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[Connecticut] Privateer Ship Venus |
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| Venus | Commander James Ward |
| Armed Ship | [February] 1781-May 1781 |
| [Connecticut] Privateer Ship |
| Commissioned/First Date: | [February] 1781 |
| Out of Service/Cause: | May 1781/captured by the Terror |
| Owners: |
| Tonnage: |
| Battery: | Date Reported: 17 March 1781 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 14/ Total: 14 cannon/ Broadside: 7 cannon/ Swivels: |
| Crew: |
| Description: |
| Officers: |
| Cruises: | (1) United States to Bordeaux, France
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Comments:
[Connecticut] Privateer1 Ship Venus (Commander James Ward) made a voyage to Bordeaux, France in the winter of 1781.2 She was in Bordeaux on 17 March 1781. Venus, noted as being armed with fourteen guns, was to sail from Bordeaux to L’Orient, France to join a squadron or convoy bound for Philadelphia, which consisted of several large and small privateers and the Continental Navy Ship Alliance (Captain John Barry).3 She sailed from Bordeaux,4 but was captured in May 1781 by the Terror.5 Venus was apparently sent into England, where she was tried and condemned, being listed as an American merchant vessel.6
1 According to Claghorn, Naval Officers of the American Revolution, 325
2 HCA 30/277
3 Lint, Gregg L. Et al (eds.), The Adams Papers: Papers of John Adams, vol 11: January-September 1781, Harvard University Press, 2003, letter from John Bondfield, 17 March 1781, 206-207
4 HCA 30/277
5 Claghorn, Naval Officers of the American Revolution, 325
6 HCA 32/470/17/1-59
| Revised 13 December 2009 |
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