USS Boston (1777)

USS ''Boston'' was a 24-gun frigate of the Continental Navy. She was launched on June 3, 1776 by Stephen and Ralph Cross at Newburyport, Massachusetts and completed the following year. In American service she captured several British vessels. The British captured ''Boston'' during the siege of Charleston and took her into service as HMS ''Charlestown''. She was engaged in one major fight with two French frigates, which she survived and which saved the convoy she was protecting. The British sold ''Charlestown'' in 1783, immediately after the end of the war.

American service

''Boston'' was commissioned under the command of Captain Hector McNeill. On 21 May 1777, ''Boston'' sailed in company with and the Massachusetts privateer ''American Tartar'' for a cruise in the North Atlantic. ''American Tartar'' parted from the two frigates shortly thereafter.

The two frigates captured three prizes including the 28-gun frigate (7 June). On 7–8 July, ''Boston'', ''Hancock'', and ''Fox'' engaged the British vessels HMS ''Flora'', , and . The British captured ''Hancock'' and ''Fox'', but ''Boston'' escaped to the Sheepscot River on the Maine coast. McNeill was court-martialed in June 1779 for his failure to support ''Hancock'' and was dismissed from the Navy.

During the period 15 February-31 March 1778, ''Boston'', now under the command of Samuel Tucker, carried John Adams to France, capturing on 11 March the British letter of marque ''Martha'' (), which the British later recaptured. She then cruised in European waters taking four prizes before returning to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 15 October. On 5 May 1778 a Midshipman, Peter Cavee, fell overboard and drowned in port at Bordeaux, France. In 1779 she made two cruises (29 July – 6 September and 23 November – 23 December) in the North Atlantic capturing at least nine prizes. ''Boston'' then joined the squadron sent to assist in the defense of Charleston, South Carolina. There the British captured her when the town surrendered on 12 May 1780.

British service

The British took ''Boston'' into service as HMS ''Charlestown''. In June 1781 Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot sent ''Charlestown'' and several other vessels to attempt to block some French reinforcements from entering Boston. On 7 July, the squadron that Arbuthnot sent to Boston recaptured the British sloop-of-war , which the American frigate had captured on 27 May. ''Charlestown'', under Captain Henry Francis Evans, and , brought ''Atalanta'' into Halifax. Then ''Charlestown'' sent in two American privateers that she had taken, ''Flying Fish'' and ''Yankee Hero''.

Next, ''Charlestown'' took part in the action of 21 July 1781. She was one of five Royal Navy ships escorting a convoy of 13 colliers and merchant vessels. The escorts also included the two sloops-of-war ''Allegiance'' and ''Vulture'', the armed transport , and ''Jack'', another small armed merchant ship. The convoy was off the harbor of Spanish River, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia (present-day Sydney, Nova Scotia), or Île Royale, when it came under attack from two French frigates ''Astrée'', commanded by La Pérouse, and , commanded by Latouche Tréville, resulting in the naval battle of Louisbourg. The French captured ''Jack''. ''Charlestown'' struck to the French frigates but they were unable to take possession of her; French accounts state that she escaped in the dark. The French lost six men killed and 34 wounded; the British lost some 17 or so men killed and 48 wounded. ''Charlestown'' alone lost 8 men killed, including Evans, and 29 men wounded.Clowes ''et al''. (18997-1903), Vol. 4, pp.71–2. The merchant vessels and their cargoes of coal entered Spanish River safely. ''Charlestown'' and the sloops sailed back to Halifax.Brown (1899), p.41.

Lieutenant Rupert George of ''Vulture'' replaced Evans as captain of ''Charlestown''. He was posted on 29 November 1781 and remained her captain.

Fate

The Royal Navy sold ''Charlestown'' in 1783.

See also

* List of sailing frigates of the United States Navy
* List of ships captured in the 18th century
* Bibliography of early American naval history

Citations

References

*Brown, Richard (F.G.S.) (1899) ''The coal fields and coal trade of the island of Cape Breton''. (Maritime Mining Record Office).
*Clowes, W. Laird, et al. (1897–1903) The royal navy: a history from the earliest times to the present. (Boston: Little, Brown and Co.; London: S. Low, Marston and Co.).
*Demerliac, Alain (1996) ''La Marine De Louis XVI: Nomenclature Des Navires Français De 1774 À 1792''. (Nice: Éditions OMEGA).
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Frigates of the Continental Navy
Ships built in Newburyport, Massachusetts
1776 ships
Frigates of the Royal Navy
Vessels captured from the Continental Navy