Name of Vessel:

May

Master of Vessel:

William Taylor

Rig of Vessel:

Brig [Brigantine]

Date of Capture:

21 November 1776

Place of Capture:

3 miles from Sandy Point, St. Christopher’s, British West Indies

Captor:

Maryland Privateer Sloop Baltimore Hero

Home Port:

From What Port:

Dominica, British West Indies

To What Port:

St. Eustatius, Netherlands West Indies

Cargo:

Tonnage:

Battery:

Crew:

Owners:

Bendal and Foster McConnell of Dominica, British West Indies, William Brown of Cork, Ireland, and Benson & Postlewait of Liverpool, England.

Prize master:

Prize crew:

Ordered Into:

St. Eustatius, Netherlands West Indies

Into What Port:

St. Eustatius, Netherlands West Indies

Date Arrived:

21 November 1776

Date Tried:

Date Sold:

Action:

No

Recaptured:

No

Comments: Maryland Privateer Sloop Baltimore Hero (Commander Thomas Waters) sailed down to the West Indies soon after she was commissioned and called at the neutral port of St. Eustatia, Netherlands West Indies. On 21 November 1776, she captured the brig or brigantine May (William Taylor), about three miles from Sandy Point on the island of St. Christopher’s, British West Indies. Other accounts say the capture was in Dutch territorial waters and under the guns of the Dutch fort at St. Eustatius. The capture was seen from St. Christopher’s and witnessed from St. Eustatius by that island’s governor, Johannes de Graaff. The prize was owned by Bendal and Foster McConnell of Dominica, British West Indies, William Brown of Cork, Ireland, and Benson & Postlewait of Liverpool, England. She was en route from Dominica to St. Eustatius when captured. Perhaps sensing the trouble this capture was going to make, Waters seems to have identified himself to the prisoners as Ezekiel John Dorsey. May was brought back into St. Eustatius with Baltimore Hero flying the American colors. Baltimore Hero was at St. Eustatius on 1 December 1776, where members of her crew were ashore, bragging about their capture of the “Irish brig” just offshore. This action brought a strong protest from Vice Admiral James Young, commander of the Royal Navy's Leeward Islands Station. On 17 December 1776 Governor Craister Greathead of St. Christopher’s lodged another strong protest with Governor Johannes de Graaft of St. Eustatius. On 19 December the Governor of St. Eustatius ordered an investigation into Waters’ activities, which, despite being essentially a cover up, brought some embarrassment to the Dutch.

[NDAR, “Deposition of Mathew Murray,” VII, 427 and note;  “Vice Admiral James Young to Governor Johannes de Graaff,” VII, 486-487 and 487 note; “Governor Craister Greathead to Governor Johannes de Graaff,” VII, 507-509; “Governor Johannes de Graaff to Vice Admiral James Young,” VII, 524-525; “Purdie’s Virginia Gazette, Friday, December 27, 1776,” VII, 616-617; “Governor Craister Greathead to Lord George Germain,” VII, 673; “Deposition of Foster McConnell,” VII, 917-919; “The General Advertiser, Liverpool, Friday, April 11, 1777,” VIII, 743-744]

Posted 10 August 2011

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