Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History
Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History Other Events on 17 September 1574 – Death of Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, Spanish admiral and explorer, founded St. Augustine, Florida (b. 1519) Pedro Menéndez de Avilés (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpeðɾo mẽˈnẽndeθ ðe aβiˈles]; 15...
shipsofscale.com
19th September 1777 - During the American Revolution, the British cutter HMS Alert captures the brig USS Lexington
HMS Alert (1777 - 10), a 10-gun cutter launched at Dover in 1777, converted to a sloop in the same year, and captured in the Channel by the Junon in 1778; foundered December 1779 off the coast of America. French records show her serving as Alerte, a cutter of fourteen 4-pounder guns and valued as a prize at Lt 32,289.
The first
USS Lexington of the
Thirteen Colonies was a
brigantine purchased in 1776. The
Lexington was an 86-foot two-mast wartime sailing ship for the fledgling
Continental Navy of the Colonists during the
American Revolutionary War (1775–1783).
History
Originally named the
Wild Duck,
Abraham van Bibber purchased her for the
Maryland Committee of Safety, at
St. Eustatius in the
Dutch West Indies in February 1776. She soon got underway for the
Delaware Capesand reached
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 9 March with a cargo of sorely needed
gunpowder for the patriot forces. Four days later the Marine Committee purchased
Wild Duck, renamed her
Lexington after the
Battle of Lexington (the first battle of the war), and turned her over to
Wharton and Humphry for fitting out.
Commanded by Capt.
John Barry,
Lexington dropped down the
Delaware River 26 March and slipped through the British
blockade 6 April. The following day she fell in with British
sloop Edward, a
tender to the
frigateLiverpool. After a fierce fight which lasted about an hour
Edward struck her colors.
Lexington took her prize into Philadelphia and as soon as the ship was back in fighting trim, Barry put to sea again. On 26 April
Lexington encountered
Sir Peter Parker's fleet sailing to attack
Charleston, South Carolina. Two of the British ships gave chase on 5 May off the Delaware Capes.
HMS Roebuck and
Liverpool chased
Lexington for eight hours and came close enough to exchange fire with the American ship before Barry managed to elude his pursuers and reach Philadelphia safely.
USS
Lexington by F. Muller
Lexington and
Reprisal dropped down the Delaware to
Cape May on the 20th, there joining
Wasp and
Hornet.
Liverpool stood off the Delaware Capes preventing the American ships from escaping to sea. On 28 June Pennsylvania's
brig Nancy arrived in the area with 386 barrels of powder in her hold and ran aground while attempting to elude British blockader
Kingfisher. Barry ordered the precious powder rowed ashore during the night leaving only 100 barrels in
Nancy at dawn. A
delayed action fuse was left inside the brig, which exploded the powder just as a boatload of British seamen boarded
Nancy. This engagement became known as the
Battle of Turtle Gut Inlet.
On 10 July
Lexington slipped to sea. On the 27th she captured
Lady Susan, a ship of
Lord Dunmore's
Tory Fleet which operated out of the
Chesapeake Bay. This
privateer was commanded by William Goodrich, a member of the notorious Tory family which had plagued the shipping of
Virginia and
Maryland. (
Richard Dale, one of seven members of the
Lady Susan crew who signed on Lexington, later won fame under
John Paul Jones.) Early in September,
Lexington took another sloop,
Betsy. About a fortnight later lightning struck
Lexington forcing the brigantine home for repairs.
Lexington anchored off Philadelphia 26 September, and two days later Barry relinquished command.
With repairs completed,
Lexington, Capt. William Hallock in command, got underway for
Cape Francois to obtain military cargo. On the return voyage, British frigate
Pearl overhauled the brigantine just short of the Delaware Capes 20 December and captured her. The commander of the frigate removed
Lexington's officers, but left 70 of her men on board under hatches with a
prize crew. But by luring their captors with a promise of
rum, the Yankee sailors recaptured the ship and brought her to Baltimore.
Lexington, now with Capt.
Henry Johnson in command, sailed for
France 20 February 1777 and took two prizes before reaching
Bordeaux in March. In France, the brigantine joined
Reprisal and
Dolphin for a cruise seeking the Irish
linen fleet scheduled to leave
Dublin early in June. The American ships, commanded by Capt.
Lambert Wickes, got underway 28 May and were carried far to westward by heavy winds. Approaching Dublin from the north they entered the north channel 18 June and hove to off the
Mull of Kintyre. During the next four days they captured nine prizes, sinking three, releasing one, and retaining five. Heading south again on the 22nd, they took and scuttled a brig before arriving off
Dublin Bay. The next morning they took another brig and released a ship bringing sugar, rum, and cotton from
Jamaica. After placing prize crews on both vessels, they resumed their voyage around Ireland. On the 24th they stopped and released a smuggler and the next day took their last prize, a
snow.
When they sighted
ship-of-the-line HMS Burford near
Ushant on the 26th, the American ships scattered and made their way individually to safety in France.
Lexington remained at
Morlaix, a
Brittany fishing village, throughout the summer, hemmed in by British warships. However, France, under strong British diplomatic pressure, ordered the American ships out of French waters 12 September.
Lexington got underway the next morning but made little headway because of light wind. She lay becalmed near Ushant on the morning of 19 September when British 10-gun
cutter Alert, commanded by
John Bazely, came into view. In the ensuing fight,
Lexington's
rigging was seriously damaged precluding flight. When the American brigantine ran out of powder Captain Johnson reluctantly
struck his colors.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Lexington_(1776)
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections.html#!csearch;searchTerm=alert_1777