Name of Vessel:

[unknown]

Master of Vessel:

Peter Collas

Rig of Vessel:

Brig

Date of Capture:

14 February 1778

Place of Capture:

Off Belle-Île, France

Captor:

British Privateer Schooner Active

Home Port:

From What Port:

Boston, Massachusetts

To What Port:

Bordeaux, France

Cargo:

Tonnage:

Battery:

Crew:

Owners:

Prize master:

Prize crew:

Ordered Into:

Guernsey, Channel Isles

Into What Port:

Guernsey, Channel Isles

Date Arrived:

Date Tried:

Date Sold:

Action:

No

Recaptured:

No

Comments: This unknown brig (or ship), commanded by Peter Collas, sailed from Boston, Massachusetts on 14 January 1778, bound for France. Collas carried a packet of letters for the American Commissioners in France, as well as several private letters. On 14 February 1778 he was off Belle-Île, France, and had taken a French pilot for Bordeaux, France aboard. Although Collas had taken the precaution of avoiding all vessels sighted, a small schooner was seen near Belle-Île. The French pilot assured Collas that the schooner was an American privateer, stating he had been aboard her a few days before. The privateer was the British Privateer Schooner Active (Peter Agnew). She approached and soon captured Collas’s brig, as well as his dispatches. She was taken into Guernsey, Channel Isles. Collas, after being guarded for eight days, was sent off to Plymouth. From there, on 22 March 1778, he informed Jonathan Williams of the loss.

[NDAR, 1060, 1112-1113 and 113 note]