USS ''Hancock'' was a 6-gun

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 ...

of 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 ...

. She was named for patriot and presiding officer of the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

John Hancock John Hancock ( – October 8, 1793) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot of the American Revolution. He was the longest-serving Presi ...

. Congress returned her to her owner in 1777 after deeming the vessel to be unsuitable for the Continental Navy.

Career

''Hancock'' was the former schooner ''Speedwell'', owned by a merchant, Mr. Thomas Grant, of

Marblehead, Massachusetts Marblehead is a coastal New England town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, along the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore. Its population was 20,441 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The town lies on a small peninsu ...

. In October 1775, Grant offered the use of his ship for a small fleet being fitted out to prey upon British supply ships and support General

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

's siege of

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. This fleet, the first under Continental pay and control, came to be called "George Washington's Navy." In October 1775, ''Hancock'' (not the ''Lynch''), under the command of

Nicholson Broughton Captain Nicholson Broughton (1724–1798) of Marblehead, Massachusetts was the first commodore of the United States Navy, American Navy and, as part of the 14th Continental Regiment, Marblehead Regiment, commanded George Washington’s first nav ...

, and her sister ship were ordered to intercept two British

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the l ...

s as they arrived in the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawren ...

from England. But the two schooners instead sought easier quarry off

Cape Canso The Strait of Canso (also Gut of Canso or Canso Strait, also called Straits of Canceau or Canseaux until the early 20th century) separates mainland Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island, in eastern Canada. It is a channel approximately 27 kilometer ...

where five prizes of dubious legality were taken. They also raided Charlottetown without regard to orders to respect

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

property. The story of their illegal actions reached General Washington; he had both Broughton and the captain of ''Franklin'' expelled from the navy and returned the captured ships and their cargoes with the proper apologies. On 1 January 1776, Captain

John Manley John Paul Manley (born January 5, 1950) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the eighth deputy prime minister of Canada from 2002 to 2003. He was Liberal Member of Parliament for Ottawa South from 1988 to 2004. ...

of the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

was appointed

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (India), in India ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ' ...

of the Fleet and chose ''Hancock'' to serve as his flagship. She captured two enemy transports on 25 January 1776, fending off an 8-gun British schooner in a brisk engagement while Manley's prize crews were able to sail the captured ships into the safety of Plymouth Harbor. On 30 January 1776, the 14-gun British brig HMS ''Hope'', which had sailed from Boston for the express purpose of either capturing or sinking ''Hancock'', intercepted her off Plymouth. Manley ran ''Hancock'' ashore where it became impossible for ''Hope'', with her deeper draft, to continue the pursuit. The Americans later refloated ''Hancock'' and she went on to capture several more prizes in joint operations with the squadron by April 1776, when Captain Samuel Tucker relieved Commodore Manley and assumed command of ''Hancock''. Manley was transferred to the Continental Navy where he commanded the newly built USS ''Hancock''. ''Hancock''s last recorded action was the capture of two brigs off the coast of Boston on 7 May 1776. She continued to cruise under Tucker until declared unfit for service late in 1776. She was released back into her owner's custody early the following year; the ultimate fate of ''Hancock'' is unknown.

Citations

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hancock (1775) 1770s ships Schooners of the Continental Navy

Career

See also

Citations

References