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Massachusetts Privateer Ship Julius Caesar |
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| Julius Caesar | (1) Commander Jonathan Haraden |
| Armed Ship/Sloop-of-War | 11 April 1782-December 1782 |
| Massachusetts Privateer Ship | (2) Commander Thomas Benson
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| Commissioned/First Date: | 11 April 1782 |
| Out of Service/Cause: | 15 March 1783/captured by HM Frigates Astrea and Vestal |
| Owners: | (1) Joshua Ward et al of Salem, Massachusetts; (2) John Haraden et al of Salem, Massachusetts |
| Tonnage: | 200 |
| Battery: | Date Reported: 11 April 1782 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 14/ Total: 14 cannon/ Broadside: 7 cannon/ Swivels: Date Reported: May 1782 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 14/6-pounder 84 pounds 42 pounds Total: 14 cannon/84 pounds Broadside: 7 cannon/42 pounds Swivels: Date Reported: 4 March 1783 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 14/ Total: 14 cannon/ Broadside: 7 cannon/ Swivels: Date Reported: 15 March 1783 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 18/9-pounder 162 pounds 81 pounds Total: 18 cannon/162 pounds Broadside: 9 cannon/81 pounds Swivels: |
| Crew: | (1) 11 April 1782: 41 [total]
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| Description: |
| Officers: |
| Cruises: | (1) Salem, Massachusetts to Martinique, French West Indies, May 1782-[15] June 1782
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| Prizes: | (1) Schooner [unknown], May 1782, off Bermuda
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| Actions: | (1) Action with two British privateers, 5 June 1782 |
Comments:
Massachusetts Privateer Ship Julius Caesar was commissioned on 11 April 1782 under Commander Jonathan Haraden of Salem, Massachusetts. She was listed as measuring 200 tons, and as being armed with fourteen guns and as having a crew of forty men. Her $20000 bond was signed by Haraden and by Joshua Ward and John Norris, both of Salem.1
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Jonathan Haraden |
On 5 June 1782, Haraden fell in with two British vessels, a ship with eighteen 9-pounders, and a brig with sixteen 6-pounders. Julius Caesar fought them in a two and a half hour action. The British ship was shot up. As the Julius Caesar was wearing ship to get alongside the brig, she received some “unlucky fires.” Haraden thought it expedient to break off the action and proceeded to Martinique with the prize schooner. The Americans had no casualties.3
Julius Caesar’s next voyage was to Nantes, France. It seems possible that Julius Caesar received a coppered bottom in France. Haraden sailed for home about 18 November 1782. En route he captured a 400-ton ship from Gibralter, one of the storeships from the fleet of Lord Howe.4 Haraden arrived at Salem from Nantes on 31 December 1782,5 in forty-three days from Nantes.6
Julius Caesar was re-commissioned on 4 March 1783 under Commander Thomas Benson of Salem. Her battery was unchanged but her crew was increased to 100 men. Her new $20000 bond was signed by Benson, Ward and Norris.7 Haraden was now among the owners of the Julius Caesar.
Julius Caesar was was captured on 15 March 1783 by HM Frigates Astrea (Captain Matthew Squire)and Vestal8 while bound to Virginia to load a cargo of tobacco. She was reported to be coppered and armed with eighteen 9-pounders.9 Julius Caesar was sent into New York, New York, where she was tried and condemned in the Vice Admiralty court in 1783.10
1 NRAR, 362
2 The Pennsylvania Packet or the General Advertiser [Philadelphia], Tuesday, August 6, 1782, datelined Salem, July 18, 1782
3 The Pennsylvania Packet or the General Advertiser [Philadelphia], Tuesday, August 6, 1782, datelined Salem, July 18, 1782
4 The Salem Gazette, Thursday, January 2, 1783
5 The Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser [Boston]. Thursday, January 2, 1783; The Connecticut Courant and Weekly Intelligencer [Hartford], Tuesday, January 7, 1783, datelined Salem, January 2, 1783
6 The Salem Gazette, Thursday, January 2, 1783
7 NRAR, 362
8 Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714-1792, 216
9 The Royal Gazette [New York], Wednesday, April 2, 1783
10 HCA 32/381/9/1-7
| Posted 3 February 2012 |
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