Name of Vessel:

Alligator

Master of Vessel:

Rig of Vessel:

Date of Capture:

2 January 1778

Place of Capture:

Captor:

British prisoners

Home Port:

From What Port:

To What Port:

Cargo:

Tonnage:

Battery:

16x

Crew:

Owners:

Prize master:

Prize crew:

Ordered Into:

Bay of Funchal, Madeira Islands, Portugal

Into What Port:

Bay of Funchal, Madeira Islands, Portugal

Date Arrived:

Date Tried:

Date Sold:

Action:

Yes

Recaptured:

No

Comments: The otherwise unknown American privateer Alligator, whose rig and skipper are also unknown, was operating in the area off the Guinea coast of Africa about December 1777. On 29 December 1777 Alligator captured the snow Hibernia (Wilson), bound from the Cape Verde Islands, Portugal to Cork.

The English prisoners aboard discovered that several of the crew members of the Alligator were English or Irish. A plot to seize the privateer was hatched and the uprising took place on the night of 2 January 1778, at the changing of the watch. Although the British soon got control of the deck, the American lieutenant barricaded himself in the cabin, along with several others. The fight lasted several hours before the lieutenant surrendered, with seven Americans dead. The British lost five killed, including Wilson and one Lucas, who owned part of Hibernia’s cargo. The prize was taken into the Bay of Funchal, Madeira Islands.

[NDAR, XI. 1035]