USS Reprisal (1776)

Last updated

USS Reprisal
The life of Benjamin Franklin (1848) (14762116714).jpg
The Reprisal, chased by a British cruiser (wood engraving by Alexander Anderson, c.1848)
History
US flag 13 stars.svgUnited States
NameUSS Reprisal
AcquiredMarch 28, 1776
FateSunk, October 1, 1777
General characteristics
Type Brig
Length100 ft (30 m)
Beam30 ft (9.1 m)
Complement130 officers and enlisted
Armament18 × 6-pounder guns
Service record
Part of: Continental Navy
Commanders: Capt. Lambert Wickes
Operations: Battle of Turtle Gut Inlet

USS Reprisal, 18, was the first ship of what was to become the United States Navy to be given the name promising hostile action in response to an offense. Originally the merchantman brig Molly, she was purchased from Robert Morris by the Marine Committee of the Continental Congress on March 28, 1776, renamed Reprisal, and placed under the command of Captain Lambert Wickes.

Contents

Service history

Caribbean voyage, JuneSeptember 1776

On June 10, 1776, the Committee of Secret Correspondence of Congress, by arrangement with the Marine Committee, issued orders to Captain Wickes, to proceed in Reprisal to Martinique and bring from there munitions of war for George Washington's armies, and also to take as passenger Mr. William Bingham, who had been appointed agent from the American colonies to Martinique.

Reprisal dropped down the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, some time during the latter part of June. Before the Continental armed brig Nancy, six guns, slipped out to the Atlantic, six British men-of-war had sighted and chased her as she was returning from St. Croix and St. Thomas with 386 barrels of gunpowder for the Army. In order to save her, her captain ran her ashore. Captain Wickes, with the crew of Reprisal, aided by Captain John Barry with the crew of USS Lexington, were able to keep off boats from HMS Kingfisher and to save about 200 barrels of powder. Before quitting Nancy, they laid a train of gunpowder which, when Nancy was boarded, blew up killing many British sailors. In the engagement, Wickes' third lieutenant, his brother, Richard Wickes, lost his life. This engagement, on June 29, became known as the Battle of Turtle Gut Inlet. [1]

Reprisal cleared the Delaware Capes on July 3. During that month, Captain Wickes captured a number of vessels in the West Indies, and, on July 27, had a sharp encounter with HMS Shark off Martinique, beating her off and escaping into port. She returned to Philadelphia on September 13.

In European waters, October 1776February 1777

Benjamin Franklin's passage to France

On October 24, 1776, Wickes was ordered by Congress to take Reprisal to Nantes, France, carrying Benjamin Franklin, who had been appointed Commissioner to France. Undertaking America's first diplomatic mission, Franklin would remain in France for nine years as ambassador. Franklin was accompanied on Reprisal by two of his grandsons, William Temple Franklin and Benjamin Franklin Bache. Reprisal afterwards was to cruise against enemy shipping in the English Channel. [2]

Reprisal became the first vessel of the Continental Navy to arrive in European waters. En route to France, Reprisal captured two British brigs, reaching Nantes on November 29, 1776.

Off the Spanish coast and return to France

On December 17, 1776, Reprisal docked at Saint-Nazaire, France, where Wickes prepared the ship for her first cruise in European waters. [2] She set sail again on January 24, 1777, [2] cruising along the coast of Spain, in the Bay of Biscay and in the mouth of the English Channel.

Five prizes were captured on the cruise. On February 5, Reprisal boarded and captured Britain's 16-gun Lisbon packet, two days out of Falmouth, Cornwall, after a hard fight of 40 minutes in which two officers of Reprisal were seriously wounded and one man killed. After taking his prizes into Port Louis on February 13, 1777, touching off a diplomatic furor, [2] Wickes sailed for L'Orient to end the cruise on February 14.

Lord Stormont, the British ambassador in Paris, demanded that the French government expel Reprisal for violating France's neutrality, and demanded the return of the captured ships. [2] However, Wickes had been able to arrange, with Franklin's assistance, a clandestine sale of the prize vessels before the French could take action.

Ultimately, Reprisal was ordered to leave in 24 hours by the French authorities, who had been stirred to action by the bitter remonstrances of the British government. Wickes, however, claimed that Reprisal had sprung a leak and should be careened for repairs. He received permission to make his repairs and by excuses was able several times to defeat the intentions of those in charge of the port while he made ready for another cruise.

Cruise around Ireland, AprilJune 1777

In April 1777 Reprisal was joined by the Continental vessels Lexington (16 guns), and Dolphin (10 guns), these three vessels constituting a squadron under the command of Wickes. The American Commissioners in Paris sent the squadron on a cruise along the shores of the British Isles, where Wickes had planned an attack on the Irish linen merchant fleet. [2]

Leaving Saint-Nazaire on May 28, 1777, they entered the Irish Sea by way of the North Channel, and cruised clockwise around the coast of Ireland. [2] On June 19, they took their first prizes—two brigs and two sloops. During the following week, they cruised in the Irish Sea and made 14 additional captures, comprising two ships, seven brigs and five other vessels. Of these 18 prizes, eight were sent into port, three were released, and seven sunk, three of them within sight of the enemy's ports.

Having created serious turmoil in the British shipping industry, Reprisal returned to Saint-Malo, France at the end of June to face a diplomatic crisis. [2] Lord Stormont increased British pressure upon France to remain publicly neutral, accusing the French of having aided and abetted American privateering, and threatening war unless the American ships were expelled. [2] In the interest of avoiding British hostilities, the French authorities detained Wickes and sequestered Reprisal and her companions until mid-September 1777, during which time the three vessels were refitted. [2] The detention was lifted after Wickes assured the French that he would return to America. [2] The Dolphin attempted to remain in Nantes under French colors, but she was seized by the authorities.

Loss, October 1777

On September 14, 1777, Reprisal left France, for the United States. About October 1, Reprisal was lost off the banks of Newfoundland and all 129 on board, except the cook, went down with her.

Related Research Articles

USS <i>Lexington</i> (1776) 1776 US Navy brigantine

The first USS Lexington of the Thirteen Colonies was a brig purchased in 1776. The Lexington was an 86-foot (26 m) two-mast wartime sailing ship for the fledgling Continental Navy of the Colonists during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Continental Navy</span> American navy of the Revolutionary War (1775–1785)

The Continental Navy was the navy of the Thirteen Colonies during the American Revolutionary War. Founded on October 13, 1775, the fleet developed into a substantial force throughout the Revolutionary War, owing partially to the efforts of naval patrons within the Continental Congress. These congressional patrons included the likes of John Adams, who served as the chairman of the Naval Committee until 1776, when Commodore Esek Hopkins received instruction from the Continental Congress to assume command of the force.

John Young was a captain in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War, commander of the Saratoga which was lost at sea.

Lambert Wickes was a captain in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War.

USS <i>Ranger</i> (1777) American ship during the American revolution

USS Ranger was a sloop-of-war in the Continental Navy, serving from 1777–1780 and the first to bear her name. Built at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Badger's Island in Kittery, Maine, she is famed for the solo raiding campaign carried out by her first captain, John Paul Jones, during naval operations of the American Revolutionary War. In six months spent primarily in British waters, she captured five prizes, staged a single failed attack on the English mainland at Whitehaven, and caused Royal Navy ships to be dispatched against her in the Irish Sea.

USS <i>Providence</i> (1775) Sloop-of-war of the United States Navy

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicholas Biddle (naval officer)</span>

Nicholas Biddle was one of the first five captains of the Continental Navy, which was raised by the Continental Congress during the American Revolutionary War. Biddle was born in Philadelphia in 1750. He began sailing at the age of 13 and joined the Royal Navy when he was 20. In 1773, he sailed the Arctic with Constantine Phipps and Horatio Nelson. When the Revolutionary War began in 1775, Biddle joined the Continental Navy and commanded several ships. In 1778 off the coast of Barbados, Biddle confronted HMS Yarmouth, a 64-gun British warship. After a twenty-minute battle, Biddle's ship Randolph suddenly exploded, killing him and most of his men. Four ships of the U.S. Navy have been named in his honor.

USS <i>Raleigh</i> (1776)

USS Raleigh was one of thirteen ships that the Continental Congress authorized for the Continental Navy in 1775. Following her capture in 1778, she served in the Royal Navy as HMS Raleigh. The ship is featured on the flag and seal of New Hampshire.

The first Dolphin was a cutter in the Continental Navy.

The first USS Hancock was an armed schooner under the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. She was named for patriot and presiding officer of the Continental Congress, John Hancock. Congress returned her to her owner in 1777 after deeming the vessel to be unsuitable for the new Continental Navy.

The first USS Lee was a schooner under the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. She was named for General Charles Lee.

USS <i>Hancock</i> (1776) 1776 frigate of the Continental Navy

The second Hancock was one of the first thirteen frigates of the Continental Navy. A resolution of the Continental Congress dated 13 December 1775 authorized her construction; she was named for the patriot and Continental congressman John Hancock. In her career, she served under the American, British and French flags.

USS <i>Revenge</i> (1777)

The second USS Revenge was a cutter in the Continental Navy and later a privateer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pennsylvania Navy</span> Naval force of Pennsylvania during the American Revolution

The Pennsylvania Navy served as the naval force of Pennsylvania during the American Revolution and afterward, until the formation of the United States Navy. The navy's vessels served almost exclusively on the Delaware River, and were active in first defending the approaches to the city of Philadelphia during the British campaign that successfully occupied the city in 1777, and then preventing the Royal Navy from resupplying the occupying army.

HMS <i>Lively</i> (1756) 20-gun post ship of the Royal Navy, launched in 1756

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.

William Day was a Springfield, Massachusetts, sea captain who acted against America's enemies in both the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. In 1777 he received the first gun salute to an American fighting vessel in a European port.

USS Lynch was a schooner acquired as part of the Continental Navy in 1776. She served for over a year on the New England coast, interfering with British maritime trade when possible. In 1777 she was assigned dispatch boat duty and, after delivering her secret dispatches to France, set sail for the United States with French secret dispatches. The British captured her, but not before she could destroy the French dispatches.

HMS <i>Ariel</i> (1777)

HMS Ariel was a 20-gun Sphinx-class sixth-rate post ship of the Royal Navy. The French captured her in 1779, and she served during the American Revolutionary War for them, and later for the Americans, before reverting to French control. Her French crew scuttled Ariel in 1793 to prevent the British from recapturing her.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle off Halifax (1782)</span> Naval battle in American Revolutionary War

The Battle off Halifax took place on 28 May 1782 during the American Revolutionary War. It involved the American privateer Jack and the 14-gun Royal Naval brig HMS Observer off Halifax, Nova Scotia. Captain David Ropes commanded Jack, and Lieutenant John Crymes commanded Observer. The battle was "a long and severe engagement" in which Captain David Ropes was killed.

Dame Ernouf first appears under that name in 1807. Her origins are currently obscure. She served as a privateer first under that name, and then under the name Diligent. As Diligent she not only capture several merchantmen but also two British Royal Navy vessels: a schooner and a brig. She continued to capture prizes until the end of 1813 and then disappears from online records.

References

  1. "The Battle of Turtle Gut Inlet". Wildwood Crest Historical Society.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Brodine, Charles E. Jr. (2014). "Lambert Wickes: Initiative". In Thomas, Joseph (ed.). Leadership Embodied: The Secrets to Success of the Most Effective Navy. Naval Institute Press. pp. 2–3. ISBN   978-1-61251-333-1.

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.