Sloop	Duchess of Cumberland	18	125	1781 July 15	1781 Oct 19	Wrecked
Rate	Name	Men	Guns	Commissioned	Stricken	Notes

NEWFOUNDLAND

DUCHESS OF CUMBERLAND Sloop 16.  Purchased 1781. Wrecked 1781 off Newfoundland. (Colledge)

Not listed by Winfield.

1780[81?]

Dutchess of Cumberland,

18

Edward March [Marsh] (ex-US Congress, privateer)¹

[extracted from list in ADM 1/471)

1781 Aug 20 [extract] “The Oiseau sailed on a Cruize again the 16th of June, and returned the 2d of July, in which Time she captured the Ship Congress, an American Privateer of Eighteen Guns, Nine Pounders, and One Hundred and Twenty Men ; . . . and brought them safe in here.” (Edwards-Stephens, The London Gazette, 16-20 Oct 1781)

[Wrecked: 1781 Sep 22]  “The cutter[*] sailed from Placentia, Newfoundland, on 21 September to escort a convoy to St John’s.  She cleared the harbour with a light breeze, but the wind then fell away to a calm, which did not allow her close to the land.  The following morning saw very thick banks of fog and a stiff breeze.  Breakers were seen ahead and she successfully came about and hoisted more sail, but she suddenly struck rocks, which stove in planks and knocked the rudder off.  The masts were cut away, but she was filling quickly with water, so the crew abandoned ship, to discover they had gone ashore on Cape St. Mary.” (Hepper)

[*  NOTE: Hepper lists her as a cutter of 125 tons but this seems too small to be commanded by a Master & Commander, seconded by a Lieutenant.  Also the testimony was that they cut away the ‘masts’ suggesting more than the one mast found on a cutter.]

1781 Oct 19:

Court-martial: “Cap^t Edw^d Marsh, the Officers & company of the Duchess of Cumberland for the loss of s^d Sloop.” (ADM 1/5319)

ASPLs:

01 Nov 1781 Newfoundland (“Commission”), 01 Dec 1781 Newfoundland (Marsh).

Captain’s Log	From	To	Muster Books	From	To
ADM51/4173	1781 July 21	-1781 Sep 5	ADM36/9971	1781 Aug	-1784? Jan
Master’s Log	From	To	Pay Books	From	To
Not found			ADM34/258	1781 July 15	-1781 Oct 19

Rank

Officer’s Name

Date of Rank

Notes

M&C

Marsh, Edward

1781 July 15

CM/loss

Lieut^t

Newell, [Obadiah ?

1781 Sep 04  ]

CM/loss

Master

Matthew, Patrick

not applicable

CM/loss

Gunner

Orchard

not applicable

CM/loss

¹

 

There appears to be confusion as to the names given the privateers Congress and Royal Louis when they were purchased for RN service with both being commissioned at Newfoundland on 15 July 1781, viz  HMS Morning Star, Sloop, and HMS Duchess of Cumberland, Sloop.

Posted 13 September 2008

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