Name of Vessel:

Le St. Guillaume

Master of Vessel:

Pierre Davide [Peter Davids]

Rig of Vessel:

Sloop

Date of Capture:

23 January 1777

Place of Capture:

Off Roseau, Dominica, British West Indies

Captor:

HM Brig Pelican

Home Port:

Saint Domingue, French West Indies

From What Port:

St. Eustatius, Netherlands West Indies

To What Port:

Martinique, French West Indies

Cargo:

Guns, military stores, provisions

Tonnage:

100

Battery:

Crew:

24 [total]

Owners:

Prize master:

Prize crew:

Ordered Into:

Roseau, Dominica

Into What Port:

Roseau, Dominica

Date Arrived:

Date Tried:

Date Sold:

Action:

No

Recaptured:

No

Comments: The 100-ton sloop Le St. Guillaume (Pierre Davide [Peter Davids]) sailed from St. Eustatius, Netherlands West Indies on 17 January 1777, bound for Martinique in the French West Indies with a cargo of guns, military stores and provisions. The guns were concealed in the ballast. Le St. Guillaume was supposedly owned in Saint-Domingue, French West Indies. Off Roseau, Dominica, Le St. Guillaume  was stopped and searched by HM Brig Pelican (Lieutenant J. P. Ardesoif) on suspicion that she was the sloop Seaflower, owned by Henry Jennings of St. Eustatius, and was on her way to Martinique to be fitted out as an American privateer. A strict search found thirteen cannon concealed in the ballast, 830 rounds of shot, and forty-eight small arms. Examination of the crew led to the discovery that the master had instructed them to say that they had all enlisted at Saint Domingue, although most had shipped at St. Eustatius. Le St. Guillaume was seized and sent into Roseau for trial.

[NDAR, VII, 1030-1031, 1088-1090, 1138-1140]