Name of Vessel:

Hibernia

Master of Vessel:

Wilson

Rig of Vessel:

Snow

Date of Capture:

29 December 1777

Place of Capture:

Captor:

[unknown] Privateer [unknown] Alligator

Home Port:

From What Port:

Cape Verde Islands, Portugal

To What Port:

Cork, Ireland

Cargo:

Tonnage:

Battery:

Crew:

Owners:

Prize master:

Prize crew:

Ordered Into:

Into What Port:

Date Arrived:

Date Tried:

Date Sold:

Action:

No

Recaptured:

No

Comments: The otherwise unknown American privateer Alligator, whose rig and skipper are also unknown, was operating in the area off the Guinea coast of Africa about December 1777. On 29 December 1777 Alligator captured the snow Hibernia (Wilson), bound from the Cape Verde Islands, Portugal to Cork, Ireland. The prisoners were removed to the Alligator.

The English prisoners aboard discovered that several of the crew members of the Alligator were English or Irish. A plot to seize the privateer was hatched and the uprising took place on the night of 2 January 1778, at the changing of the watch. Although the British soon got control of the deck, the American lieutenant barricaded himself in the cabin, along with several others. The fight lasted several hours before the lieutenant surrendered, with seven Americans dead. The British lost five killed, including Wilson and one Lucas, who owned part of Hibernia’s cargo. The prize was taken into the Bay of Funchal, Madeira Islands.

[NDAR, XI, 1035]