Name of Vessel:

[unknown]

Master of Vessel:

Rig of Vessel:

Ship

Date of Capture:

25 November 1776

Place of Capture:

Nine miles off Viana do Castelo, Portugal

Captor:

Massachusetts Privateer Brigantine Washington

Home Port:

From What Port:

Barcelona, Spain

To What Port:

Cargo:

Wheat

Tonnage:

Battery:

Crew:

Owners:

Prize master:

Prize crew:

Ordered Into:

Into What Port:

Date Arrived:

Date Tried:

Date Sold:

Action:

No

Recaptured:

No

Comments: Massachusetts Privateer Brigantine Washington (Commander Elias Smith) was at sea in November 1776. On 25 November 1776, she captured a ship, within nine miles of Viana do Castelo, Portugal, with a cargo of wheat, from Barcelona. Her master was removed to the Washington.

[The identity of this ship is unknown. It is possible that it is the same as the snow Friendship. Factors indicating that they might be the same are (1) four captured British skippers were released on a Dutch hoy about 26 November, including the skipper of the Betsey, probably Washington’s first prize. In the newspaper article about this release there is no mention of snow Friendship, but the above ship is mentioned. If the two are not the same, five masters should have been released, not four. (2) the ship had a cargo of wheat (an export of Quebec), but bound from Barcelona. Friendship was bound from Quebec to Barcelona. These kinds of errors are not uncommon in newspapers of the period, however. (3) Shotten, the master of the Friendship, was apparently in France or England early in December, as the newspapers published information concerning his capture, which must have come from him, or someone who had seen him or members of his crew. Against these three factors are some that suggest the Friendship and this ship were different vessels. (1) the unknown ship was captured off the Portuguese coast on 25 November; Friendship was captured off the Spanish coast at an unknown date. (2) Friendship was re-captured and tried in the Halifax Admiralty Court on 14 December 1776. This is an almost insuperable obstacle: the captured snow would have had to cross the North Atlantic, been re-captured, taken into Halifax, libeled, and condemned in nineteen days. The time factor is the one that is convincing. Still more information is needed.]

[NDAR, VII, 794]

Posted 10 August 2011

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