Name of Vessel:

Two Betseys

Master of Vessel:

Matthew Boosen

Rig of Vessel:

Brig

Date of Capture:

5 June 1777

Place of Capture:

12 miles south of the Seal Islands, Nova Scotia [Off Cape Sable]

Captor:

HM Frigate Mermaid

Home Port:

From What Port:

Gibralter

To What Port:

London, England

Cargo:

Nuts, wine

Tonnage:

Battery:

Crew:

Owners:

Prize master:

Prize crew:

Ordered Into:

Halifax, Nova Scotia

Into What Port:

Halifax, Nova Scotia

Date Arrived:

Date Tried:

Date Sold:

Action:

No

Recaptured:

No

Comments: The brig Two Betseys was bound from Gibralter to London, England with a cargo of nuts and wine. She was captured by the Massachusetts Navy Brigantine Freedom (Captain John Clouston) on 23 April 1777. Two Betseys was sent off to America on 26 April, under Master John Proctor as prize master. She was re-captured by HM Frigate Mermaid on 5 June 1777 at 0600, twelve miles south of the Seal Islands, Nova Scotia. The prize crew was removed and Two Betseys was sent into Halifax, Nova Scotia, where she safely arrived.

[NDAR, VIII, 793 and note, 863 and note; IX, 20 and note, 255; “The following is a List of Vessels seized as Prizes, and of Recaptures made, by the American Squadron, between the 27^th of May and 24^th of October, 1777, according to the Returns received by Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Howe,” in The London Chronicle, Tuesday, December 2, to Saturday, December 6, 1777]