Venus	(1) Commander Michael Leslie
Armed Brig	8 November 1780-
Massachusetts Privateer Brigantine	(2) Commander Henry Higginson 13 October 1781-15 January 1782

Commissioned/First Date:	8 November 1780
Out of Service/Cause:	15 January 1782/captured by HM Frigate Belisarius

Owners:

(1) Daniel and Robert McNeill of Boston, Massachusetts; (2) Daniel and Robert McNeill et al, of Suffolk County, Massachusetts

Tonnage:

Battery:

Date Reported: 8 November 1780 Number/Caliber  Weight        Broadside 6/ Total: 6 cannon/ Broadside: 3 cannon/ Swivels: Date Reported: 13 October 1781 Number/Caliber  Weight        Broadside 6/ Total: 6 cannon/ Broadside: 3 cannon/ Swivels:

Crew:

(1) 8 November 1780: 16 [total] (2) 13 October 1781: 16 [total]

Description:

Officers:

Cruises:

(1) Havana, Cuba to sea, 2 January 1782-15 January 1782

Prizes:

Actions:

Comments:


Massachusetts Privateer Brigantine Venus was first commissioned on 8 November 1780 under Commander Michael Leslie of Boston, Massachusetts. She was listed as having six guns and fifteen men in her crew. Venus was bonded for $20,000 by Leslie, Robert McNeill and Ebenezer Lane, both of Boston.¹ At the same time the Massachusetts Council ordered that Venus be permitted to sail with a cargo of fish, said to be unfit for human consumption.² This was a device used to cover a semi-legal trading voyage (exportation of fish being banned).

Venus was re-commissioned on 13 October 1781 under Henry Higginson of Salem, Massachusetts, with the same battery and crew. Higginson, Robert McNeill and Ebenezer Parsons of Boston, signed her $20,000 bond. Venus was referred to as a brig in her second commission.³

Venus was in Havana, Cuba in late 1781, taking on a cargo of sugar. When the ship Washington and brig Hound, both owned in Salem, Massachusetts, were sold in Havana, the $20000 proceeds of the sale were put aboard the Venus for transportation home. Venus sailed from Havana on 2 January 1782, bound for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On 15 January Venus was off the Delaware Capes, approaching her destination. She had the misfortune to encounter HM Frigate Belisarius (Captain Richard Graves), who quickly captured the brig. Graves discovered that the Venus, although pierced for fourteen guns, had only seven guns mounted, and a small crew of twenty men aboard. Belisarius brought Venus into New York, New York on 21 January.⁴ Venus was tried and condemned at New York. She was noted as a merchant vessel with a commission.⁵

¹ NRAR, 485

² MASSRW 2:711

³ NRAR, 486

⁴ The Royal Gazette [New York], Wednesday, January 23, 1782

⁵ HCA 32/470/13/1-15

Posted 23 December 2009

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