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New Hampshire Privateer Ship Bellona |
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| Bellona | Commander Thomas Manning |
| Sloop-of-War | 11 October 1781-6 February 1782 |
| New Hampshire Privateer Ship |
| Commissioned/First Date: | 11 October 1781 |
| Out of Service/Cause: | 6 February 1782/captured by HM Frigate Grana |
| Owners: | Thomas Thompson and William Gardner of Portsmouth, New Hampshire |
| Tonnage: |
| Battery: | Date Reported: 27 September 1781 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 18/6-pounder 108 pounds 54 pounds Total: 18 cannon/108 pounds Broadside: 9 cannon/54 pounds Swivels: Date Reported: 11 October 1781 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 18/ Total: 18 cannon/ Broadside: 9 cannon/ Swivels: |
| Crew: | 11 October 1781: 101 [total] |
| Description: |
| Officers: | (1) First Lieutenant Samuel Gardner, 11 October 1781-6 February 1782 |
| Cruises: | (1) Portsmouth, New Hampshire to the West Indies, [October] 1781-
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Comments:
New Hampshire Privateer Ship Bellona was commissioned on 11 October 1781 under Commander Thomas Manning of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She was listed as having a battery of eighteen guns and a crew of 100 men. Her $20000 bond was signed by Manning and Thomas Thompson and William Gardner of Portsmouth.1 Serving aboard as First Lieutenant was Samuel Gardner.2
Manning advertised for his crew on 27 September 1781. In the advertisement Bellona is said to be armed with eighteen double-fortified 6-pounders, and to be sailing on a three month’s cruise. She was to sail on 10 October.3 We can suppose that Bellona sailed almost immediately after receiving her commission.
A call for the accounts against the Bellona to be brought in and settled was published in the Portsmouth newspaper on 3 November 1781.4
Bellona sailed for the West Indies on an anticipated four months cruise. On her return home, on 6 February 1782, she was captured by HM Frigate Grana (Captain Chichester Fortescue),5 and taken into Charlestown, South Carolina.6 The news of her capture was reported in the Portsmouth newspaper on 6 April 1782.7 One of her crew members, Charles Goodwin Clark, stated that he was in prison there eight months before being exchanged, perhaps about October 1782.8
1 NRAR, 234
2 Pension Application of Charles Goodwin Clark S30939, at http://southerncampaign.org/pen/s30939.pdf
3 The New-Hampshire Gazette; and General Advertiser [Portsmouth], Saturday, September 29, 1781
4 The New-Hampshire Gazette; and General Advertiser [Portsmouth], Saturday, November 3, 1781
5 Winfield, Rif, British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714-1792, 242
6 Pension Application of Charles Goodwin Clark S30939, at http://southerncampaign.org/pen/s30939.pdf
7 The New-Hampshire Gazette, and General Advertiser [Portsmouth], Saturday, April 6, 1782
8 Pension Application of Charles Goodwin Clark S30939, at http://southerncampaign.org/pen/s30939.pdf. See also The Independent Ledger, and the American Advertiser [Boston], Monday, April 8, 1782.
| Revised 30 March 2011 |
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