Name of Vessel:

Aurora

Master of Vessel:

Commander Samuel Gerrish

Rig of Vessel:

Brigantine

Date of Capture:

14 June 1780

Place of Capture:

Captor:

HM Frigate Cerberus

Home Port:

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

From What Port:

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

To What Port:

Cargo:

Tonnage:

Battery:

8

Crew:

16

Owners:

Prize master:

Prize crew:

Ordered Into:

Into What Port:

Date Arrived:

Date Tried:

Date Sold:

Action:

No

Recaptured:

No

Comments: New Hampshire Privateer Brigantine Aurora (Commander Samuel Gerrish) sailed from Portsmouth, New Hampshire about the early part of June 1780, probably bound for Europe. On 14 June 1780 Aurora was captured by HM Frigate Cerberus. Gerrish was confined in Mill Prison near Plymouth, England, but escaped on 28 December 1780.

[Claghorn, Naval Officers of the American Revolution, 120; Kaminkow, 220; HCA 32/274/2/1-29; The Pennsylvania Packet or the General Advertiser [Philadelphia], 23 May 1782]