The American frigate was captured by the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

in a 1777 naval battle 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 ...

. The two highest ranking naval officers of the war battled each other off the coast of

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. (44 guns), under the command of British Admiral

George Collier Vice Admiral Sir George Collier (11 May 1732 – 6 April 1795) was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars. As commander of the fourth-rate shi ...

, captured USS ''Hancock'' (34 guns), under the command of 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 served as Liberal Member of Parliament for Ottawa South from 1988 to 2 ...

Background

During the

, Americans regularly attacked

by land and sea. American

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 ...

s devastated the maritime economy by raiding many of the coastal communities, such as the numerous raids on

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and on

Annapolis Royal Annapolis Royal, formerly known as Port Royal, is a town located in the western part of Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Today's Annapolis Royal is the second French settlement known by the same name and should not be confused with the n ...

. On 7 June and engaged the

's 28-gun frigate , which tried to outsail her American enemies. ''Hancock'' gave chase and soon overhauled ''Fox'', which lost her

mainmast The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the centre-line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, and giving necessary height to a navigation ligh ...

and suffered other severe damage in the ensuing duel. About an hour later, ''Boston'' joined the battle and compelled ''Fox'' to strike her colors. Hancock Boston Fox

''Hancock'' spent the next few days repairing the prize and then resumed cruising along the coast of

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

. East of

Cape Sable Cape Sable is the southernmost point of the United States mainland and mainland Florida. It is located in southwestern Florida, in Monroe County, and is part of the Everglades National Park. The cape is a peninsula issuing from the southeastern ...

, Nova Scotia she took a British coal

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

, which she towed until the next morning when the approach of a British

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

prompted Manley to set the coal sloop ablaze and leave her adrift.

Battle

Captain John Manley, wood block, Peabody Essex Museum

On 8 July, Manley was in ''Hancock'' accompanied by ''Boston'' and ''Fox'' when they arrived at the mouth of

Halifax Harbour Halifax Harbour is a large natural harbour on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, located in the Halifax Regional Municipality. Halifax largely owes its existence to the harbour, being one of the largest and deepest ice-free natural harbo ...

. Collins was in (44 guns) accompanied by 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 ...

(32 guns) and the

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 ...

(18 guns) and they chased the American vessels. The American vessels scattered. ''Boston'', under command of Captain McNeil, easily escaped. When McNeil returned to Boston he was

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

led for abandoning Manley and dismissed from the Navy. ''Flora'' recaptured ''Fox'' after a hot action and brought the vessel into Halifax. ''Rainbow'' and ''Victor'' gave chase to ''Hancock''. Early in the morning 9 July 1777 the British were within striking distance of ''Hancock''. ''Rainbow'' began to score with her bowchasers and followed with a series of broadsides. ''Hancock'' was thus finally forced to strike her colors after a chase of some 39 hours. She had 239 men of her crew aboard, 50 some being on ''Fox''. She also had Captain Fotheringham of ''Fox'' and 40 of his people on board. The rest were on ''Boston'' and a couple of fishing vessels. Collins took the American vessels back to Halifax. The British renamed the American vessel ''Iris''. Manley and his crew were imprisoned for months and then released back to Boston.

Aftermath

American privateers remained a threat to Nova Scotian ports for the rest of the war. For example, after a failed attempt to raid

Chester, Nova Scotia Chester is a village on the Chester Peninsula, Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada. The nearby waters of Mahone Bay and its numerous islands are well known for yachting and have made the Chester Yacht Club into a cruising destination. A provi ...

, American privateers struck again in the Raid on Lunenburg in 1782.

Background

Battle

Aftermath

See also

Notes

Further reading