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Massachusetts Privateer Schooner Run Fast |
| Run Fast | Commander Nehemiah Somes |
| Schooner | 24 October 1776-27 January 1777 |
| Massachusetts Privateer Schooner |
| Commissioned/First Date: | 24 October 1776 |
| Out of Service/Cause: | 27 January 1777/captured by HMS Preston |
| Owners: | Cushing & White and Hubbard & Greene |
| Tonnage: |
| Battery: | Date Reported: Number/Caliber Weight Broadside
Total: Broadside: Swivels: |
| Crew: | 11 January 1777: 5 [total] |
| Description: |
| Officers: |
| Cruises: | (1) Boston, Massachusetts to sea, [15] January 1777-27 January 1777 |
| Prizes: |
| Actions: |
Comments:
Massachusetts Privateer Schooner Runfast [Run Fast] (Commander Nehemiah Somes) was fitting out at Boston, Massachusetts in January 1777. A partial crew list (portledge bill) dated 11 January indicates that there five men aboard at that time.1 On 13 January, Somes’s owners, Cushing & White and Hubbard & Greene, issued their sailing orders. He was to proceed to Baltimore, Maryland and deliver2 his cargo of rum and sugar3 to Cumberland Dugan. After loading Dugan’s return cargo the Runfast was to return to Boston.4
On 27 January Runfast was approaching the entrance to Chesapeake Bay. Also in the entrance was HMS Preston (Captain Samuel Uppleby) and HM Frigate Phoenix. At daylight the anchored Preston saw a brig and four schooners. Uppleby dispatched his boats and captured the brig and three of the schooners. By afternoon the Runfast had been brought to the Preston and cleared. Meanwhile the Phoenix, later credited with taking the Three Friends (Samuel Robins) and the Adventure (William Jones) had dismantled the brig and a schooner and burned both. Preston was later credited with the Runfast and the Content (Samuel Gale).5 On the morning of 30 January Preston dismantled the Runfast and cut up her upper works for firewood.6
1 NDAR, “Bill for the Massachusetts Scooner Runfast,” VII, 921
2 NDAR, “Sailing Orders to Captain Nehemiah Somes,” VII, 942-943
3 NDAR, “Journal of H.M.S. Preston, Captain Samuel Uppleby,” VII, 1047 and note
4 NDAR, “Sailing Orders to Captain Nehemiah Somes,” VII, 942-943
5 NDAR, “Journal of H.M.S. Preston, Captain Samuel Uppleby,” VII, 1047 and note
6 NDAR, “Journal of H.M.S. Preston, Captain Samuel Uppleby,” VII, 1072
| Posted 22 February 2011 |
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