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Connecticut Privateer Brigantine Fair American |
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| Fair American | Commander Samuel Champlin |
| Sloop-of-War [Brig/Sloop] | 18 July 1781-April 1782 |
| Connecticut Privateer Brigantine |
| Commissioned/First Date: | 18 July 1781 |
| Out of Service/Cause: | April 1782/[lost at sea] |
| Owners: | Jabez Perkins & Co. of Norwich, Connecticut |
| Tonnage: | [modern reconstruction]: 135 |
| Battery: | Date Reported: 18 July 1781 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 14/ Total: 14 cannon/ Broadside: 7 cannon/ Swivels: Date Reported: 27 July 1781 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 16/4-pounder 64 pounds 32 pounds Total: 16 cannon/64 pounds Broadside: 8 cannon/32 pounds Swivels: |
| Crew: | 18 July 1781: 91 [total] |
| Description: | [modern reconstruction]: 69′ length between perpendiculars, 60′ length on the keel, 21′ beam; guns mounted on spar deck |
| Officers: |
| Cruises: | (1) New London, Connecticut to New London, Connecticut, [August] 1781-24 October 1781
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| Prizes: | (1) Brig [unknown], [off Sandy Hook, New Jersey], [25] August 1781
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| Actions: |
Comments:
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A sketch of the Fair American, 1782. |
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Connecticut Privateer Brigantine Fair American was commissioned on 18 July 1781 under Commander Samuel Champlin, possibly of New London, Connecticut. She was listed as having a battery of fourteen guns and a crew of ninety men. Fair American's $20000 bond was signed by Champlin and by Jabez Perkins and Joseph Howland, both of Norwich, Connecticut.1 Zebadiah Smith served aboard as First Lieutenant.2
On 27 July a recruiting advertisement appeared in the New London paper. According to the advertisement Fair American was armed with sixteen 4-pounders and was fully provisioned and stored for a two month cruise.3
Fair American was at sea by mid-August 1781. About 25 August she sighted and chased a brig of about the same size and battery. The chase and following fight were described by Thomas Andros: “As we approached ber she saluted us with her stern chasers, but after exchanging a few shots, we ran directly alongside, as near as we could and not get entangled in her top hamper, and with one salute of all the fire we could display, put her to silence. And thanks be to God no lives were lost.”
“I, with others, went on board to man the prize and to take her into port. But the prize master disobeyed orders. His orders were, not to approach the American coast, till he had reached the longitude of New Bedford, and then to haul up to the northward, and with a press of sail to make for that port, but he aimed to make land on the back of Long Island; the consequence was, we were captured on the 27th of August by the Solebay frigate, and safely stowed away in the old Jersey prison ship at New York.”4
On 7 October 1781 Champlin was at sea, cruising off Long Island on the approaches to New York, New York. At 40°N, 74°W Fair American captured the sloop Chance (Edward Donaghue),5 bound from Cork, Ireland to New York with a cargo of butter, soap, pork and candles. She was part of a convoy of forty provision vessels escorted by a single frigate. The frigate was in sight when the Chance was captured.6 Joseph Champlin was assigned as Chance’s prize master and he brought her into New London on 11 October, where she was libeled. He reported that Fair American could be seen in chase of another vessels from the same convoy when he left.7 Chance was libeled on 9 November 1781, with her trial set for 28 November.8
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Reconstruction of the lines of the Fair American, with a length between perpendiculars of 69'. From Millar, American Ships of the Colonial and Revolutionary Periods, 122. |
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Fair American returned to New London on 24 October.9 On 2 November an advertisement appeared in the New London paper, announcing that the Fair American would soon sail on a six week cruise.10
Presumably, Fair American had returned to New London by late December 1781. On 4 January 1782 an advertisement was placed in the New London paper for the men eligible for prize goods from the Chance to collect their share. There could be no money distribution as the agent, Cornelis Conningham, had not yet received payment for the sloop.11
Fair American sailed from New London, possibly about the middle of January 1782. Soon after she captured a large Jamaica vessel bound for England12 or New York.13 The prize was ordered into New London, but she was blown off the coast and got safely into Martinique, French West Indies, by 4 February 1782.14 A prize vessel, inbound to Salem, spoke the Fair American about the beginning of February 1782, when all was well aboard.15
She was mentioned as being at Martinique on 1 March 1782, as part of a privateer force proceeding on the Tortola Expedition. However, Fair American did not participate in that action.16
Finally, she sailed from Guadeloupe, French West Indies on 15 April 1782. She was never heard from again.17
1 NRAR, 286; Middlebrook, Maritime History of Connecticut, II, 84
2 Middlebrook, Maritime History of Connecticut, II, 84
3 The Connecticut Gazette and the Universal Intelligencer [New London], Wednesday, July 27, 1781
4 Andros, Thomas, “The Old Jersey Captive,” in The Sailor’s Magazine, and Naval Journal, Vol XI, August 1839, 57-61.
5 Middlebrook, Maritime History of Connecticut, II, 84
6 The Connecticut Journal [New Haven], Thursday, October 18, 1781, datelined New London, October 12
7 Middlebrook, Maritime History of Connecticut, II, 84
8 The Connecticut Journal [New Haven], Friday, November 9, 1781
9 The Connecticut Gazette and the Universal Intelligencer [New London], Friday, October 26, 1781
10 The Connecticut Gazette and the Universal Intelligencer [New London], Friday, November 2, 1781
11 The Connecticut Gazette and the Universal Intelligencer [New London], Wednesday, January 2, 1782
12 The Continental Journal [New Haven], Thursday, February 28, 1782, datelined New London, February 22, 1782
13 The Pennsylvania Packet or the General Advertiser [Philadelphia], Tuesday, March 12, 1782, datelined Salem , February 21, 1782
14 The Continental Journal [New Haven], Thursday, February 28, 1782, datelined New London, February 22, 1782
15 The Pennsylvania Packet or the General Advertiser [Philadelphia], Tuesday, March 12, 1782, datelined Salem , February 21, 1782
16 The Connecticut Gazette and the Universal Intelligencer [New London], Friday, March 29, 1782
17 Stone, Clara J,, Genealogy of the Descendants of Jasper Griffing, 1881, 44
| Posted 22 May 2011 |
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