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Massachusetts Privateer Brigantine Captain |
| Captain | Commander John Donaldson [Dollanson] |
| Armed Brig | 9 February 1781-16 September 1781 |
| Massachusetts Privateer Brigantine |
| Commissioned/First Date: | 9 Feruary 1781 |
| Out of Service/Cause: | 16 September 17812/captured by HM Frigates Æolus and Vestal |
| Owners: | Benjamin Needham et al of Salem, Massachusetts |
| Tonnage: |
| Battery: | Date Reported: 9 February 1781 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 10 Total: 10 cannon/ Broadside: 5 cannon Swivels: Date Reported: 16 September 1781 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 10 Total: 10 cannon/ Broadside: 5 cannon Swivels: |
| Crew: | (1) 9 February 1781: 41 [total]
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| Description: | “a small Brig” |
| Officers: |
| Cruises: | (1) Salem, Massachusetts to Salem, Massachusetts, March 1781-April 1781
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| Prizes: | (1) Schooner Hannah (Thomas Flint), [April] 1781
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| Actions: |
Comments:
Massachusetts Privateer Brigantine Captain was commissioned on 9 February 1781 under Commander John Donaldson [Dollanson]of Salem, Massachusetts. Her battery was listed as ten guns and her crew as forty men. Captain’s $20000 bond was executed by Donaldson and Benjamin Goodhue and Benjamin Needham, both of Salem.1
Captain soon sailed out on a cruise, which was at least partially successful. On 10 May 1781 Donaldson libeled the 20-ton schooner Hannah (Thomas Flint) in the Maritime Court of the Middle District. Her trial was to be held on 22 May.2
Captain sailed on 14 August 1781 from Salem, and, in twenty-four hours was back with the notorious Loyalist Pomroy, captured with his privateer and thirty-two sailors. He was six days out from the Penobscot River.3
Captain sailed again, in late August 1781. At least one prize was taken: on 20 September 1781 Dobaldson libeled the 80-ton brigantine Lark (Green) in the Maritime Court of the Middle Ditrict. Her trial was to be held on 2 October 1781.4
On 16 September 1781 she was near St. Johns, Newfoundland where she had the misfortune to meet HM Frigates Æolus (Captain George Keppel) and Vestal (Captain George Berkeley), just starting a cruise. Captain was captured and sent into St. Johns, where she arrived on 18 September. The British reported that she had six guns and a crew of thirty-two men aboard. She was described as a “small Brig” by the British.5
1 NRAR, 246; also listed in Allen, Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution, 91
2 The Independent Chronicle and The Universal Advertiser [Boston], Thursday, May 10, 1781
3 Allen, Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution, 91; The Providence Gazette and Country Journal, Saturday, September 1, 1781, datelined Boston, August 27, 1781
4 The Independent Chronicle and The Universal Advertiser [Boston], Thursday, September 20, 1781
5 The London Gazette, Tuesday, October 16, to Saturday, October 20, 1781; Allen, Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution, 91, incorrectly states that she was captured in 1782.
| Revised 7 March 2012 |
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