HMS ''Mentor'' was the Massachusetts letter of marque ''Aurora'', commissioned in 1780. The Royal Navy captured her in July 1781 and took her into service as HMS ''Mentor''. ''Mentor'' disappeared in 1783.

Letter of marque

Captain Porter, of Boston, commissioned ''Aurora'' on 2 October 1780. While sailing to

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she came upon the wreck of and was able to rescue four men. ''Aurora'' unloaded her cargo at Port-au-Prince and started to take on a cargo of sugar for France. While she was loading a squall struck her. The squall overturned and sank her, drowning several men in the process. She was salvaged and two weeks later sailed with her cargo to France. ''Aurora'' sailed from Lorient on 24 April 1781 and returned to Boston on 20 May. On 16 June her owners posted bond for ''Aurora'' to operate as a privateer. She sailed in July in company with the Massachusetts privateer , James Munro, master, but the two ships separated. The

74-gun ship The "seventy-four" was a type of two- decked sailing ship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by the French navy in the 1740s, replacing earlier classes of 60- and 62-gun ships, as a larger complement to the recently-de ...

captured ''Aurora'' on 11 July 1781, or 18 July. She was at New York by 20 August.

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy purchased ''Aurora'' on 11 September 1781 at Boston. The Navy already had an in service so the Navy named the prize HMS ''Mentor'', and Commander Richard Tilledge commissioned her. ''Mentor'' was one of the naval vessels that shared in the capture of the brigs ''Unity'' and ''Betsey'', on 20 January 1783. After wrecked on 21 August 1783 at Bermuda, ''Mentor'' was sent to take off the survivors. ''Mentor'' did so, but then disappeared. She was assumed to have foundered with all hands, including the survivors from ''Cerberus'' she had taken on.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mentor (1781) Ships built in Massachusetts American Revolutionary War ships of the United States Privateer ships Captured ships Ships of the Royal Navy Maritime incidents in 1783 Missing ships Warships lost with all hands 1780 ships