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Connecticut Privateer Sloop Wooster |
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| Wooster | (1) Commander John McCleave |
| Armed Sloop | 9 November 1776- |
| Connecticut Privateer Sloop | (2) Commander Enoch Staples
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| Commissioned/First Date: | 9 November 1776 |
| Out of Service/Cause: | [May] 1779/captured by the British |
| Owners: | (1) Pierpont Edwards & Co., of New Haven, Connecticut; (2) Michael Todd of New Haven, Connecticut |
| Tonnage: | 75 |
| Battery: | Date Reported: 9 October 1776 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 10/4-pounder 40 pounds 20 pounds Total: 10 cannon/40 pounds Broadside: 5 cannon/20 pounds Swivels: twelve Date Reported: 9 November 1776 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 10/ Total: 10 cannon/ Broadside: 5 cannon/ Swivels: Date Reported: 22 May 1777 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 10/4-pounder 40 pounds 20 pounds Total: 10 cannon/40 pounds Broadside: 5 cannon/20 pounds Swivels: six Date Reported: 20 February 1778 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 10/ Total: 10 cannon/ Broadside: 5 cannon/ Swivels: Date Reported: 13 November 1778 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 10/ Total: 10 cannon/ Broadside: 5 cannon/ Swivels: |
| Crew: | (1) 9 November 1776: 81 [total]
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| Description: |
| Officers: | (1) First Lieutenant Major Lines, 20 February 1778-; (2) Second Lieutenant Timothy White, 20 February 1778-; (3) Master Samuel Dunwell, 20 February 1778-; (4) Surgeon Abel Catlin, 20 February 1778-; (5) Prize Master Amos Sherman, 20 February 1778-; (6) Prize Master Isaac Hotchkiss, 20 February 1778-; (7) First Mate Jedediah Andrews, 20 February 1778-; (8) Lieutenant of Marines James Howel, 20 February 1778-; (9) Surgeon’s Mate Richard Still, 20 February 1778- |
| Cruises: |
| Prizes: | (1) Snow Atlantic (Charles Morris), [July 1777] |
| Actions: |
Comments:
Connecticut Privateer Sloop Wooster was first mentioned on 9 October 1776, when four of her owners petitioned the government of Connecticut for permission to purchase cannon from the Salisbury foundry. Wooster was to carry ten 4-pounders and twelve swivels. The petition was granted on 4 November 1776.1 She was commissioned on 9 November 1776 under Commander John McCleave of New Haven. She was reported as having ten guns and manned with eighty men. Her bond of $5,000 was executed by McCleave and “Pierpont Edwards & Co.”2
A manifest of Wooster’s stores was drawn up, dated 22 May 1777, and typical of an application for a commission. Her commander was Enoch Staples. Wooster is listed as an American built sloop, with ten “double fortified” 4-pounders, six swivels, and with a crew of sixty men.3 On 31 May 1777 a memorandum was drawn up indicating the “tax” that each member would have to pay to raise the funds (£420) for the second cruise.4
During the ensuing cruise she captured the 150-ton snow Atlantic (Charles Morris). Atlantic was libeled on 23 October 1777, with trial set for 11 November 1777.5
Wooster was re-commissioned, still under Staples, on 3 November 1777.6
Wooster was re-commissioned on 20 February 1778 under Commander Ebenezer Peck, also from New Haven. Her battery and crew remained the same. The bond of $5,000 was signed by Peck and the corporation owning her.7 About the same time Peck received his owner’s orders for a cruise to the West Indies.8 A prize share list drawn up at the same time indicates that First Lieutenant Major Lines, Second Lieutenant Timothy White, Master Samuel Dunwell, Surgeon Abel Catlin, Prize Master Amos Sherman, Prize Master Isaac Hotchkiss, First Mate Jedediah Andrews, Lieutenant of Marines James Howel, and Surgeon’s Mate Richard Still were all aboard. The remaining crew list consisted of forty-eight men and boys, including one Marine, for a total of fifty-eight.9 By early March 1778 Wooster was at sea. Before 11 March, she spoke the brig Helena (Samuel Gill) when four days out, at 38°00'N, 63°W, and reported to Gill that all was well on board.10
On 13 November 1778, the sloop was advertised for sale. She was then laying at the Long Wharf in New Haven and was said to measure 75 tons and be well found. All her guns and munitions were to be sold as well. She was reported to be armed with ten 4-pounders. The sale was to take place at auction on 24 November. The Wooster was sold to Michael Todd of New Haven.11
Wooster’s new commander was William Brintnall. He had been selected by 30 November 1778, when an advertisement appeared soliciting freight and passengers for St. Croix, Danish West Indies. Brintnall is named in the advertisement. Wooster was to sail about 1 January 1779. Wooster was in the West Indies in May 1779, where she was captured by the British.12
1 Middlebrook, Maritime Connecticut During the Revolution, II, 243-244
2 NRAR, 494; NDAR, “List of Bonds for Connecticut Letters of Marque,” X, 589-590; Emmons, 168
3 NDAR, “Manifest of the Connecticut Privateer Sloop Wooster,” VIII, 1020
4 Middlebrook, Maritime Connecticut During the Revolution, II, 244-245
5 NDAR, “Libels Filed in the Massachusetts Maritime Court of the Southern District,” X, 242 and note
6 Claghorn, Naval Officers of the American Revolution, 294
7 NRAR, 494; Emmons, 169
8 NDAR, “Cruising Orders for the Connecticut Privateer Sloop Wooster,” XI, 389 and note
9 NDAR, “Prize Share List for Connecticut Privateer Sloop Wooster,” XI, 390-391 and 391 note
10 NDAR, “The Boston-Gazette, and Country Journal, Monday, March 23, 1778,” XI, 763 and note
11 Middlebrook, Maritime Connecticut During the Revolution, II, 245
12 Middlebrook, Maritime Connecticut During the Revolution, II, 245-246; The Connecticut Journal [New Haven], Wednesday, June 2, 1779
| Posted 28 March 2011 |
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