Oliver Cromwell	Commander Samuel Chace [Chase], Jr.
Armed Ship	21 November 1776-27 August 1777
Rhode Island Privateer Ship

Commissioned/First Date:	21 November 1776
Out of Service/Cause:	27 August 1777/driven ashore and burned by HM Sloop Kingsfisher

Owners:

(1) Nicholas Brown and William Russell; (2) Nicholas Brown et al [and William and Joseph Russell], all of Providence, Rhode Island

Tonnage:

160

Battery:

Date Reported: 27 August 1777 Number/Caliber  Weight        Broadside 20/6-pounder      120 pounds 60 pounds   2/3-pounder          6 pounds   3 pounds Total: 22 cannon/126 pounds Broadside: 11 cannon/63 pounds Swivels: sixteen

Crew:

27 August 1777: 24 [total]

Description:

A new ship, well fitted.

Officers:

Cruises:

(1) Taunton River, Rhode Island to Sakonnet Point, Rhode Island, 26 August 1777-27 August 1777

Prizes:

Actions:

(1) Action with Kingsfisher, 27 August 1777

Comments:

Rhode Island Privateer Ship Oliver Cromwell was commissioned under Commander Samuel Chace, Jr. on 21 November 1776. Her owners were listed as Nicholas Brown and William Russell.¹ She seemed to have been a new ship, of about 160 tons,² and was fitting out up the Taunton River when the British invaded Rhode Island in December 1776 and occupied Newport.³

She was re-commissioned on 4 August 1777, again under Chace (now spelled Chase). Her owners are now listed as Nicholas Brown et al,⁴ but in fact still consisted of Nicholas Brown and William and Joseph Russell of Providence.⁵ Oliver Cromwell was a new vessel and “well fitted.” Oliver Cromwell was armed with twenty 6-pounders on the gun deck, two 3-pounders on the quarterdeck and carried sixteen swivel guns. Although she was designed to carry between 190 and 200 men as her regular crew, she had only twenty-three men aboard on the night of 26 August.⁶

The area between Fogland Ferry and Sakonnet Point in Sakonnet Passage. Detail from A topographical chart of the bay of Narraganset in the province of New England, with all the isles contained therein, among which Rhode Island and Connonicut have been particularly surveyed, shewing the true position & bearings of the banks, shoals, rocks &c. as likewise the soundings; To which have been added the several works & batteries raised by the Americans. Taken by order of the principal farmers on Rhode Island. by Charles Blaskowitz, 1777.

The Oliver Cromwell and the Continental Navy Brigantine Hampden both attempted to breakout past the British blockade in Narragansett Bay on the morning of 27 August. It was a very dark night, with a heavy fog. The chosen route was out of the Taunton River and down the Sakonnet River, guarded only by HM Sloop Kingsfisher.

At 0400 the British battery at Fogland Ferry discerned a brig passing by. She was almost past the battery before any shots were fired. The gunners managed to fire at her twice before she made off. The gunfire awakened the sleeping Kingsfisher, which discovered a large ship near her, with a full press of sail set. Kingsfisher slipped her anchor and got under way, firing her bow chaser at the Oliver Cromwell. Chace, with no men aboard to fight back, altered course and ran the ship hard ashore to the north of Sakonnet Point. Kingsfisher hustled up and anchored nearby. Kingsfisher then began firing into the ship, which forced the Americans to abandon ship and row ashore in their boats.⁷

Kingsfisher sent her boats to the Oliver Cromwell. Ashore the American crew rallied and kept up a “continual” but ineffective fire on the British boarding party. The British intended to refloat the ship. However it was ebb tide, she was driven hard ashore and all her sail was set. The boarding party found a light burning in the light room of the magazine. Unable to float their prize, the British set her on fire and she blew up about 0500. Not a single shot had been fired from the Oliver Cromwell.⁸

The fight with the Oliver Cromwell effectively covered the Hampden, which got away. The British thought that “The want of spirit on the part of the Rebels was very conspicuous. It is probable she had not less than 150 or 200 men on board; and for a vessel of that force to run ashore from a Sloop of War of 14 Guns and about 90 men, without firing a shot, was perfectly scandalous.”⁹

The Americans quickly learned the news. William Russell, writing his wife on 28 August, noted that “We have lost the ship . . . the Loss is great to us - but hope our luck will be better one of these Days.” Chase was reported to have lost “all he hade in the World.”¹⁰

¹ Sheffield, An Address Delivered by William P. Sheffield before the Rhode Island Historical Society, 58

² Rhode Island History, v. 34-36, Rhode Island Historical Society, Providence: 1975, 105

³ NDAR, “Commodore Esek Hopkins to Governor Nicholas Cooke,” VII, 410 and note

⁴ Sheffield, An Address Delivered by William P. Sheffield before the Rhode Island Historical Society, 60

⁵ NDAR, “Diary of Frederick Mackenzie,” IX, 823-825 and 825 notes

⁶ NDAR, “Diary of Frederick Mackenzie,” IX, 823-825 and 825 notes

⁷ NDAR, “Diary of Frederick Mackenzie,” IX, 823-825 and 825 notes

⁸ NDAR, “Diary of Frederick Mackenzie,” IX, 823-825 and 825 notes

⁹ NDAR, “Diary of Frederick Mackenzie,” IX, 823-825 and 825 notes

¹⁰ NDAR, “Diary of Frederick Mackenzie,” IX, 823-825 and 825 notes

Posted 16 December 2010

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