| Back to W |
 |
Massachusetts Privateer Brigantine Washington |
|
| Washington | (1) Commander Elias Smith |
| Sloop-of-War [Brig/Sloop] | 3 October 1776- |
| Massachusetts Privateer Brigantine | (2) Commander Nicholas Ogleby
|
| Commissioned/First Date: | 3 October 1776/17 September 1776 |
| Out of Service/Cause: | 28/30 May 1778/captured by HM Frigates Diamond and Blonde |
| Owners: | (1) John Dyson, Thomas Davis, Thomas Lamb et al of Beverly, Massachusetts and Samuel Thwing and Jonathan Hobby of Boston, Massachusetts; (2) Samuel Dyson and Samuel Thwing of Beverly, Massachusetts; (3) William Shattuck et al of Boston, Massachusetts |
| Tonnage: | 90, 95 |
| Battery: | Date Reported: 3 October 1776 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 12/ Total: 12 cannon/ Broadside: 6 cannon/ Swivels: Date Reported: 17 December 1776 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 12/ Total: 12 cannon/ Broadside: 6 cannon/ Swivels: Date Reported: 2 May 1777 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 12/ Total: 12 cannon/ Broadside: 6 cannon/ Swivels: Date Reported: June 1777 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 14/ Total: 14 cannon/ Broadside: 7 cannon/ Swivels: Date Reported: 8 November 1777 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 14/ Total: 14 cannon/ Broadside: 7 cannon/ Swivels: Date Reported: 25 May 1778 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 12/ Total: 12 cannon/ Broadside: 6 cannon/ Swivels: Date Reported: 30 May 1778 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 12/3-pounder, 4-pounder, 6-pounder Total: 12 cannon/ Broadside: 6 cannon/ Swivels: |
| Crew: | (1) 3 October 1776: 81 [total]
|
| Description: |
| Officers: | (1) First Lieutenant James Lovett, 3 October 1776-; (2) First Lieutenant John Ober, 8 November 1777-; (3) Second Lieutenant William Tuck, 3 October 1776-; (4) Second Lieutenant William Ryan, 8 November 1777-; (5) Master John Vickory, 3 October 1776-; (6) Master David Stevenson, 8 November 1777- |
| Cruises: | (1) Beverly, Massachusetts to Plymouth, Massachusetts, [15 October] 1776-21 January 1777
|
| Prizes: | (1) Ship Betsey (Thomas Jarrold), 120 miles west of the Newfoundland Banks, 2 November 1776
|
| Actions: |
Comments:
Massachusetts Privateer Brigantine Washington was fitting out at Beverly, Massachusetts on 17 September 1776, when a recruiting broadside was published.1 Owners John Dyson and Thomas Davis of Beverly and Jonathan Hobby and Samuel Thwing of Boston, Massachusetts, petitioned for a commission for Commander Elias Smith of Beverly, which was given on 3 October 1776.2 Washington was listed as measuring 90 tons, and as being armed with twelve guns and manned with a crew of eighty men. Other officers aboard were First Lieutenant James Lovett, Second Lieutenant William Tuck, both of Beverly, and Master John Vickory, of Marblehead.3 Another report notes she was armed with twelve guns and had a crew of seventy-seven men.4 Her $5000 Continental bond was signed by Smith and by John Dyson and Thomas Farrington of Cambridge, Massachusetts.5
Washington sailed about the first of October, intending to cruise off the Spanish and Portuguese coasts. This proved to be a happy hunting ground. Eight prizes were captured on this cruise.6 The trip out was uneventful, except for meeting the Massachusetts Navy Sloop Republic (Captain John Foster Williams) on 22 October, at 40°42'N, 61°28'W.7
Her first prize was ship8 Betsey9 (Thomas Jarrold), captured on 2 November 1776, 120 miles east of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland.10 She was a British victualler transport, en route from Cowes11 on the Isle of Wight,12 to Halifax, Nova Scotia,13 with a cargo of provisions for the soldiers at Halifax on board.14 A prize crew of eleven men was put aboard Betsey, and the master and five men removed as prisoners. At least two men were left aboard of the original crew. The prize master was ordered off to Cape Ann, Massachusetts,15 but she never arrived. On 17 November, HM Sloop Hope (Lieutenant George Dawson) saw her, early in the morning, and gave chase. Betsey’s prize crew had little relish for a British prison and it took nine shots before she hove to (about 1000) six miles SSW of Cape Sable, Nova Scotia.16 The British took her in to Halifax, where she was libeled on 21 November and tried and condemned on 11 December 1776. At least two members of her original crew gave depositions in the Admiralty Court. The British sailors aboard the recaptured Betsey reported Washington was armed with twelve guns and several swivel guns.17 The British newspapers were reporting her loss on 17 December 1776.18
The second prize was, presumably, the snow19 Friendship,20 captured before 12 December 177621 (probably about 15 November 1776), twenty-one miles off Cape Finisterre, Spain.22 She was sent off to Massachusetts after the master, one Shotten, was removed. She was from Quebec, Quebec, bound to Barcelona, Spain.23 Friendship was also recaptured, by the Nova Scotia Provincial Marine Schooner Loyal Nova-Scotian and taken into Halifax, Nova Scotia.24 There she was tried and condemned on 14 December.25
Next, on 20 November 1776, she captured the brig Elizabeth (William Butson),26 with three hundred pipes of wine,27 bound to Chepstowe, England from Oporto, Portugal. Her master was removed to the Washington.28 The British skipper later reported that Washington was armed with twelve guns, six swivel guns, and had seventy-seven men aboard.29 On 25 November 1776, she captured a ship, within nine miles of Viana do Castelo, Portugal, with a cargo of wheat, from Barcelona. Her master was removed to the Washington.30
The next vessel captured was brigantine Dorothy (John Pennell), 75 tons, from Newfoundland to Viana, with a cargo of fish. She was taken about 30 November 1776. The Washington now being full of prisoners, Smith stopped a Dutch hoy en route to Rouen, France, and put four masters and sixteen men aboard her (the morning following capture of the Dorothy). The Dutchman landed the prisoners at Barfleur on 2 December 1776.31 Now fish was an export from America, not an import, and the prime market for fish was directly in front of Smith. A scheme was hatched: the prizemaster took the Dorothy in to Bilboa, Spain and managed to pass himself off as her master long enough to sell the fish. He was uncovered before he got the money, however, which was impounded, and he took Dorothy to sea. The British were pressing the Spaniards for full restitution by 31 December, claiming Washington was a pirate vessel.32 Dorothy was libeled 10 April 1777 and tried 29 April.33
Washington’s crew was depleted from manning the prizes when brigantine Salisbury (John S. Cole) was captured on 10 December 1776, at 43oN, 12oW. She was from Santander, Spain to Sanlúcar de Barrameds, Spain. Because of the lowered crew level, Smith searched the Salisbury and took £150 in specie and supplies from her, then turned her loose.34
Brigantine Placentia (Thomas Eldrad), 130 tons, was probably captured in December. She was sent into Massachusetts, and was libeled 10 April 1777 and tried 29 April.35
Brig Friend’s Adventure (John Cumming) was captured on Washington’s return trip to Massachusetts. She was 120 tons, from London for Barbados or St. Kitts with beef, pork, cheese, butter, flour and dry goods, and was captured off the Madeira Islands, Portugal. Cumming had sailed from Spithead on 1 December 1776 (from London on 28 November). She was the last prize taken by Washington on this cruise. The brig was libeled 13 February 1777 and tried 25 February.36
Washington entered Plymouth, Massachusetts from her cruise on 21 January 1777,37 with a very good bag of eight prizes to her credit.
Smith had to reapply for his commission on 2 May 1777. He had lost the original in some bad weather, when a large sea broke into his cabin, soaking the commission and ruining it. According to the application, Washington was a 90-ton vessel, with twelve guns and six swivels, and manned by eighty men. She was bonded for $500038 by Smith and by Samuel Thwing and Thomas Lamb, both of Boston and now listed as Washington’s owners.39 Since the Massachusetts authorities had laid an embargo on privateer sailings until the two Continental frigates fitting out at Boston had gotten to sea, Smith agreed to sail with them for twenty-five days at Continental risk and pay in June 1777. He listed his crew as seventy-five men and his armament as fourteen guns in the agreement.40
Washington was at sea by July 1777. She took the schooner Magretta [Margaret, Maragretta] (Moses Tenney) between Canso and Louisburg, Nova Scotia. Smith put a prize crew aboard and sent her off for home. On 16 July, at 1200, she was seen by HM Frigate Ambuscade (Captain John Macartney), and was soon chased down. Ambuscade sent a prize crew of five men aboard and removed the prisoners. It was the second time that Ambuscade had introduced herself to one of Washington’s prize crews.41
Washington was back in port by late 1777. On 8 November 1777 she was re-commissioned under Nicholas Ogleby. Samuel Dyson and Samuel Thwing made the petition, which listed Washington as a 95-ton brigantine, armed with fourteen guns and twelve swivel guns and manned by a crew of seventy-five men. Besides Ogleby, there were aboard First Lieutenant John Ober, Second Lieutenant William Ryan and Master David Stevenson.42 Her $10000 Continental and £500 Massachusetts bonds were signed by Ogelby and by Samuel Clap and Samuel Thwing, listed “with others” as the owners.43 On 14 November, her owners, John Dyson and Samuel Thwing, petitioned the Massachusetts Council to sell them gunpowder for the Washington. In the petition she was listed as having fourteen guns and a crew of ninety men. The petition was granted the same day.44
Washington was re-commissioned on 25 May 1778, under Commander Nathaniel Wardell of Boston. She was now listed as being armed with twelve guns and as having a crew of eighty men. Her $10000 Continental and £4000 Massachusetts bonds were signed by Wardell and by William Shattuck (now listed as her owner) of Boston and by Thwing.45
Washington sailed from Plymouth, Massachusetts immediately after her commissioning. On 28 May46 or 30 May47 she was to the south of George’s Bank, where she fell in with HM Frigates Diamond and Blonde. Wardell and the Washington were captured.48 The British reported that she had twelve guns, 3-pounders, 4-pounders and 6-pounders, and was bound on a three month’s cruise. She was sent into Halifax, Nova Scotia.49
1 NDAR, VI, 870 illustration of broadside.
2 Howe, Beverly Privateers in the Revolution, 420; NDAR, “Captain Elias Smith’s Application for a Commission for the Massachusetts Privateer Brigantine Washington,” VIII, 895-896 and 896 note
3 Howe, Beverly Privateers in the Revolution, 420; Emmons, 168, where she is listed as a Connecticut vessel
4 NDAR, “Whitehall Evening Post, Saturday, December 14 to Tuesday, December 17, 1776,” VII, 794
5 Allen, Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution, 322
6 NDAR, “Independent Chronicle, Thursday, January 23, 1777,” VII, 1024-1025 and 1025 note
7 NDAR, “Captain John Foster Williams to the Massachusetts Council,” VII, 31-32 and 32 note
8 NDAR, “Master’s Log of H. M. Sloop Hope,” VII, 190 and note; “Trial at Halifax of the Recaptured Ship Betsey,” VII, 443-444 and 444 note; “Whitehall Evening Post, Saturday, December 14 to Tuesday, December 17, 1776,” VII, 794; “A Transcript of the Entries of letters of Agency in his Majesty’s Court of Vice Admiralty for the Province of Nova Scotia from the 4th day of October 1776 to the 21st day of March 1777,” VIII, 163
9 “Master’s Log of H. M. Sloop Hope,” VII, 190 and note; “Trial at Halifax of the Recaptured Ship Betsey,” VII, 443-444 and 444 note; “A Transcript of the Entries of letters of Agency in his Majesty’s Court of Vice Admiralty for the Province of Nova Scotia from the 4th day of October 1776 to the 21st day of March 1777,” VIII, 163
10 NDAR, “Trial at Halifax of the Recaptured Ship Betsey,” VII, 443-444 and 444 note
11 NDAR, “Whitehall Evening Post, Saturday, December 14 to Tuesday, December 17, 1776,” VII, 794
12 NDAR, “Trial at Halifax of the Recaptured Ship Betsey,” VII, 443-444 and 444 note
13 NDAR, “Trial at Halifax of the Recaptured Ship Betsey,” VII, 443-444 and 444 note; “Whitehall Evening Post, Saturday, December 14 to Tuesday, December 17, 1776,” VII, 794
14 NDAR, “Whitehall Evening Post, Saturday, December 14 to Tuesday, December 17, 1776,” VII, 794
15 NDAR, “Trial at Halifax of the Recaptured Ship Betsey,” VII, 443-444 and 444 note
16 NDAR, “Master’s Log of H. M. Sloop Hope,” VII, 190 and note
17 NDAR, “Trial at Halifax of the Recaptured Ship Betsey,” VII, 443-444 and 444 note
18 NDAR, “Whitehall Evening Post, Saturday, December 14 to Tuesday, December 17, 1776,” VII, 794
19 NDAR, “Trial at Halifax of the Recaptured Ship Betsey,” VII, 443-444 and 444 note; see also AVCR, 13
20 NDAR, “Trial at Halifax of the Recaptured Ship Betsey,” VII, 443-444 and 444 note; “Whitehall Evening Post, Tuesday, December 10 to Thursday, December 12, 1776,” VII, 788; “Public Advertiser, Wednesday, February 26, 1777,” VIII, 613
21 NDAR, “Whitehall Evening Post, Tuesday, December 10 to Thursday, December 12, 1776,” VII, 788. This information must have come from Shotten, after he was released and arrived in France on 2 December.
22 NDAR, “Whitehall Evening Post, Tuesday, December 10 to Thursday, December 12, 1776,” VII, 788
23 NDAR, “Whitehall Evening Post, Tuesday, December 10 to Thursday, December 12, 1776,” VII, 788; “Public Advertiser, Wednesday, February 26, 1777,” VIII, 613
24 NDAR, “Trial at Halifax of the Recaptured Ship Betsey,” VII, 443-444 and 444 note; “Public Advertiser, Wednesday, February 26, 1777,” VIII, 613
25 “Trial at Halifax of the Recaptured Ship Betsey,” VII, 443-444 and 444 note
26 NDAR, “Whitehall Evening Post, Saturday, December 14 to Tuesday, December 17, 1776,” VII, 794
27 NDAR, “Whitehall Evening Post, Saturday, December 14 to Tuesday, December 17, 1776,” VII, 794; “Independent Chronicle, Thursday, January 23, 1777,” VII, 1024-1025
28 NDAR, “Whitehall Evening Post, Saturday, December 14 to Tuesday, December 17, 1776,” VII, 794
29 NDAR, “Whitehall Evening Post, Saturday, December 14 to Tuesday, December 17, 1776,” VII, 794
30 NDAR, “Whitehall Evening Post, Saturday, December 14 to Tuesday, December 17, 1776,” VII, 794. The identity of this ship is unknown. It is possible that it is the same as the snow Friendship. Factors indicating that they might be the same are (1) four captured British skippers were released on a Dutch hoy about 26 November, including the skipper of the Betsey, probably Washington’s first prize. In the newspaper article about this release there is no mention of snow Friendship, but the above ship is mentioned. If the two are not the same, five masters should have been released, not four. (2) the ship had a cargo of wheat (an export of Quebec), but bound from Barcelona. Friendship was bound from Quebec to Barcelona. These kinds of errors are not uncommon in newspapers of the period, however. (3) Shotten, the master of the Friendship, was apparently in France or England early in December, as the newspapers published information concerning his capture, which must have come from him, or someone who had seen him or members of his crew. Against these three factors are some that suggest the Friendship and this ship were different vessels. (1) the unknown ship was captured off the Portuguese coast on 25 November; Friendship was captured off the Spanish coast at an unknown date. (2) Friendship was re-captured and tried in the Halifax Admiralty Court on 14 December 1776. This is an almost insuperable obstacle: the captured snow would have had to cross the North Atlantic, been re-captured, taken into Halifax, libeled, and condemned in nineteen days. The time factor is the one that is convincing. Still more information is needed.
31 NDAR, “Whitehall Evening Post, Saturday, December 14 to Tuesday, December 17, 1776,” VII, 794
32 NDAR, “Lord Weymouth to Lord Grantham,” VII, 816-818 and 818 note; “Lord Grantham to Lord Weymouth,” VIII, 542-543
33 NDAR, “Libels Filed Against Thirteen Prizes in Massachusetts Admiralty Court for the Middle District,” VIII, 309-310
34 NDAR, “Certificate of Elias Smith, Commander of the Massachusetts Privateer Brig Washington,” VII, 787
35 NDAR, “Libels Filed Against Thirteen Prizes in Massachusetts Admiralty Court for the Middle District,” VIII, 309-310
36 NDAR, “Independent Chronicle, Thursday, January 23, 1777,” VII, 1024-1025 and 1025 note; “Boston Gazette, Monday, January 27, 1777,” VII, 1044; “Libels Filed in the Massachusetts Admiralty Court, Middle District,” VII, 1188-1189. See also “Petition of Resolve Smith to the Massachusetts Council,” VII, 1304-1305.
37 NDAR, “Boston Gazette, Monday, January 27, 1777,” VII, 1044
38 NDAR, “Captain Elias Smith’s Application for a Commission for the Massachusetts Privateer Brigantine Washington,” VIII, 895-896 and 896 note. See also Howe, Beverly Privateers in the Revolution, 420.
39 Allen, Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution, 325
40 NDAR, “Agreement with Owners of Massachusetts Privateer Satisfaction to Cruise with Captain John Manley,” VIII, 907-908 and 908 note
41 NDAR, “Journal of H.M.S. Ambuscade, Captain John Macartney,” IX, 293
42 Howe, Beverly Privateers in the Revolution, 420. Howe comments that this last Washington may not be the original one. See also Allen, Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution, 323
43 Allen, Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution, 323
44 NDAR, “Petition of the Owners ov the Massachusetts Privateer Brig Washington to the Massachusetts Council,” X, 484-485 and 485 note
45 Allen, Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution, 323-324
46 “List of Vessels seized, destroyed or retaken by the American Squadron between the 25th of October 1777, and the 28th of September 1778, according to the Returns received by the Vice Admiral the Viscount Howe, exclusive of those seized or destroyed by His Majesty’s Ships in Chesapeake Bay, and on the Parts of the Coast of North America to the Southward thereof, of which a Return was made on the 23rd of April 1778,” in The London Gazette, Saturday, November 21, to Tuesday, November 24, 1778
47 AVCR, 89
48 “List of Vessels seized, destroyed or retaken by the American Squadron between the 25th of October 1777, and the 28th of September 1778, according to the Returns received by the Vice Admiral the Viscount Howe, exclusive of those seized or destroyed by His Majesty’s Ships in Chesapeake Bay, and on the Parts of the Coast of North America to the Southward thereof, of which a Return was made on the 23rd of April 1778,” in The London Gazette, Saturday, November 21, to Tuesday, November 24, 1778
49 AVCR, 89
| Posted 15 May 2010 |
|
|
|
|
|