Name of Vessel:

Sir William Erskine

Master of Vessel:

John Montgomery

Rig of Vessel:

Ship

Date of Capture:

1 October 1777

Place of Capture:

129 miles southwest of Mount Desert Isle, Massachusetts [Maine] [42°10'N]

Captor:

HM Frigate Ambuscade

Home Port:

Glasgow, Scotlant

From What Port:

Greenock or Glasgow, Scotland

To What Port:

New York, New York

Cargo:

Dry goods

Tonnage:

200

Battery:

Crew:

20 [prize crew]

Owners:

Wilson & Co. of Glasgow, Scotland

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: Perhaps in September 1777 Massachusetts Privateer Brigantine Sturdy Beggar (Commander Heman Doane) captured the 200-ton ship Sir William Erskine (John Montgomery), bound from Greenock or Glasgow, Scotland to New York, New York with bales of dry goods. She was owned by Wilson & Co. of Glasgow. A large prize crew of twenty men was put aboard and the prize was dispatched for a Massachusetts port. On 30 September 1777, she was sighted 129 miles southwest of Mount Desert Isle, Massachusetts [Maine] by HM Frigate Ambuscade (Captain John Macartney), away in the southwest. Ambuscade made the position as 42°10'N. The chase began at 0600. By 1600 Ambuscade was six or eight miles from Sir William Erskine. At 1030 McCartney went to quarters and cleared the frigate for action, but there was no fight. At 0030 1 October 1777 the Americans hove to and a boarding officer went over to the prize. The prize was taken in tow and kept in company for a while. She was sent into Halifax, Nova Scotia.

[NDAR, X, 6 and notes [the editors indicate the captor to be either Massachusetts Privateer Schooner Sturdy Beggar (Commander Edward Rolland) or Massachusetts Privateer Brigantine Sturdy Beggar (Commander Heman Doane), but the latter seems more likely]; XI, 184-185]