Oliver Cromwell
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Oliver Cromwell Sloop-of-War (1) Commander William Coles Massachusetts Privateer 29 April 1777- Brigantine/Ship (2) []Master Robert Richardson [][]April 1778- June 1778 (3) Commander Thomas Simmons 10 July 1778- (4) Commander James Barr 11 August 1779- (5) Commander John Bray 13 April 1781-7 July 1781 Commissioned/First Date: 29 April 1777 Out of Service/Cause: 7 July 1781/captured by HM Frigate Maidstone Owners: (1) John Derby, George Dodge, Jr. & Co. of Salem, Massachusetts and George, John and Andrew Cabot, Joseph Lee, and others of Beverly, Massachusetts; (2) Jonathan Ingersoll et al of Salem, Massachusetts; (3) John Derby et al of Salem, Massachusetts; (4) Bartholomew Putnam of Salem, Massachusetts Tonnage: 150, 160, 162, 200 Battery: Date Reported: 29 April 1777 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 16/6-pounder 96 pounds 48 pounds Total: 16 cannon/96 pounds Broadside: 8 cannon/48 pounds Swivels: Date Reported: 6 August 1777 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 16/ Total: 16 cannon/ Broadside: 8 cannon/ Swivels: Comment on this or any page at our ©awiatsea.com-posted September 2020 --1-- Date Reported: 17 August 1777 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 16/ Total: 16 cannon/ Broadside: 8 cannon/ Swivels: Date Reported: 23 September 1777 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 19/6-pounder 114 pounds 54 pounds Total: 19 cannon/114 pounds Broadside: 9 cannon/54 pounds Swivels: Date Reported: 2 October 1777 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 16/6-pounder 96 pounds 48 pounds Total: 16 cannon/96 pounds Broadside: 8 cannon/48 pounds Swivels: Date Reported: []25 October 1777 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 16/ Total: 16 cannon/ Broadside: 8 cannon/ Swivels: Date Reported: 10 July 1778 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 16/ Total: 16 cannon/ Broadside: 8 cannon/ Swivels: Date Reported: 29 March 1779 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 16/6-pounder 96 pounds 48 pounds Total: 16 cannon/96 pounds Broadside: 8 cannon/48 pounds Swivels: Date Reported: 11 August 1779 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 18/ Comment on this or any page at our ©awiatsea.com-posted September 2020 --2-- Total: 18 cannon/ Broadside: 9 cannon/ Swivels: Date Reported: February 1780 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 14/ Total: 14 cannon/ Broadside: 7 cannon/ Swivels: Date Reported: 13 April 1781 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 16/ Total: 16 cannon/ Broadside: 8 cannon/ Swivels: Crew: (1) 29 April 1777: 130 []total (2) 23 September 1777: 170 []total (3) 2 October 1777: 100 []total (4) [][]25 October 1777: 90 total (5) 10 July 1778: 101 []total (6) 29 March 1779: 111 []total (7) 11 August 1779: 111 []total (8) 3 February 1780: 30 []total (9) 10 July 1780: 21 []total (10) 13 April 1781: 85 []total Description: Officers: (1) First Lieutenant William Russell, 29 April 1777-; (2) First Lieutenant James Barr, 8 July 1778-; (3) First Lieutenant I. Carpenter, 11 August 1779-; (4) First Mate []Lieutenant Hugh Helme, 6 June 1780-; (5) First Lieutenant Thomas Brown, 18 April 1781-; (6) Second Lieutenant John Colyer, 29 April 1777-; (7) Second Lieutenant Samuel West, 11 August 1779-; (8) Second Mate []Lieutenant William Ropes, 6 June 1780-; (9) Master Robert Richardson, 29 April 1777-; (10) [ Prize Master] Gray, 29 April 1777-; (11) Second Mate Bri mblecum, 29 April 1777-; (12) [][Prize Master D. Moore] ; (13) [ Prize Master] [ John Leach] , September 1777- Cruises: (1) Boston, Massachusetts to Bilboa, Spain, []20 July 1777- []20 August 1777 Comment on this or any page at our ©awiatsea.com-posted September 2020 --3-- (3) Bilboa, Spain to [ Sale m, Massachusetts][] , 1 October 1777-[] December 1777 (4) Salem, Massachusetts to Salem, Massachusetts, []1 September 1779-30 September 1779 (5) Salem, Massachusetts to the West Indies and return, February 1780- (6) Salem, Massachusetts to the West Indies and return, June 1780- (7) Salem, Massachusetts to sea, -7 July 1781 Prizes: (1) Brigantine Lovely Nancy (John McCarthy), [ July- August] 1777 (2) Brig Rhoda (William Butcher), []July-August 1777 (3) Brigantine William and Mary (Platt), 29 July 1777 (4) Sloop Three Brothers (Mathew Malone), 31 July 1777 (5) Brig []unknown , 6 August 1777 (6) Brig Queen of Portugal (Tibby), 6 August 1777 (7) Sloop []unknown , 13 August 1777 (8) []Brig Douglas (M’Gill), off the Spanish coast, 16 August 1777 (9) Brig Little Betsey (Thomas Freeman), 16 August 1777 (10) Brig Ville de Bayonne (Pierre Regnier), 16 August 1777 (11) Snow Eastley (William Anstric), 2 October 1777, 75 miles off Oporto, Portugal (12) Brig [ Bri gantine] Lark (William Kentisbear [ Kentishvere; Canterbury] ), 5 October 1777, off the coast of Portugal (13) Brigantine Endeavour (Robert Hogge ll), []15 October 1777 Comment on this or any page at our ©awiatsea.com-posted September 2020 --4-- (14) Sloop Fly (William Burden), [ 25 October] 1777, off Santa Cruz, Funchal, Madeira Islands (15) Schooner Friendship (Edward Tcole), []August 1778 (16) Brig Little Peggy (Brown), []September 1778 (17) Brigantine Seaflower (Jacob Bartlett), []September 1778 (18) Sloop Ann and Maria (Patrick McEieue), []September 1778 (19) Brigantine Julius Caesar (Samuel Sparrow), []September 1778 Actions: (1) Action with Sally and Rawlinson , 6 August 1777 (2) Action with Fly , []25 October 1777 Comments: Massachusetts Privateer Brigantine Oliver Cromwell was commissioned on 29 April 1777 under Commander William Coles (or Cole) of Beverly, Massachusetts. Oliver Cromwell was said to be armed with sixteen 6-pounders and to have a crew of 130 men. 1 She was said to measure 162 tons. 2 Her $10000 Continental bond was signed by Coles and by George Dodge, Jr. and John Buffington, both of Salem. 3 Oliver Cromwell ’s listed owners were John Derby, George Dodge, Jr. & Co., of Salem, Massachusetts. 4 George, John and Andrew Cabot, Joseph Lee, and others were also listed among her owners. 5 William Russell served aboard as First Lieutenant, John Colyer as Second Lieutenant, and Robert Richardson as Master. She was intended to sail with the fleet being prepared under the command of Captain John Manley of the Continental Navy. 6 She did not sail with Manley’s fleet however. 1 Claghorn, Naval Officers of the American Revolution , 66; NDAR, 8: 463 and note; 10:“Libels Filed in the Massachusetts Maritime Court of the Middle District,” 354-355 and 355 note; Allen, Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution , 230 2 Howe, Beverly Privateers , 342 3 Allen, Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution , 230 4 McManemin, Captains of the Privateers, 149 ; NDAR, “Petition of George Dodge, Jr. To the Massachusetts Council,” 8: 463 5 Howe, Beverly Privateers , 342 6 NDAR, “Petition of George Dodge, Jr. To the Massachusetts Council,” 8: 463 Comment on this or any page at our ©awiatsea.com-posted September 2020 --5-- Oliver Cromwell sailed about 20 July 1777. 7 Two prizes had gotten into Maine ports, probably Falmouth on Casco Bay, in late July or early August 1777, both captured by the Oliver Cromwell : a brig laden with wine, salt and dry goods; and a brig with a cargo of rum. 8 One of these may have been the brigantine Rhoda (William Butcher), 120 tons, which was libeled on 9 October 1777, and tried on 30 October 1777. 9 The other was probably the 100-ton brigantine Lovely Nancy (John McCarthy), which was libeled on 29 August 1777 and tried in the Maritime Court of the Middle District on 16 September 1777. 10 A sailor aboard the Oliver Cromwell kept a journal of the cruise. He records that, on 29 July the Oliver Cromwell encountered a British vessel, with a cargo of fruit. She was bound to America but was in distress. The unknown journalist said that the next day was “Fair, raw, cold, wind rough and sea. Sent our boat aboard the prize. Took out Mr. Dyer and one of the band [ sic: hands] and sent Mr. French to take command and carry her to Bilbao.”11 Another extract from the journal records the prize master as one Trash, who was put aboard with orders to take her to Bilbao, Spain and report to Gardoqui & Sons. They were to sell the fruit (if it was too much damaged) and then forward the vessel with a crew to Salem. 12 This was possibly the 150-ton brigantine 13 William and Mary 14 (Platt). 15 She arrived in Bilbao, Spain, 16 before being sent off to Boston. 17 D. Moore was probably the prize master for the voyage home. 18 William and Mary safely arrived in Massachusetts, and was libeled on Christmas Day, with her trial set for 13 January 1778. 19 The next day (31 July), at 0400, Oliver Cromwell took another prize. This was apparently the 7 NDAR, “Extract of a letter from Bilbao, Sept. 17,” 9: 647 and note 8 NDAR, “The Freeman’s Journal , Saturday, August 9, 1777,” 9: 707 9 NDAR, “Libels Filed in the Massachusetts Maritime Court of the Middle District,” 10: 90 and notes 10 The Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser []Boston , Friday, August 29, 1777 11 Howe, Beverly Privateers , 342 12 McManemin, Captains of the Privateers , 149 13 NDAR, “Libels Filed in the Massachusetts Maritime Court of the Middle District,” 10: 804-805 14 NDAR, “Public Advertiser , Wednesday, September 3, 1777,” 9: 623 and note; “Libels Filed in the Massachusetts Maritime Court of the Middle District,” 10: 804-805 15 NDAR, “Public Advertiser , Wednesday, September 3, 1777,” 9: 623 and note 16 NDAR, “Extract of a letter from Bilboa, Sept. 17,” 9: 647 17 NDAR, “Libels Filed in the Massachusetts Maritime Court of the Middle District,” 10: 804-805 18 NDAR, 10: index, 1348 19 NDAR, “Libels Filed in the Massachusetts Maritime Court of the Middle District,” 10: 804-805 Comment on this or any page at our ©awiatsea.com-posted September 2020 --6-- 60 20 or 70-ton sloop Three Brothers 21 (or Three Sisters )22 (Mathew 23 Malone) 24 was en route from Cork to Lisbon 25 with a cargo of butter and “Sheeps Guts.”26 One Horton was sent aboard as prize master, 27 and she was ordered into Bilboa, 28 where she arrived about 15 August 1777.