Name of Vessel:

Betsey

Master of Vessel:

Thomas Jerrold

Rig of Vessel:

Ship

Date of Capture:

2 November 1776

Place of Capture:

120 miles east of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland

Captor:

Massachusetts Privateer Brigantine Washington

Home Port:

From What Port:

Cowes, Isle of Wight, England

To What Port:

Halifax, Nova Scotia

Cargo:

Provisions

Tonnage:

Battery:

Crew:

8 [partial]

Owners:

Prize master:

Prize crew:

11 [total]

Ordered Into:

Cape Ann, Massachusetts

Into What Port:

Halifax, Nova Scotia

Date Arrived:

Date Tried:

Date Sold:

Action:

No

Recaptured:

Yes

Comments: Massachusetts Privateer Brigantine Washington (Commander Elias Smith) was at sea in November 1776. Her first prize was ship Betsey (Thomas Jarrold), captured on 2 November 1776, 120 miles east of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. She was a British victualler transport, en route from Cowes on the Isle of Wight, to Halifax, Nova Scotia, with a cargo of provisions for the soldiers at Halifax on board. A prize crew of eleven men was put aboard Betsey, and the master and five men removed as prisoners. At least two men were left aboard of the original crew. The prize master was ordered off to Cape Ann, Massachusetts, but she never arrived. On 17 November, HM Frigate Ambuscade saw her, early in the morning, and gave chase. Betsey's prize crew had little relish for a British prison and it took nine shots before she hove to (about 1000) six miles SSW of Cape Sable, Nova Scotia. The British took her in to Halifax, where she was libeled on 21 November and tried and condemned on 11 December 1776. At least two members of her original crew gave depositions in the Admiralty Court. The British sailors aboard the recaptured Betsey reported Washington was armed with twelve guns and several swivel guns. The British newspapers were reporting her loss on 17 December 1776.

[NDAR, VII, 190 and note, 443-444 and 444 note, 794; Dow, George Francis, “Records of the Vice Admiralty Court at Nova Scotia,” in The Essex Institute Historical Collections, vol XLV, The Essex Institute, Salem, 1909, 41. [Dow gives Hope as the captor]; AVCR, 13]

Posted 10 August 2011

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