Name of Vessel:

Nautilus

Master of Vessel:

George Corney

Rig of Vessel:

Ship [Brig]

Date of Capture:

20 July 1777

Place of Capture:

Fifteen miles northwest by north of Lewis, Scotland

Captor:

Massachusetts Privateer Ship American Tartar

Home Port:

From What Port:

Greenland

To What Port:

Liverpool, England

Cargo:

Blubber, whale fin

Tonnage:

180

Battery:

Crew:

34

Owners:

Prize master:

Prize crew:

8

Ordered Into:

[Boston, Massachusetts]

Into What Port:

[Boston, Massachusetts]

Date Arrived:

Date Tried:

7 October 1777

Date Sold:

Action:

No

Recaptured:

No

Comments: Massachusetts Privateer Ship American Tartar (Commander John Grimes), met the 180-ton ship or brigantine Nautilus (George Corney) and captured her some fifteen miles northwest by north of Lewis, at 1700 on 20 July. Nautilus was en route from Greenland to Liverpool with blubber and whalefin and had a crew of thirty-four men aboard. Grimes detained the whaler for two days, removing various articles of cordage, sails, provisions, and stores. He then put a prize crew of eight men aboard, along with three of Corney’s apprentices and a British prisoner from a recaptured vessel, and sent Nautilus off for America. She arrived safely at Salem, Massachusetts and was libeled on 18 September 1777. Trial was set for 7 October 1777.

[NDAR, IX, 549-550, 564-565 and 565 note; X, 15-16]

Revised 20 January 2009