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American Prizes October 1776 |
Name of Vessel:
Alfred
Master of Vessel:
Thomas Callender
Rig of Vessel:
Ship
Date of Capture:
October 1776
Place of Capture:
Captor:
Massachusetts Privateer Brigantine Retaliation
Home Port:
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
From What Port:
Jamaica, British West Indies
To What Port:
Cargo:
Sugar, rum, fustick, mahogany
Tonnage:
170, 270
Battery:
Crew:
Owners:
Prize master:
Prize crew:
Ordered Into:
Beverly, Massachusetts
Into What Port:
Beverly, Massachusetts
Date Arrived:
October-November 1776
Date Tried:
22 November 1776
Date Sold:
27 November 1776
Action:
No
Recaptured:
No
Comments: Massachusetts Privateer Brigantine Brigantine Retaliation (Commander Eleazer Giles) was at sea in late September 1776. At some time in October 1776 she captured the 170-ton ship Alfred (Thomas Callender), which also arrived in port in early November. By November 1776 Alfred had arrived at Beverly. She was also brought around to Boston and libeled on 4 November. Although Alfred was bound from Jamaica there was some difficulty with her capture. Although she was reportedly being fitted out at Beverly as a twenty gun privateer on 27 November, and a prisoner from her crew was listed at Salem on 11 December 1776, she was apparently not condemned. Nevertheless, she was advertised for sale on 21 November, along with her cargo of sugar, rum, fustick, and mahogany. In the advertisement she is described as a 270-ton ship. The auction was set for 27 November. In April 1777, when he was searching for Continental cruisers to purchase, Agent William Bradford considered her, but he had heard she was owned in Philadelphia and was “like to be clear’d,” and her owners were not likely to sell.
[NDAR, VI, 1442; VII, 299-300, 560-561, 809-810; VIII, 358-359, 398-399; The Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser [Boston], Thursday, November 21, 1776; The Boston Gazette, and Country Journal, Monday, November 4, 1776]
| Posted 17 August 2011 |
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