Barton	Commander George Wanton
Schooner	[July] 1778-
Rhode Island Privateer Schooner

Commissioned/First Date:	[July] 1778
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(1) Schooner Hawke (John Vicrey), [15] August 1778, with Rhode Island Privateer Sloop Hero

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Rhode Island Privateer Schooner Barton was active in 1778 under Commander George Wanton.¹ However, she was identified as  “of Dartmouth” [Massachusetts] on September 3, 1778.²

Barton was at sea in August 1778 with the Rhode Island Privateer Sloop Hero (Commander Jonathan Tredwell). The pair picked off the 75-ton schooner Hawke (John Vicrey),³ bound from Jamaica, British West Indies to England with a cargo of rum and molasses. Hawke had sailed from Jamaica with a convoy. On the Bahama Banks a violent storm struck the convoy. The brig Ruby (John Bell) went down in the storm, but Bell and his crew were rescued by the Hawke. Ship Nancy (John Daggers) also sank in the storm. Hawke rescued Daggers and three of the crew, but fifteen drowned. Nine other vessels of the convoy were said to have gone down in the same area. The two privateers brought the Hawke in to Providence, Rhode Island,⁴ where she was libeled on 5 September 1778. Her trial was set for 9 September.⁵

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¹ Sheffield, An Address Delivered by William P. Sheffield before the Rhode Island Historical Society, 60

² The Providence Gazette; And Country Journal, Saturday, August 29, 1778

³ The Providence Gazette; And Country Journal, Saturday, September 5, 1778

⁴ The Providence Gazette; And Country Journal, Saturday, August 29, 1778

⁵ The Providence Gazette; And Country Journal, Saturday, September 5, 1778