| Back to A |
Massachusetts Privateer Ship Apollo |
| Apollo | (1) Commander Henry Skinner |
| Armed Ship | 2 October 1780- |
| Massachusetts Privateer Ship | (2) Commander Bradbury Sanders
|
| Commissioned/First Date: | 2 October 1780 |
| Out of Service/Cause: | 1783/captured by HM Frigate Amphitrite |
| Owners: | Thomas Dennie et al of Boston, Massachusetts |
| Tonnage: |
| Battery: | Date Reported: 2 October 1780 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 10/ Total: 10 cannon/ Broadside: 5 cannon/ Swivels: Date Reported: 14 January 1782 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 10/ Total: 10 cannon/ Broadside: 5 cannon/ Swivels: Date Reported: 13 December 1782 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 6/ Total: 6 cannon/ Broadside: 3 cannon/ Swivels: |
| Crew: | (1) 2 October 1780: 21 [total]
|
| Description: |
| Officers: |
| Cruises: | (1) Boston, Massachusetts to Amsterdam, The Netherlands
|
| Prizes: |
| Actions: |
Comments:
Massachusetts Privateer Ship Apollo was first commissioned on 2 October 1780 under Commander Henry Skinner, possibly of Boston, Massachusetts. She was listed as being armed with ten guns and having a crew of twenty men. Her $20000 bond was executed by Skinner, owner Thomas Dennie of Boston, and Mungo Mackay, also of Boston.1
Apollo sailed for The Netherlands with owner Thomas Dennie aboard as a passenger. On 4 July 1781 she was in the harbor at Amsterdam, when a memorable celebration was staged to honor Independence Day. Since there was no other American warship in the harbor, Apollo filled in. At sunrise she hoisted the “continental colours and saluted the day with thirteen cannon, and at two o’clock fired thirteen more, when the flags of the Thirteen United States of America, and the Seven United Provinces, were displayed from the top of the” Stadts Harburg hotel, rented by the Americans for the event. Numerous attendees, American, Dutch, and French were present and many toasts were drunk. After each toast the Apollo fired a salute, joined in by the Dutch cutter Dolphin. Finally the company retired to dinner, where more toasts were drunk and more salutes fired.2
Apollo sailed from Amsterdam about 26 July. After a passage of eight weeks she arrived at Boston on 20 October 1781.3 Dennie again sailed as a passenger on the Apollo.4 An advertisement for drugs and medicines imported in the Apollo appeared in the papers on 8 November 1781.5
Apollo was re-commissioned on 14 January 1782 under Commander Bradbury Sanders (or Saunders) of Cape Ann, Massachusetts. Her battery remained the same, but her crew was increased to twenty-five men. Her $20000 bond was executed by Sanders, Dennie, and Mackay.6
Apollo was commissioned a third time on 13 December 1782 under Commander Alexander Mackay of Boston. Her battery was reduced to six guns and her crew remained at twenty-five men. The standard $20000 bond was executed by Alexander Mackay, Dennie, and Simeon Mayo of Boston.7
Apollo sailed for Cap Français, Saint-Domingue, French West Indies in late 1782 or early 1783. She departed Cap Français about late January 1783 bound for Virginia with a cargo of rum, sugar, coffee, tea8 and molasses.9 En route she was captured by HM Frigate Amphitrite (Captain Rupert George), about January 1783. George sent her into New York, New York, where she arrived in 14 February 1783.10 The records of the High Court of Admiralty indicate she was tried and condemned in 1783. She was described as an American merchant ship with a letter of marque.11 Her cargo was sold at New York on 11 March 1783.12
__________1 NRAR, 229. Also listed in Allen, Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution, 75
2 The Pennsylvania Evening Post, and Public Advertiser [Philadelphia], Thursday, October 4, 1781, datelined Amsterdam, July 5, 1781
3 The Pennsylvania Evening Post, and Public Advertiser [Philadelphia], Tuesday, November 6, 1781, datelined Boston, October 22, 1781
4 The Boston Evening-Post and the General Advertiser, Saturday, October 20, 1781
5 The Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser [Boston], Thursday, November 8, 1781
6 NRAR, 229. Also listed in Allen, Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution, 75
7 NRAR, 229. Also listed in Allen, Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution, 75
8 The New-York Gazette; and The Weekly Mercury, Monday, February 17, 1783
9 The New-York Gazette; and The Weekly Mercury, Monday, March 10, 1783
10 The New-York Gazette; and The Weekly Mercury, Monday, February 17, 1783
11 HCA 32/272/3/1-13
12 The New-York Gazette; and The Weekly Mercury, Monday, March 10, 1783