''Prince de Neufchatel'' was a fast sailing United States schooner-rigged

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 ...

, built in New York by

Adam and Noah Brown Adam and Noah Brown were American shipbuilders, based in New York City, founded a company with its name based in New York, which was active between 1804 and 1833. They built several notable vessels, including Robert Fulton's , the first steam-powe ...

circa 1812. She is a fine example of the peak of development of the armed schooner. During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, ''Neufchatel'' operated mainly in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an waters, preying on British merchant shipping. Noted for her speed, at one time she outran seventeen

men-of-war In Royal Navy jargon, a man-of-war (also man-o'-war, or simply man) was a powerful warship or frigate of the 16th to the 19th century, that was frequently used in Europe. Although the term never acquired a specific meaning, it was usually rese ...

. In 1813, operating in the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

, she took nine British prizes in quick succession. On 11 October 1814, ''Prince de Neufchatel'' repelled a cutting-out party from that attempted to capture her. The British finally captured her in December 1814; she was broken up in 1815.

Construction

Her design is believed to be due to Christian Bergh. She had a hermaphrodite rig, i.e., she combined the rigs of a

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 ...

and a

brigantine A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts. Ol ...

. "She carried four sails on the foremast, one square sail on the main, and a large fore-and-aft sail with gaff abaft the fore, with large staysails over and three jibs. Her spanker boom projected far beyond the stern.

''Prince of Neuchatel'') After her capture, her design caught the

Navy Board The Navy Board (formerly known as the Council of the Marine or Council of the Marine Causes) was the Regulatory agency, commission responsible for the day-to-day civil administration of the Royal Navy between 1546 and 1832. The board was headqua ...

's interest and on 10 April 1815, it ordered Woolwich Dock to build a copy. However, with the end of the

and the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, the copy was never built.

Career

On 11 October 1814, under Captain John Ordronaux, ''Prince de Neufchatel'' engaged in one of the most violent privateer clashes of the war. Becalmed on the south side of

Nantucket Nantucket () is an island in the state of Massachusetts in the United States, about south of the Cape Cod peninsula. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck Island, Tuckernuck and Muskeget Island, Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and Co ...

, she became vulnerable. Captain

Henry Hope Henry Hope (1735–1811) was an Amsterdam merchant banker born in Braintree, Province of Massachusetts Bay. He emigrated to the Netherlands to join the family business, the Dutch bank Hope & Co., at a young age. From 1779, Henry became the man ...

of thereupon sent 111 men in five boats to cut out ''Prince de Neufchatel'', defended by 40 Americans. After 20 minutes of savage fighting, ''Prince de Neufchatel'' succeeded in driving off the cutting-out party. British casualties amounted to 28 killed, 37 wounded, and 28 taken prisoner. The Americans reported seven killed and 24 wounded. Ordronaux put most of the wounded and prisoners off at Nantucket, and "limped into Boston". On 28 December 1814, in the Atlantic, three British frigates, , , and , sighted ''Prince de Neufchatel'' and began a pursuit. Under the strain of her large sail area, her masts sprung (cracked; many Baltimore clippers experienced problems due to their extremely large rigs). Unable to outrun the British frigates, ''Prince de Neufchatel'' surrendered. John Ordronaux was apparently not her captain at the time; her commander was Nicholas Millin. At the time of her capture, ''Prince de Neufchatel'' was armed with 18 guns and had a crew of 129 men. She was eight days out of Boston.

Fate

The British took ''Prince de Neufchatel'' back to England. There she was damaged beyond repair on the back of the sill of a dock gate as she was being undocked. As a result she was never commissioned into the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. She was broken up in 1815.

Legacy

The clipper ''

Red Rover Red Rover (also known as the king's run and forcing the city gates) is a team game played primarily by children on playgrounds, requiring 10+ players. The game has changed over several decades, evolving from a regular "running across" game, wit ...

'', built in 1830, was modeled after ''Prince de Neufchatel''. Artist Roy Cross painted a by oil on canvas of ''Prince de Neufchatel''. The painting is in a private collection.*

Notes

Citations

References

* * Gardiner, Robert (1999) ''Warships of the Napoleonic Era.'' (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press). * * * {{cite book , first=Rif, last=Winfield, title=British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates, publisher=Seaforth, year=2008, isbn=978-1-86176-246-7 War of 1812 ships of the United States Ships built in New York (state) 1813 ships Privateer ships of the United States