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New Hampshire Privateer Ship Royal Louis |
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| Royal Louis | Commander Nathan Nichols |
| Sloop-of-War | 13 April 1781-12 July 1781 |
| New Hampshire Privateer Ship |
| Commissioned/First Date: | 13 April 1781 |
| Out of Service/Cause: | 12 July 1781/captured by HMS Portland and HM Frigate Vestal |
| Owners: | Nathan Nichols & Co., of Portsmouth, New Hampshire |
| Tonnage: |
| Battery: | Date Reported: 13 April 1781 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 16/ Total: 16 cannon/ Broadside: 8 cannon/ Swivels: Date Reported: 12 July 1781 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 16/6-pounder 96 pounds 48 pounds Total: 16 cannon/96 pounds Broadside: 8 cannon/48 pounds Swivels: |
| Crew: | (1) 13 April 1781: 86 [total]
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| Description: |
| Officers: |
| Cruises: | (1) Portsmouth, New Hampshire to Salem, Massachusetts
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| Prizes: | (1) Brigantine Jupiter (Samuel Simes), about 21 May 1781 |
| Actions: |
Comments:
New Hampshire Privateer Ship Royal Louis was commissioned on 13 April 1781 under Commander Nathan Nichols of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, one of her owners. She was reported with sixteen guns and a crew of eighty-five men. Royal Louis was bonded for $20,000 by Nichols, Joshua Wentworth of Portsmouth and James Hackett of Exeter, New Hampshire.1
Royal Louis captured the 60-ton brigantine Jupiter (Samuel Simes) about 21 May 1781. She was sent in to Portsmouth, where she was libeled on 7 June 1781. Her trial was to be held on 10 July 1781.2
Royal Louis was soon out at sea in the North Atlantic. On 12 July 1781, she was returning to Salem or Portsmouth when she was sighted to windward by HMS Portland (Captain James Luttrell) and HM Frigate Vestal (Captain George Berkeley). The Royal Louis was soon captured. The British reported her as sailing out of Salem, Massachusetts, and armed with sixteen 6-pounders and as having a crew of 100 men aboard.3
1 NRAR, 449
2 The New-Hampshire Gazette; or State Journal, and General Advertiser [Portsmouth], Monday, June 11, 1781
3 The London Gazette, Tuesday, October 16, to Saturday, October 20, 1781
| Posted 8 September 2011 |
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