Name of Vessel:

America

Master of Vessel:

Robert Campbell

Rig of Vessel:

Sloop

Date of Capture:

24 November 1775

Place of Capture:

35°N, 70°W, some 370 miles southeast of Sandy Hook, New Jersey

Captor:

HM Sloop Viper

Home Port:

New York, New York

From What Port:

St. Croix, Danish West Indies

To What Port:

New York, New York

Cargo:

Sugar

Tonnage:

Battery:

Crew:

Owners:

Prize master:

Two officers

Prize crew:

6 [total]

Ordered Into:

St. John’s, Antigua, British West Indies

Into What Port:

St. John’s, Antigua, British West Indies

Date Arrived:

Date Tried:

12 March 1776

Date Sold:

Action:

No

Recaptured:

No

Comments: Sloop America (Robert Campbell), owned in New York, New York, was bound from St. Croix, Danish West Indies to New York with a cargo of sugar. On 24 November 1775, at 35°N, 70°W, some 370 miles southeast of Sandy Hook, New Jersey, at 1000, she was captured by HM Sloop Viper (Commander Samuel Graves) after a short chase. Graves sent two officers and four men aboard and ordered her in to Boston, Massachusetts, but the stress of weather forced her to bear away for Antigua. She arrived at St. John’s, Antigua. Her capture was known in Pennsylvania by 15 January 1776 and in North Carolina by 29 March 1776. She was tried and condemned on 12 March 1776.

[NDAR, II, 1118 and note; III, 807-808 and 808 note; IV, 570-572, 1375-1377; XI, 124-130]