Name of Vessel:

Weymouth

Master of Vessel:

Captain Paul [Charles] Flyn [Flynn]

Rig of Vessel:

Ship

Date of Capture:

28 July 1777

Place of Capture:

Off the Azores Islands

Captor:

Connecticut Navy Ship Oliver Cromwell

Home Port:

From What Port:

Jamaica, British West Indies

To What Port:

London, England

Cargo:

Mail and passengers

Tonnage:

200

Battery:

14x6, swivels

Crew:

Owners:

Charles Flynn et al

Prize master:

Lieutenant John Smith

Prize crew:

Ordered Into:

Boston, Massachusetts

Into What Port:

Boston, Massachusetts

Date Arrived:

10 September 1777

Date Tried:

28-29 October 1777

Date Sold:

Action:

Yes

Recaptured:

No

Comments: HM Packet Ship Weymouth (Captain Paul [Charles] Flyn [Flynn]), 200 tons, was built in 1776 as a sloop of war, a three masted ship with one gun deck. She was pierced for eighteen guns, but mounted fourteen 6-pounders, (or sixteen guns) with swivel guns. Weymouth was taken up by the British post office as a packet. and her part-owner, Flynn, was commissioned as her commander. She sailed from Jamaica bound for London, and fell in with Connecticut Navy Ship Oliver Cromwell off the Azores Islands on 28 July 1777. When hailed by the Oliver Cromwell, Flyn replied “in the usual Form of Ships of War, in the Kings Service, by saying we came from White Hall, and when asked again by the said O. Cromwell, are you a Kings Ship we answered Yes, and fired . . .” Weymouth then prepared for an attack and shortened sail so that Oliver Cromwell could come up.  Weymouth fought for a time before striking, giving Flynn enough time to destroy his mail before surrendering. Among the passengers was Captain William Judd of HMS Antelope, returning home. Lieutenant John Smith was assigned as prize master and the Oliver Cromwell escorted her into the Kennebec River, Massachusetts (Maine) on 4 September 1777. The prisoners were landed here, and sent to Samuel Eliot, Jr. at Boston. Oliver Cromwell and Weymouth sailed down to Boston and arrived there on 10 September 1777. Agent Eliot took charge of her, but immediately saw a problem. The officers and crew of the Oliver Cromwell would libel her as a warship, which would give them all of the prize money upon condemnation and sale.  Eliot thought she was not a warship, thus giving Connecticut half of her proceeds. He proposed retaining attorneys to fight the case in court to Governor Trumbull on 10 September. Trumbull approved Eliot's measures on 16 September. The ship was libeled on 25 September 1777, and she was tried on 10 October 1777. The court adjourned the case until 28 October, allowing Eliot to receive more detailed instructions and an agency commission from Connecticut. The court awarded the whole of the prize to the crew. The verdict of the trial, 28-29 October, was that Weymouth was indeed a warship, and her whole value was to go to the captors. Weymouth was eventually armed as Massachusetts Privateer Ship Hancock.

Meanwhile the prisoners had been sent to the prison ship in Boston Harbor. Eliot petitioned that they be turned over to him for transfer to Connecticut. The Massachusetts General Court approved, on 1 October 1777, provided that Eliot paid for their maintenance in Massachusetts. The prisoners from the Weymouth were to be exchanged for various American prisoners held by the British. The prisoners set out for Connecticut on 4 October. The prisoners arrived in New London, Connecticut on 15 October and the next day were sent on a cartel for exchange. On 17 October the cartel was driven ashore at Crane-Neck on Long Island and thirty-seven of the forty-five prisoners rose, took control from the master, and escaped ashore. The rest were taken aboard HM Sloop Scorpion, who declined to allow the cartel to proceed to New York. Flyn and Judd were awaiting exchange on 25 December 1777. On 14 February 1778 the British Postmaster General requested the Admiralty take steps to exchange Flyn and another captured packet boat skipper, Nichols of the Eagle.

[NDAR, IX, 879 and note, 906-907, 907-908 and 908 note, 931-932, 947 and note, 962-963, 966-967, 967; X, 11 and note, 11 and notes, 33-34, 34-35, 114-115 and 115 note, 180-181 and 181 notes, 182 and 182-183 notes, 189-190 and 190 note, 192, 238 and note, 259, 340, 403-404 and 404 note, 531-532, 556-557 and 557 notes, 807 and notes; XI, 35 and note, 763-764 and 764 note 7, 1003 and note]

Revised 20 January 2009