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Pennsylvania Privateer Ship William |
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| William | Commander Nicolas Vallance [Valence, Vallince] |
| Armed Ship | 2 August 1782-1 April 1783 |
| Pennsylvania Privateer Ship |
| Commissioned/First Date: | 2 August 1782 |
| Out of Service/Cause: | 1 April 1783/captured by HMS Centurion |
| Owners: | Conyngham & Nesbitt of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Tonnage: |
| Battery: | Date Reported: 2 August 1782 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 4/ Total: 4 cannon/ Broadside: 2 cannon/ Swivels: |
| Crew: | 2 August 1782: 22 [total] |
| Description: |
| Officers: | (1) First Mate John Hitts, 2 August 1782- |
| Cruises: | (1) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Havana, Cuba, [August] 1782-[September] 1782
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| Prizes: |
| Actions: |
Comments:
Pennsylvania Privateer Ship William was commissioned on 2 August 1782 under Commander Nicolas Vallance1 (or Valence),2 of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. William’s First Mate was John Hitts of Philadelphia. She was armed with four guns and noted as having a crew of twenty men. Her bond of $20,000 was executed by Vallance and Alexander Nesbitt.3
William made a voyage to Havana, Cuba following her commission. She sailed for Philadelphia, perhaps in early October 1782. On 13 October William was off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Vallance sighted a fleet of twenty-one sail, steering north, which contained three large ships. He assumed the fleet was bound from Charlestown, South Carolina to New York, New York, and steered well clear of it. William arrived in Philadelphia on 21 October.4
William returned to Havana on a second voyage in the winter of 1783. William was returning to Philadelphia about March 1783. On 1 April 1783, in Delaware Bay or off the Delaware Capes, she was chased by HMS Centurion. Vallance and the crew abandoned ship and got ashore in the boat. The ship was taken and sent in to New York, New York, where she arrived on 6 April.5 She was tried and condemned there, appearing in the court records as an American merchant vessel. Vallance appears as “Vallince.”6
1 NRAR, 493; Emmons, 168
2 Claghorn, Naval Officers of the American Revolution, 320
3 NRAR, 493
4 The Pennsylvania Packet or the General Advertiser [Philadelphia], Thursday, October 24, 1782
5 The Pennsylvania Packet or the General Advertiser [Philadelphia], Saturday, April 12, 1783, datelined New York, April 8
6 HCA 32/490/6/1-11
| Posted 9 April 2011 |
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