The Battle of 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 a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. 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, pe ...

ships in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

, the

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

USS ''Randolph'' was attacked by the British

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 depended on the two colum ...

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 of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

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

John Rutledge John Rutledge (September 17, 1739 – June 21, 1800) was an American Founding Father, politician, and jurist who served as one of the original associate justices of the Supreme Court and the second chief justice of the United States. Additiona ...

to break the enemy blockade of

Charleston Charleston most commonly refers to: * Charleston, South Carolina * Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital * Charleston (dance) Charleston may also refer to: Places Australia * Charleston, South Australia Canada * Charleston, Newfoundlan ...

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

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 oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

. 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 that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

that had been dis-masted by a

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare 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 or deleg ...

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

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

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 is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

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 enemy 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''. The Americans seemed to be on the verge of victory when a spark entered the ''Randolph''s

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, causing a large explosion that completely destroyed the frigate in an instant. The USS ''Randolph'' then sank with a loss of 301 men and only four survivors. Captain Biddle died ten days later due to the wounds he sustained. 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 States during the American Revolutionary War and was founded October 13, 1775. The fleet cumulatively became relatively substantial through the efforts of the Continental Navy's patron John Adams ...

. 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. 1778 in the United States

United States Navy in the 18th century

History of the Colony of Barbados 1778 in the Caribbean