Name of Vessel:

Hornett [Hornet]

Master of Vessel:

Rig of Vessel:

Sloop

Date of Capture:

[May] 1777

Place of Capture:

New Providence, Bahama Islands

Captor:

HM Schooner Tender Comet [Aeolus]

Home Port:

From What Port:

To What Port:

Cargo:

Salt, rum

Tonnage:

Battery:

Crew:

Owners:

Prize master:

Prize crew:

Ordered Into:

Jamaica, British West Indies

Into What Port:

Jamaica, British West Indies

Date Arrived:

[June] 1777

Date Tried:

Date Sold:

Action:

No

Recaptured:

No

Comments: Sloop Hornett, possibly French owned, was forced into New Providence Harbor in the Bahama Islands, in distress about May 1777. She had a cargo of salt and rum. Hornett may have been the “French sloop” captured there by HM Schooner Tender Comet, which may have belonged to HM Frigate Æolus (Captain Christopher Atkins). Two other prizes were also detained by the Comet at New Providence. When intelligence of these captures reached the Americans, two South Carolina privateers, Vixen and Swift, attempted to capture the Comet and free the prizes in a raid on 1 June 1777. The Americans were driven off when Æolus appeared in the offing. On 17 June the tender sailed for Jamaica, British West Indies, with the prizes. Hornett was subsequently tried and condemned at Jamaica.

[NDAR, IX, 146 and notes, 159-161, 193-195; XI, 448-453]