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)

Valkyrie: The Warrior Women of the Viking World

Valkyrie: The Warrior Women of the Viking World

I was thrilled to have Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir on the pod. We talked about Viking women, old Norse-Icelandic sagas, mythology and poetry. Who were these Viking women who were champions on the ba...

1 Apr 202017min

Battle of Britain 'What Ifs'

Battle of Britain 'What Ifs'

Dr. Jamie Wood and Professor Niall Mackay at the University of York are mathematicians who love history. Sensible dudes. They released a paper which sent the rest of the history world into a meltdown ...

30 Mar 202035min

A Strange Bit of History

A Strange Bit of History

We were delighted to have comedy royalty on the podcast. Omid Djalili talked to me about one of his earliest stage creations, first performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1993. Over the next fo...

29 Mar 202029min

How AI is Safeguarding Maritime Heritage

How AI is Safeguarding Maritime Heritage

There are more historic artefacts on our ocean floor than there are in every museum in the world put together. Over thousands of years ships carrying every conceivable cargo have sunk in the rivers an...

26 Mar 202032min

The Real Thomas Cromwell

The Real Thomas Cromwell

Everyone is Thomas Cromwell obsessed at the moment. The man who rose to be the most powerful member of Henry VIII's court, his Lord Privy Seal, Principal Secretary and Chancellor. He was a driving for...

25 Mar 202024min

Britain's Fightback

Britain's Fightback

Daniel Todman is a Professor of Modern History at Queen Mary. He has just published his epic study of how during the Second World War Britain fought back from near disaster to triumph. It opens with t...

23 Mar 202027min

How the Earth Shaped Human History

How the Earth Shaped Human History

Great leaders? Industrial change? Revolutions? If you thought these were the things that shaped history, think again. Back by popular demand, I was thrilled to be joined by bestselling author Lewis Da...

22 Mar 202037min

Mystery of the Alexander the Great Coin Hoard

Mystery of the Alexander the Great Coin Hoard

Off the coast of the Gaza Strip fishermen have been discovering coins of extreme rarity and importance. They date from the brief reign of Alexander the Great in the Third Century BC.Strangely, months ...

19 Mar 202026min

Populært innen Historie

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