Name of Vessel:

Sheelah [Sheelar, Shelah]

Master of Vessel:

Henry McKibbin [McKibben]

Rig of Vessel:

Schooner

Date of Capture:

[17] June 1779

Place of Capture:

[Off New York, New York]

Captor:

Connecticut Privateer Sloop American Revenue

Home Port:

From What Port:

New York, New York

To What Port:

Cargo:

Tonnage:

50

Battery:

8x [12x]

Crew:

Owners:

Robert Wadelle [Robert R. Waddie] and Hugh Breen

Prize master:

Prize crew:

Ordered Into:

Into What Port:

New London, Connecticut

Date Arrived:

5 July 1779

Date Tried:

17 August 1779

Date Sold:

18 August 1779

Action:

No

Recaptured:

No

Comments: The 50-ton British Privateer Schooner Sheelah [Sheelar, Shelah] (Henry McKibbin), an eight or twelve gun vessel out of New York. Sheelah was owned by Robert Wadelle [Robert R. Waddie] and Hugh Breen. She was cruising about the entrance to New York in June 1779. Off New York, Sheelah captured the sloop Berkley (Benjamin Crane). One Young was sent aboard as prize-master and ordered into New York, to deliver the Americans to the prison ships before going ashore in the port. On 17 June Berkley fell in with the Connecticut Privateer Sloop American Revenue (Commander Samuel Champlin) and was re-captured. She was sent into New London and arrived there on 18 June. Apparently the Sheelah was captured at the same time. Sheelah was sent into New London, where she arrived on 5 July 1779. Shelah was libeled on 4 August 1779, with her trial set for 17 August. Sheelar, described as a 50-ton schooner with eight guns, was advertised for sale on 11 August 1779, with the sale to take place on 18 August.

[The Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser [Boston], Thursday, July 1, 1779, datelined New London. June 24, 1779; The Connecticut Gazette and the Universal Intelligencer [New London], Wednesday, August 11, 1779; The Boston Gazette, and Country Journal, Monday, April 19, 1779: a list of privateers fitted out at New York; The Connecticut Gazette and the Universal Intelligencer [New London], Wednesday, August 4, 1779; Middlebrook, Maritime Connecticut During The Revolution, II, 51-53]