The Battle off Barbados was fought in March 1778 during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. While escorting a fleet of

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

ships in the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

, the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

USS ''Randolph'' was attacked by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

ship-of-the-line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which involved the two column ...

HMS ''Yarmouth''. The following action resulted in America's most costly naval defeat, in terms of human lives, until the sinking of USS ''Arizona'' in 1941.

Background

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Nicholas Biddle Nicholas Biddle (January 8, 1786February 27, 1844) was an American financier who served as the third and last president of the Second Bank of the United States (chartered 1816–1836). Throughout his life Biddle worked as an editor, diplomat, au ...

commanded the thirty-six-gun ''USS'' ''Randolph'', having received orders from

John Rutledge John Rutledge Jr. (September 17, 1739 – June 21, 1800) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father, politician, and jurist who served as one of the original Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States ...

to break the enemy blockade of Charleston,

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

where a large number of merchantmen were trapped. After breaking the blockade Biddle was to sail into the

South Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

. Four other armed ships accompanied the ''Randolph'' in this mission: the ''General Moultrie'', the ''Notre Dame'', the ''Fair American'' and the ''Polly''. However, after sailing out to meet the British off Charleston on February 14, the enemy was nowhere in sight, so the American fleet headed for the West Indies where Biddle would raid commerce. On February 16, the fleet burned a British

ship A ship is a large watercraft, vessel that travels the world's oceans and other Waterway, navigable waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research and fishing. Ships are generally disti ...

that had been dis-masted by a

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

, and on March 4, the ''Polly'' captured a small

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

that was added to the fleet as a tender. Three days after that, at about 5:30 pm, on March 7, 1778, the Americans were sailing off the eastern coast of

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

when lookouts spotted a large ship to the windward. Captain Biddle assumed the vessel to be a man-o-war so he directed most of his ships to continue on while he remained behind with the ''Randolph'' and the eighteen-gun ship ''General Moultrie'' to engage the oncoming vessel.

Battle

The British ship turned out to be the sixty-four-gun HMS ''Yarmouth'' under the command of Captain Nicholas Vincent. After a few hours of maneuvering, at about 9:00 pm, the Americans raised their colors and opened fire on the ''Yarmouth'' with a broadside. The British, in turn, responded and opened fire. This bloody battle raged on for twenty minutes. Captain Biddle was wounded early in the battle but continued to fight. It is thought that the shots that wounded him came from the ''General Moultrie'', which accidentally struck the ''Randolph''. During the battle, a spark entered the ''Randolph''s powder magazine, causing a large explosion that completely destroyed the frigate in an instant. The USS ''Randolph'' then sank with a loss of 311 men and only four survivors. Biddle went down with the ship. According to Captain Hall of the ''Notre Dame'', Biddle and his men heavily damaged the ''Yarmouth'' in the first twelve to fifteen minutes, while the American ships were still mostly unharmed. The ''Yarmouth'' lost her bowsprit and her topmasts, a portion of which fell down and damaged the poop deck. Another portion of the topmasts fell into the top-gallant sails and then onto the cap. Five British sailors were killed and another twelve men received wounds.

Aftermath

After sinking the ''Randolph'', Captain Vincent attempted to pursue the other American ships, to no avail, as they dispersed in separate ways. Damage to the ''Yarmouth''s sail also gave the Americans the advantage to slip away. The four surviving Americans were not captured until five days later; HMS ''Yarmouth'' came across them on March 12 while she was chasing a ship west. The four survivors were found clinging to wreckage and had survived by sucking rain water out of a blanket. The death of Captain Biddle was considered a severe blow to the

Continental Navy The Continental Navy was the navy of the United Colonies and United States from 1775 to 1785. It was founded on October 13, 1775 by the Continental Congress to fight against British forces and their allies as part of the American Revolutionary ...

. Biddle was well respected and regarded as a professional sailor and a strong leader.Allen, pg. 298

References

Bibliography

* * {{cite book , last=Maclay , first=Edgar S., title=A History of the United States Navy, from 1775 to 1898 , url=https://archive.org/details/ahistoryuniteds01smitgoog , year=1898, publisher=D. Appleton and Co.

History of the Colony of Barbados 1778 in the Caribbean Naval battles of the American Revolutionary War involving Great Britain Naval battles of the American Revolutionary War involving the United States