''Protector'' was a 28-gun frigate of the Massachusetts State Navy launched in 1779. She fought a

single-ship action A single-ship action is a naval engagement fought between two warships of opposing sides, excluding submarine engagements; it is called so because there is a single ship on each side. The following is a list of notable single-ship actions. Sing ...

against the British privateer ''Admiral Duff'' before 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 ...

captured her in 1781. The British navy took her into service as the

sixth-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a sixth-rate was the designation for small warships mounting between 20 and 28 carriage-mounted guns on a single deck, sometimes with smaller guns on the upper works an ...

post ship Post ship was a designation used in the Royal Navy during the second half of the 18th century and the Napoleonic Wars to describe a sixth-rate ship (see rating system of the Royal Navy) that was smaller than a frigate (in practice, carrying ...

HMS ''Hussar''. ''Hussar'' too engaged in a notable action against the French 32-gun frigate ''Sybille''. The Royal Navy sold ''Hussar'' in 1783, and a Dutch ship-owner operating from Copenhagen purchased her. She made one voyage to the East Indies for him before he sold her to British owners circa 1786. She leaves ''Lloyd's Register'' by 1790.

Career

Massachusetts Navy

Captain John Foster Williams received command of the new 20 or 28-gun

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 ...

''Protector'' in the spring of 1780, and took her to sea in June. In accordance with instructions from the

Board of War Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboard ...

, the new warship cruised in the vicinity of the Newfoundland Banks, on the lookout for British merchantmen. Her vigilance was rewarded early in June. At 0700 on 9 June 1780, ''Protector'' spotted a strange ship bearing down on her, flying British colors. At 1100, ''Protector'', also flying British colors, hailed the stranger and found her to be the 32-gun

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 ...

''Admiral Duff'', bound for

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

from St. Kitts. When the ship's identity had been ascertained, ''Protector'' hauled down British colors and ran up the Continental flag—opening fire almost simultaneously. The action ensued for the next hour and one-half, until ''Admiral Duff'' caught fire and exploded, leaving 55 survivors for ''Protector'' to rescue soon thereafter. In May 1781, ''

Lloyd's List ''Lloyd's List'' is one of the world's oldest continuously running journals, having provided weekly shipping news in London as early as 1734. It was published daily until 2013 (when the final print issue, number 60,850, was published), and i ...

'' reported that the rebel frigates and ''Protector'' had captured ''John'', Ashburner, master, from Lancaster to St. Kitts, and a ship sailing from Glasgow to Jamaica with 900 barrels of beef and a quantity of dry goods, and had taken them into

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

. In June, ''Lloyd's List'' reported that the American privateer ''Protector'', of 28 guns and 179 men, had captured ''Sally'', Townsend, master, which had been sailing from St Kitts to New York. Notification of these captures took some months to get to Britain. In the meantime, on 5 May 1781, and captured ''Protector'' off Sandy Hook,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. The Royal Navy took her into service as the

HMS ''Hussar''.

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy commissioned ''Hussar'' under Captain Thomas Macnamara Russell. On 3 May 1782, ''Hussar'' captured the brig ''Boston Packet'', which was carrying flour and rum. ''Hussar''s most famous engagement was the action with the French frigate ''Sybille''. In the action ''Hussar'' emerged victorious, having lost only two men killed and five or six wounded. However, the actions of the French captain gave rise to controversy. ''Hussar'' arrived at Deptford on 3 June 1783, and was paid off. The Royal Navy sold ''Hussar'' on 14 August 1783, for £1540, at Deptford.

Danish ownership

Frédéric de Coninck, who was a Dutch trader with a fleet of 64 ships operating from Copenhagen, purchased her. At purchase, the ship was already fitted with a

desalination Desalination is a process that removes mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination is the removal of salts and minerals from a substance. One example is Soil salinity control, soil desalination. This is important for agric ...

plant which was ideal for the long voyages envisaged to the East Indies and the Danes made contemporary technical drawings of the distilling machine. Her captain was A. M'Intosh (or Mackingtosh, or MacIntosh), and her trade was initially London-Copenhagen. In 1784-5, she sailed to Bengal and back to Denmark. When she sailed up the Hooghly to Calcutta the British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

suspected that she was American, even though she was flying Danish colours. M'Intosh himself died in late 1785, as there is a call in the ''

London Gazette London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Tha ...

'' of 3 January 1786, for claimants against his estate. Danish records show ''Hussaren'' as making only one voyage for De Connick.Skibe hjemmehørende i København.
/ref>

British ownership

''Lloyd's Register'' for 1787, shows a new master, R. Wilson, a new owner, and a new trade, Honduras-Bristol.''Lloyd's Register'' (1787), Seq. №H364.
/ref> ''Lloyd's Register'' did not publish in 1788, and the relevant pages are missing from the volume for 1789. ''Hussar'' is not listed in the volume for 1790.

Notes

Citations

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Protector (1779 frigate) 1779 ships Ships of the Massachusetts State Navy History of the United States Navy Captured ships Post ships of the Royal Navy Age of Sail merchant ships Age of Sail merchant ships of Denmark Merchant ships of the United Kingdom