HMS Diligent was a brig the Royal Navy purchased in 1777. The Continental Navy captured her in May 1779 and took her into service as the USS Diligent. She then participated in the disastrous Penobscot Expedition where her crew had to scuttle her in August to prevent her capture.
The Royal Navy commissioned Diligent under Lieutenant Thomas Farnham in August 1777. The Navy then purchased her on 25 October 1777 for £420 4s 0d.[4]
Lieutenant Thomas Walbeoff was appointed in January 1778 to replace Farnham.[4] In May, Walbeoff took commanded of York,[4] which the French captured on 19 July.[5]
Farnham was in command of Diligent on 26 April when at about 4p.m. she fired two shots at a rebel (American) schooner near Matinecoock Point, Long Island, and chased her into a creek that was too shallow for Diligent to enter. After firing another 60 shots, Farnham sent in his boats, but they were unable to retrieve the schooner. Diligent then sailed at 7p.m. and by 9p.m. had anchored at Hempstead, New York.[6]
The next day, Diligent sent two boats in to cut off some rebel whaleboats that had landed at Loyds Neck. Cerberus and Raven also sent in boats. However, an American galley fired on the boats, which withdrew.[7]
On 6 May Farnham sent his boats to intercept an American boat. The British boats returned after they had destroyed the American boat, whose crew had escaped on shore.[8]
Ten days later, boats from Diligent, Cerberus, and Falcon, together with an un-named tender, cut out a brig from Newfield Harbour.[9]
In February 1779, Diligent was under the command of Lieutenant (eventually Admiral) Thomas Macnamara Russell when she captured four small vessels:[11]
Brig Lady Washington, of 150 tons, six guns, and 22 men. Her owners were Norton & Co. of Baltimore, and she had been sailing from Lorient to Baltimore with a cargo of tea and other India goods when Diligent stopped her at sea on 11 February and sent her into New York.[12]
Schooner Dolphin, of 60 tons, two guns, and eight men. Dolphin, of Baltimore, had been sailing from Curacoa to Baltimore with a cargo of gin and dry goods when Diligent stopped her at sea on 20 February and sent her into New York.[12]
Schooner Polly, of 60 tons and six men. Her owner was D. Rogers of Newbury, and she was sailing from Williamsburg to Boston with flour and tobacco when Diligent stopped her at sea on 20 February and sent her into New York.[12]
Sloop Ranger, of 15 tons and six men. Her owner was John Donaldson of Philadelphia. She was sailing from Delaware to Eustatia with a cargo of tobacco when Diligent captured her at sea on 25 February and sent her into New York.[12]
These captures took place during a cruise off Chesapeake Bay. Russell stated that Lady Washington was armed with 16 guns and that she fought until Diligent; closed and prepared to board, at which point Lady Washington surrendered. Her crew consisted of Americans and French. Lady Washington was sold for £26,000, of which, as captain, Russell was entitled to two-eighths in prize money.[13]
Some time thereafter, Diligent chased two large enemy brigs of 18 guns each that were escorting a convoy. The two brigs passed Diligent on different tacks, and under English colours. One, which stated that she was the Rose-in-June, Captain Duncan, fired a broadside into Diligent, at which point the other brig also fired a broadside. Both then sailed off. Diligent followed, but lost them in the night. She was able, however, to capture one of the vessels in the convoy that was carrying flour and tobacco. In all, in five weeks Diligent and Russell captured eight ships, inclusive of the four listed above.[13]
Lieutenant Thomas Wabeoff assumed command of Diligent in April 1779,[14] and she was under his command and cruising off the coast of Delaware in May 1779, looking for American privateers. She had captured one American vessel when at daybreak on 7 May Walbeoff sighted a strange sail. He sailed towards the vessel, which turned out to be the Continental Navy's sloop Providence.[15]
The three-hour engagement began with a broadside and volley of small arms fire from Providence. Eventually, Walbeoff struck. Diligent had lost 11 men dead and 19 wounded;[15]Providence had four killed and 10 wounded.[3] The subsequent court martial acquitted Walbeoff, his officers, and men of the loss of Diligent, and praised Walbeoff's conduct.[15]
USS Diligent
The Continental Navy took Diligent into service, commissioning her under the command of Lieutenant Phillip Brown. Diligent cruised with Providence for a short time.
Diligent and Providence then were assigned to Commodore Dudley Saltonstall’s squadron, which departed Boston on 19 July and entered Penobscot Bay on 25 July. The Americans successfully landed an armed force that attempted to recapture Castine, Maine. The initial British force consisted only of some troops and three sloops. However, an overpowering British squadron arrived and the American effort failed completely.
USS Providence was a sloop-of-war in the Continental Navy, originally chartered by the Rhode Island General Assembly as Katy. The ship took part in a number of campaigns during the first half of the American Revolutionary War before being destroyed by her own crew in 1779 to prevent her falling into the hands of the British after the failed Penobscot Expedition.
HMS Pickle was a topsail schooner of the Royal Navy. She was originally a civilian vessel named Sting, of six guns, that Lord Hugh Seymour purchased to use as a tender on the Jamaica station. Pickle was at the Battle of Trafalgar, and though she was too small to take part in the fighting, Pickle was the first ship to bring the news of Nelson's victory to Great Britain. She also participated in a notable single-ship action when she captured the French privateer Favorite in 1807. Pickle was wrecked in 1808, but without loss of life.
HMS Lively was a 20-gun post ship of the Royal Navy, launched in 1756. During the Seven Years' War she captured several vessels, most notably the French corvette Valeur in 1760. She then served during the American Revolutionary War, where she helped initiate the Battle of Bunker Hill. The French captured her in 1778, but the British recaptured her in 1781. She was sold in 1784.
HMS Reindeer was a Royal Navy 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, built by Samuel & Daniel Brent at Rotherhithe and was launched in 1804. She was built of fir, which made for more rapid construction at the expense of durability. Reindeer fought in the Napoleonic Wars before succumbing in 1814 to the guns of USS Wasp during the War of 1812.
HMS Lowestoffe was a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Built during the latter part of the Seven Years' War, she went on to see action in the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary War, and served often in the Caribbean. A young Horatio Nelson served aboard her shortly after passing his lieutenant's examination.
HMS Camilla was a Royal Navy 20-gun Sphinx-class post ship. Camilla was built in Chatham Dockyard to a design by John Williams and was launched in 1776. She served in the American Revolution, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars, before being sold in 1831.
HMS Pike was a Royal Navy Ballahoo-class schooner of four 12-pounder carronades and a crew of 20. The prime contractor for the vessel was Goodrich & Co., in Bermuda, and she was launched in 1804. She captured one 10-gun enemy vessel before being herself captured, and recaptured.
HMS Haddock was a Royal Navy schooner of four 12-pounder carronades and a crew of 20. The prime contractor for the vessel was Goodrich & Co., in Bermuda, and she was launched in 1805.
On Thursday 21st inst launched off the stocks at Mr Isaac Skinner's shipyard his Majesty's Schooner "Haddock". The above schooner is said to be the completest vessel ever built in Bermuda
HMS Whiting was a Royal Navy Ballahoo-class schooner of four 12-pounder carronades and a crew of 20. The prime contractor for the vessel was Goodrich & Co., in Bermuda, and she was launched in 1805. She was a participant at the Battle of Basque Roads. A French privateer captured her at the beginning of the War of 1812, shortly after the Americans had captured and released her in the first naval incident of the war.
HMS Comus was a 22-gun Laurel-class sixth-rate post ship of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1806. In 1807 she took part in one notable single-ship action and was at the capture of Copenhagen. In 1815 she spent six months with the West Africa Squadron suppressing the slave trade during which time she captured ten slavers and freed 500-1,000 slaves. She was wrecked in 1816 with no loss of life.
HMS Colibri was the French naval Curieux-class brig Colibri, launched in 1808, that the British captured in 1809 and took into the Royal Navy under her existing name. She spent her time in British service on the North American station based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. During the War of 1812, Colibri served mostly in blockading the American coast and capturing privateers and merchant ships. She foundered in 1813 in Port Royal Sound, South Carolina, but without loss of life.
HMS Raposa was the Spanish brig Raposa, launched in 1804. A cutting out expedition in 1806 by boats from HMS Franchise in the western Caribbean captured her. The Royal Navy subsequently took her into service under her existing name. Raposa served in the Caribbean, repeatedly recapturing merchant ships that had fallen victim to French privateers. Thirteen months after being captured she ran aground while pursuing enemy ships. When they were unable to refloat Raposa, her crew set fire to her to avoid her capture, destroying her.
HMS Galgo was a Jamaican privateer that the Spanish Navy captured in 1797 and named Galgo Inglés, and that the British captured in November 1799. In her brief career she detained, took, or destroyed a number of small prizes before October 1800, when she foundered, with the loss of most of her crew and passengers.
Mutin was a 14-gun cutter of the French Navy, the lead ship of the Mutin class of five naval cutters. She was launched in 1778 and the Royal Navy captured her the next year, taking her into service as HMS Mutine. The Royal Navy renamed her HMS Pigmy in 1798. She was lost in 1805.
HMS Deux Amis was the French privateer schooner Deux Amis, launched in 1796. The British captured her in December 1796 and the Royal Navy took her into service under her existing name. She made one capture before wrecking in May 1799.
HMS Diligent was the French naval brig Diligent, launched in 1800, that HMS Renard captured in 1806. The Royal Navy took her into service under her existing name, which it later changed, first to Prudente, and then to Wolf. During her two years of active duty with the Royal Navy she captured two small privateers. Wolf was laid up in 1808 and sold in 1811.
Two vessels of the Royal Navy have borne the name, HM galley Pigot. Both were acquired in 1778 during the American Revolutionary War, and both were lost that year; her crew destroyed the first to avoid her capture, and the Americans captured the second. Both were named for General Sir Robert Pigot, the general commanding the British Army at Newport, Rhode Island, during their service there.
HMS Barbuda was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1780 after having briefly served as an American privateer. Barbuda was one of the two sloops that captured Demerara and Essequibo in 1781, but the French Navy captured her there in 1782 and took her into service as Barboude. The French Navy sold her to private owners in 1786, and she served briefly as a privateer in early 1793 before the French Navy purchased her again and named her Légère. She served them until mid-1796 when the Royal Navy captured her and took her into service as HMS Legere. She was wrecked off the coast of Colombia, without loss of life, in February 1801.
The French brig Duc de Chartres was built between 1779 and 1780 at Le Havre as a 24-gun privateer. As a privateer she captured one British warship before in 1781 the Royal Navy captured her. The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Duc de Chartres. She then captured several American privateers and armed merchant vessels, and one French naval corvette in a noteworthy single-ship action. The Navy sold Duc de Chartres in 1784.
HMS Nimrod was a brig-sloop of the British Royal Navy, launched in 1812. She spent her war years in North American waters, where she captured one small privateer, assisted in the capture of another, and captured or destroyed some 50 American vessels. After the war she captured smugglers and assisted the civil authorities in maintaining order in Tyne. She was wrecked in 1827 and so damaged that the Navy decided she was not worth repairing. A private ship-owner purchased Nimrod and repaired her. She then went on to spend some 20 years trading between Britain and Charleston, the Mediterranean, Australia, and India. She was last listed in 1851.
References
Bauer, K. Jack (1970) Ships of the Navy, 1775-1969, Volume I: Combat Vessels. (Troy, New York: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute).
Buker, George E. (2002) The Penobscot Expedition: Commodore Saltonstall and the Massachusetts Conspiracy of 1779. (Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press). ISBN978-1557502124
Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650-1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN0-948864-30-3.
James, William (1817) A Full and Correct Account of the Chief Naval Occurrences of the Late War Between Great Britain and the United States of America: Preceded by a Cursory Examination of the American Accounts of Their Naval Actions Fought Previous to that Period: to which is Added an Appendix; with Plates. (T. Egerton).
Silverstone, Paul H. (2001) The Sailing Navy, 1775-1854. (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press) ISBN1-55750-893-3
Schomberg, Isaac (1802) Naval Chronology, Or an Historical Summary of Naval and Maritime Events from the Time of the Romans, to the Treaty of Peace 1802: With an Appendix, Volume 5. (London: T. Egerton).
Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN978-1844157006.
Naval Documents of The American Revolution (1980). (U.S. Government Printing Office).
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