brontës and War

The Brontës and War

In this podcast I was joined by Emma Butcher, a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in English Literature at the University of Leicester. Emma took me on a fascinating journey through the Brontë siblings' ...

19 Mai 202021min

The Habsburgs

The Habsburgs

It was an honour to be joined by Martyn Rady to discuss one of history's most thrilling families, the Habsburgs. Ruling for almost a millennium, their imperial vision was perhaps best realised in Empe...

17 Mai 202025min

Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill

80 years ago this week, Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain and his calamitous handling of the Norway campaign. On the same d...

14 Mai 202020min

Pandemics: Science and History

Pandemics: Science and History

I was thrilled to be joined by the legendary Peter Frankopan, Professor of Global History at Oxford University and bestselling author of 'The Silk Roads: A New History of the World'. In this podcast w...

12 Mai 202027min

Migration in Medieval Europe

Migration in Medieval Europe

I was delighted to be joined by Miri Rubin of Queen Mary University, London. In a terrific new book, Miri has scooped up a seemingly modern topic - migration - and settled it into the bustling town ce...

11 Mai 202031min

Europe's Tragedy: The Thirty Years War

Europe's Tragedy: The Thirty Years War

The Thirty Years War devastated seventeenth-century Europe. It killed nearly a quarter of all Germans and transformed the map of the modern world. Professor Peter Wilson of Oxford University took me o...

10 Mai 202027min

Coffee

Coffee

Coffee. Most of us are addicted. We need it on Monday mornings, post nights out, during nights out, in fact every morning. And afternoons. Augustine Sedgewick teaches history at the City University of...

9 Mai 202019min

Populært innen Historie

rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
rss-katastrofe
henrettelsespodden
historier-som-endret-norge
rss-historiske-romanser
rss-benadet
historier-som-endret-verden
sektledere
med-egne-oyne
aftenposten-historie
rss-frontkjemperne
rss-nadelose-nordmenn-gestapo
historiepodden
rss-strid-de-norske-borgerkrigene
rss-gamle-greier
vare-historier
undersattene
rss-historiepodden-ww2
rss-alt-var-bedre-for
taakeprat