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Massachusetts Privateer Sloop Black Snake |
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| Black Snake | (1) Commander William Carlton [Carleton] |
| Armed Sloop | 8 July 1777 |
| Massachusetts Privateer Sloop | (2) Commander Henry Phelps
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| Commissioned/First Date: | 8 July 1777 |
| Out of Service/Cause: | 26 May 1778/sold out of service |
| Owners: | (1) Simon Forrester and Joshua Ward, of Salem, Massachusetts; (2) Simon Forrester and Zachariah Burchmore of Salem, Massachusetts |
| Tonnage: | 65 |
| Battery: | Date Reported: 8 July 1777 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 12/ Total: 12 cannon/ Broadside: 6 cannon/ Swivels: Date Reported: 21 January 1778 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 12/ Total: 12 cannon/ Broadside: 6 cannon/ Swivels: |
| Crew: | (1) 8 July 1777: 61 [total]
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| Description: |
| Officers: |
| Cruises: | (1) Salem, Massachusetts to sea, [25] July 1777- |
| Prizes: | (1) Brig Sophia (John Aire), 23 August 1777, at 37°53′N, 54°59′W
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| Actions: | (1) Action with Sophia, 23 August 1777 |
Comments:
Massachusetts Privateer Sloop Black Snake was commissioned on 8 July 1777 under Commander William Carlton [Carleton] of Salem, Massachusetts. She was listed as having a battery of twelve guns and a crew of sixty men. Her $5000 bond was signed by Carlton, and by Simon Forrester of Salem and Josiah Gilman of Exeter, New Hampshire.1
Black Snake was at sea in August 1777 and steered for the West Indies traffic. On 23 August,2 at 37°53'N, 54°59'W, she fell in with a brig. A running fight began which lasted from 1100 to 1500, with both vessels firing at one another the whole time. About 1500 the Black Snake got up to the brig, which struck.3 The prize was the brig Sophia (John Aire), from the Grenadines bound to London, laden with rum, sugar, coffee and cotton.4 The Americans removed the crew, except for three men. A prize crew was put aboard under prize master William Monday and the brig dispatched to Salem.5 On 2 September 1777 Sophia was fifteen miles south of Cape Negro, trying to get to a port in Maine. At 1200 she was sighted by HM Brig Cabot, then in chase of a large sail. Cabot saw her close inshore. By 1800 Cabot had determined the other ship was HM Frigate Mermaid and turned after the brig. Cabot cut off the brig from rounding the cape. The prize crew then ran into Barrington Bay and drove Sophia aground, escaping ashore in her boat. Cabot anchored in Barrington Bay at 1200 the next day. The British recovered the brig and sent her to Halifax, where she was condemned on 26 September, the recapture being credited to HM Frigate Mermaid.6
Black Snake made at least one other prize under Carleton. He libeled the 45-ton schooner Sally (John Allen) on 4 December 1777.7 She was bound from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Quebec, Quebec.8 Trial was set for Salem on 23 December 1777.9
Black Snake was re-commissioned on 21 January 1778 under Commander Henry Phelps of Salem. She retained the same battery and crew. Her $5000 Continental bond and £500 Massachusetts bond were signed by Phelps, Forrester and by Zachariah Burchmore of Salem. The owners were listed as Forrester and Burchmore.10
Black Snake was advertised for sale at Boston on 21 May 1778, “as she came from sea.” She was said to be about 65 tons, only twelve months old and built specifically for privateering, being pierced for twelve guns. She had been on three cruises and was a fast sailer and well found. The sale was to take place on 26 May.11
1 NRAR, 240. Also listed in Allen, Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution, 84
2 NDAR, “Master’s Log of H.M. Brig Cabot,” IX, 870 and note
3 AVCR, 76-77. The American captain’s name is mistakenly given here as “John Coulton.”
4 NDAR, “Master’s Log of H.M. Brig Cabot,” IX, 870 and note
5 AVCR, 76-77
6 NDAR, “Master’s Log of H.M. Brig Cabot,” IX, 870 and note
7 NDAR, “Libels Filed in the Massachusetts Maritime Court of the Middle District,” X, 664-665 and 665 note
8 Faibisy, “A Compilation of Nova Scotia Vessels . . .,” in NDAR, X, 1201-1210
9 NDAR, “Libels Filed in the Massachusetts Maritime Court of the Middle District,” X, 664-665 and 665 note
10 Allen, Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution, 85
11 The Continental Journal [Boston], Thursday, May 21, 1778
| Posted 5 February 2009 |
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