French service: 16 × 12-pounder + 4 x 6-pounder guns[7]
Mohawk (or Mohawke) was a ship launched at Beverly, Massachusetts in 1781. She became a privateer, making two voyages. In 1782 the Royal Navy captured her and briefly took her into service under her existing name before selling her in 1783. She then became a merchantman until some investors in Bristol bought her in 1796 and turned her into a privateer again. In 1799 she became a letter of marque, but the French Navy captured her in 1801. She then served in the French Navy, capturing a British privateer in 1805, and was sold in 1814.
William Leach, William Bartlett, and other merchants of Beverly, Massachusetts, applied for a commission for Elias Smith as commander of the ship Mohawk, which they received on 8 November 1781. Mohawk was a new ship, built especially for privateering.[3]
On her first cruise Mohawk sent three prizes into Martinique.[3]Lloyd's List of 7 June 1782 reported that in the latitude of Barbados, Mohawk had captured the Adventure, Ingram or Bodkin, master, which had been sailing from Quebec to the West Indies. Mohawk took Adventure into Martinique. Adventure's captain and boatswain arrived at Barbados in a cartel on 19 April.[8]Mohawk also sent one prize, the ship Daniel, formerly the Salem Packet, into Beverly.[3]Mohawk had captured Daniel, Benjamin Bickford, master, as she was homeward bound from Bilboa.[9]
Captain John Carnes, of Beverly, replaced Smith. He sailed on 6 September 1782, but the cruise was short-lived.[3] On 5 October 1782, HMSEnterprise, Captain John Payne, captured Mohawk off Cape Ann. Mohawk was armed with 20 guns and had 106 or 108 men aboard. Enterprise landed her prisoners at Sandy Hook on 13 October. Two days later, Captain John Payne of Enterprise libeled Mohawk in the Vice-Admiralty Court at New York.[4]
HMS Mohawk
The Royal Navy purchased Mohawk immediately after her capture, and in November had her hull coppered at Antigua. A draught of Mohawk's lines shows her as having ten gun ports on each side of her gun-deck, and nine ports on each side in the bulwarks of what is apparently a continuous upper deck.[2]
The Navy then commissioned her in the Leeward Islands as a 14-gun sloop under Commander Robert Sutton. He sailed her to Great Britain, arriving at Deptford on 8 August 1783. The Navy never added her to the Navy List and instead sold her on 25 September for £1,120 to Samuel Scott.[2]
Mohawk
Mohawk, of 280 tons (bm), and built in New England in 1781, entered Lloyd's Register in 1784 with J. Griffiths, master, and Scott & Co. owner. Her trade was London-Africa. She had been coppered in 1782.[10]
Captain John Griffith sailed from London on 13 March 1784 to gather slaves on the Gold Coast. Mohawk gathered her slaves first in the Sierra Leone estuary, and then at Cape Coast Castle. She sailed from Africa on 9 May 1785 and arrived at Kingston, Jamaica on 11 July with 350 slaves. She sailed from Kingston on 16 August and arrived back at London on 13 October.[11]
Lloyd's Register for 1786 showed a change of ownership from Scott & Co. to St Barbe & Co., London. Her trade changed from London-Africa to London-Smyrna. Her master's name changed too, but is illegible.[12]
In 1787, Lloyd's List reported that Mohawk was in Leghorn, from Smyrna. It gave her master's name as "J. Mooring".[13]
The 1789 Lloyd's Register gave Mohawk's origin as "New England", before changing it to "Philadelphia". Her master was J. Moring, her owner St Barbe, and her trade was London-Smyrna. The register did give her burthen as 204 tons (bm), but that is almost certainly a typo.
In 1789 Lloyd's List reported that on 21 October Mohawk had put into Malta in a hard gale of wind, and had sailed on 27 October. Her master was still J. Mooring.[14]
On 10 August 1795, Mohawk, American-built, of 284 tons, Thomas King, master, left Bristol for the West African coast. (There is no record to suggest that this voyage was for the purposes of slave trading.) She reached the Gold Coast and Anamabue (19–22 January 1796), Gabon (1 March), Bassau (24–29 March), Cape Mount (3–14 April), Isle de Los (c. 16 April), and Sierra Leone (17 April to 7 June). She then sailed directly back to Bristol, arriving 10 June.[1]
In 1796 her owners offered Mohawk for sale by auction on 24 November at the Exchange Coffee House. The advertisement described her as of 285 tons (bm), but gave measurements that are at variance with those the Royal Navy took. The advertisement noted that she was pierced for 20 guns on her main deck and had most of her cannon. It also pointed out that in 1795 she had undergone a thorough repair, and that she was coppered and copper fastened. The advertisement suggested that she was fast and an excellent sea boat, perfectly suited to privateering.[15]
Her buyers fitted her out in January 1797 as a privateer.[15] James Baker, received a letter of marque on 5 January 1797 for the ship Mohawk, of 100 men, and twenty-five 3, 6, and 9-pounder cannon and one swivel gun.[6] She then sailed for the Cape Verde Islands on 25 March.[15] On her way she encountered a French corvette of 20 guns. The two vessels exchanged fire for an hour and a half before the French vessel disengaged. Mohawk had one man wounded and some damage to her sails and rigging.[15]
On 25 August 1797, Lloyd's List reported that Mohawk, Baker, master, had put into St Jago with prizes, Spanish vessels carrying a cargo of fish.[16] These were two brigs.[15]Mohawk returned to Bristol on 30 October. Her owners must have been dissatisfied with their investment because they put her up for sale in November at Trent's Floating Dock.[15]
The 1799 Lloyd's Register listed Mohawk's master as "Kempthorn", her burthen as 284 tons (bm), her owner as "Hunters", and her trade as Bristol to Naples. James Kempthorne received a letter of marque on 20 November 1800. This letter gave her burthen as 296 tons (bm), her complement as 40 men, and her armament as twenty 4, 6, and 9-pounder guns.[6] The reduction in crew size is indicative that Mohawk's primary objective would now be trade, not privateering. In June 1800, an advertisement appeared stating that Mohawk, Captain James Kempthorne, was prepared to sail in 10 days, without convoy, for Palermo and Naples.[15]
The 1800 and 1801 Lloyd's Registers repeated the information from 1799, but gave her name as Mohawke, added an armament of twenty-two 3 and 4-pounder guns, and gave her burthen as 284 tons (bm).
On 27 March 1800 Mowhawk had a brush with a 14-gun French ship in the Bay of Biscay.[17]
Capture and French naval service
On 24 June 1801, a squadron under Admiral Ganteaume was on an unsuccessful mission to bring troops to Egypt when it encountered HMSSwiftsure, Captain Benjamin Hallowell, and captured her. In his report on the loss of his vessel, Hallowell also reported that the French squadron had, on 4 July, captured the letter-of-marque Mohawk between Lampedusa and Pantelleria as she was sailing between Bristol and Malta with general merchandise.[18] On 6 October 1801 Lloyd's List reported that she had been captured while sailing from Bristol to Malta and that Kempthorne was at Toulon.[19]
The French Navy commissioned Mohawk at Toulon, under her existing name, and effective from the date of her capture,[7] initially under Poncel.[20]
Ganteaume, promoted to capitaine de frégate on 6 March 1805,[21] was still in command of Mohawk on 23 to 24 May 1805, when she captured a British privateer named Neptune, off Cap Roux (between Frejus and Cannes).[23] Ganteaume took command of Proserpine on 1 April 1809,[21] and command of Mohawk then passed to lieutenant de vaisseau Lecrosnier.[20][lower-alpha 2]
On 13 February 1812, Mohawk, under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Lecrosnier, was escorting the fluytMérinos from Livorno to Sagone, Corsica, along with Alacrity, under Lieutenant Baron de Mackau.[24] They were off Cap Corse when they encountered HMSApollo.[25]Apollo gave chase and overhauled Mérinos, which struck after firing a token broadside.[26] Becalmed, Mohawk launched her boats and attempted to have them tow her closer to the battle, but after seeing the surrender of Mérinos, abandoned the attempt and escaped. Apollo gave chase and exchanged fire with Mohawk for two hours before giving up and sailing back to her prize. Mohawk then arrived at Saint-Florent.[27]
Captain Bridges Taylor, of Apollo described Mérinos as a relatively new frigate-built storeship of 850 tons, pierced for 36 guns but carrying only twenty 8-pounders. She had a crew of 126 men under the command of captaine de frégate Honoré Coardonan, holder of the Légion d'Honneur. She was on her way to Sagone for timber. The French lost six killed and 20 wounded; the British, despite also coming under fire from the shore, suffered no casualties.[28] Captain Gourdouan was court-martialled and acquitted of the loss of his ship.[27]
Taylor further reported that although Mérinos had signaled to her escort, Mohawk had sailed away. Taylor reported that Mohawk was a British ship that had been captured in 1799, and that she had a crew of about 130 men, plus some conscripts.[28]
Fate
Mowhawk was decommissioned at Toulon and ordered sold on 16 June 1814.[7]
Notes
↑ This is likely a gross underestimate, probably given to reduce any assessment.[3]
Jean Bart may refer to one of the following ships of the French Navy or privateers named in honour of Jean Bart, a French naval commander and privateer.
The Sémillante was a 32-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She was involved in a number of multi-vessel actions against the Royal Navy, particularly in the Indian Ocean. She captured a number of East Indiamen before she became so damaged that the French disarmed her and turned her into a merchant vessel. The British captured her and broke her up in 1809.
HMS Doris was a 36-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy, launched on 31 August 1795. which saw service in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Doris was built by Cleveley, of Gravesend.
Cléopâtre was a 32-gun Vénus class frigate of the French Navy. She was designed by Jacques-Noël Sané, and had a coppered hull. She was launched in 1781, and the British captured her in 1793. She then served the Royal Navy as HMS Oiseau until she was broken up in 1816.
The first HMS Epervier, sometimes spelled HMS Epervoir, was the French ex-naval brick-aviso and then privateer Épervier, launched in 1788. The British captured her in 1797 and registered her in 1798 as an 18-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. The Navy never commissioned her and she was sold in 1801.
During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars Égyptienne, or Egypt, which commemorated Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign, was a popular name for French vessels, including naval vessels and privateers. Between 1799 and 1804, warships of the Royal Navy captured one French frigate and five different French privateers all with the name Égyptienne, and at least one privateer with the name Égypte.
The French lugger Affronteur was launched in 1795 and in 1796-7 participated in the Expédition d'Irlande. In 1803, HMS Doris captured her and she subsequently served the Royal Navy either as a commissioned vessel or, more probably, as His Majesty's hired armed brig Caroline. In 1807 she was either broken up, or became a letter of marque.
The French brig Suffisante was launched in 1793 for the French Navy. In 1795 the Royal Navy captured her and took her into service under her existing name. HMS Suffisante captured seven privateers during her career, as well as recapturing some British merchantmen and capturing a number of prizes, some of them valuable. She was lost in December 1803 when she grounded in poor weather in Cork harbour.
His Majesty's hired armed schooner Lady Charlotte served the British Royal Navy on contract between 28 October 1799 and 28 October 1801. She had a burthen of 120 85⁄94 tons (bm), and was armed with twelve 12-pounder carronades. As a hired armed vessel she captured several privateers and recaptured a number of British merchant vessels. After her service with the Royal Navy, she apparently sailed as a letter of marque until the French captured her in 1806.
Robert was a 16-gun French privateer corvette launched in 1793 at Nantes. The British captured her in 1793 and named her HMS Espion. The French recaptured her in 1794 and took her into service as Espion. The British recaptured her in 1795, but there being another Espion in service by then, the British renamed their capture HMS Spy. She served under that name until the Navy sold her in 1801. Spy then became a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people, a merchantman to South America, and privateer again. The French captured her in mid-1805 and sent her into Guadeloupe.
His Majesty's Hired armed lugger Speedwell served the Royal Navy on contract between 11 June 1796 and 31 October 1801. She had a burthen of 15215⁄94 tons (bm), and was armed with fourteen 4-pounder guns.
Butterworth was launched in 1778 in France as the highly successful 32-gun privateer Américaine, of Granville. The British Royal Navy captured her early in 1781. She first appeared in a commercial role in 1784 as America, and was renamed in 1785 as Butterworth. She served primarily as a whaler in the Greenland whale fisheries. New owners purchased her in 1789. She underwent a great repair in 1791 that increased her size by almost 20%. She is most famous for her role in the "Butterworth Squadron", which took her and two ship's tenders on an exploration, sealing, otter fur, and whaling voyage to Alaska and the Pacific Coast of North America. She and her consorts are widely credited with being the first European vessels to enter, in 1794, what is now Honolulu harbour. After her return to England in 1795, Butterworth went on three more whaling voyages to the South Pacific, then Africa, and then the South Pacific again. In 1802 she was outward bound on her fourth of these voyage, this to the South Pacific, when she was lost.
Norfolk was built in France in 1784 under a different name. The British captured her c. 1800 and she made some voyages as a West Indiaman. She also made a cruise as a privateer. Between 1803 and 1808 she served the Royal Navy as an armed defense and hired armed ship on the Leith Station. She spent her time escorting convoys in the North Sea and captured one French privateer. After her naval service, between 1808 and 1814 Norfolk was a London-based transport. From 1814 to 1820 she made four voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She was last listed in 1823.
Auguste was a French 14-gun privateer commissioned in Saint-Malo in November 1811 under Pierre Jean Marie Lepeltier. She captured numerous British merchant vessels before the Royal Navy forced her in January 1814 to run onshore and wreck.
The Royal Navy purchased HMS Barracouta on the stocks in 1782. After she had served for almost ten years patrolling against smugglers, the Navy sold her in 1792. She became the privateer Thought, which had a successful cruize, capturing several prizes including a French privateer, but then was herself captured in September 1793. She served the French Navy under the names Pensée, Montagne, Pensée, and Vedette, until the British recaptured her in 1800 and renamed her HMS Vidette. The Royal Navy sold her in 1802.
Harriot (or Harriott}was launched in Liverpool in 1786. For many years she was a West Indiaman, sailing between Liverpool and Barbados. In 1796 a French frigate captured her, but the British Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. She became a slave ship. At the beginning of her of her first slave trading voyage a French privateer captured her, and again the Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. She made five slave trading voyages in all. Thereafter she traded with South America. She was last listed in 1814 with stale data.
Agreeable was launched at Bermuda in 1786, probably under a different name. French owners acquired her at some point and sailed her as Agréable. In 1793 the British captured her. Subsequently, between 1793 and 1808, she made six voyages as a slave ship, alternating between the triangular trade in enslaved people, and sailing as a regular West Indiaman. French privateers captured her between the second and third voyages, and the third and fourth voyages, but each time the British Royal Navy recaptured her. In the case of the second capture she was in French hands long enough for them to send her out as a privateer. She herself captured an American vessel in 1808 as she was returning to Liverpool from her last enslaving voyage. After the end of British participation in trans-Atlantic enslaving trade, Agreeable traded more widely, particularly to South America. She was condemned at Buenos Aires in 1814 after running aground in the River Plate. She was repaired and continue to sail to Brazil until she returned to Liverpool in June 1819.
Active was built in Bristol in 1799. She made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved persons, and then two voyages trading between Bristol and Africa. A French privateer captured her but a Guernsey privateer recaptured her. She then became a West Indiaman. On 16 and 17 July 1808 she repelled a Spanish and a French privateer in two separate single-ship actions. In 1809 she underwent a maritime mishap. She was last listed in 1819.
Sultana was launched in 1787 or 1788, at Yarmouth. She traded with the Mediterranean and the West Indies. A French privateer captured her in April 1799. She quickly returned to British ownership, but was recaptured again in 1801.
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