Name of Vessel:

Mars

Master of Vessel:

Benjamin Tatem

Rig of Vessel:

Schooner

Date of Capture:

[1] April 1777

Place of Capture:

Off Antigua, British West Indies

Captor:

British Privateer Schooner Surprize

Home Port:

From What Port:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

To What Port:

St. Croix, Danish West Indies

Cargo:

Flour, bread

Tonnage:

Battery:

4x4, 2x2

Crew:

Owners:

Prize master:

Prize crew:

Ordered Into:

Antigua, British West Indies

Into What Port:

Antigua, British West Indies

Date Arrived:

3 April 1777

Date Tried:

8 May 1777

Date Sold:

Action:

Yes

Recaptured:

No

Comments: The schooner Mars (Benjamin Tatem) was bound from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to St. Croix in the Danish West Indies with a cargo of flour and bread. Mars was armed with four 4-pounders, two 2-pounders, six wooden guns, and various small arms. About 1 April 1777 Mars was to windward of Antigua, in the British West Indies, where she met the un-commissioned British Privateer Schooner Surprize (James Morris [Morres]). Surprize, armed only with swivels, engaged the Mars in a nine hour fight before Tatem surrendered. Mars was taken in to St. John’s, Antigua, British West Indies, where she arrived on 3 April. She was condemned on 8 May 1777. Mars sold for £2361.14.9.

[NDAR, XI, 124-130; The New-York Gazette; and the Weekly Mercury, Friday, June 6, 1777, datelined St. John’s, April 5]