Charming Sally was a privateer in service with the Continental Navy in 1779, during the American Revolutionary War.
| History | |
|---|---|
 Massachusetts | |
| Name | Charming Sally |
| Fate | Scuttled 14 August 1779 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | c.300 (bm) |
| Sail plan | Sloop |
| Complement | 70 |
| Armament | 18–22 × 6 &/or 9-pounder guns |
Previously a merchant ship, Charming Sally entered Continental Navy service when her master, Alexander Holmes, master, received a letter of marque on 27 January 1779.[1]
Around 20 May, Charming Sally, the Massachusetts letter of marque Cadwallader, and the New Hampshire letter of marque Minerva sailed from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, with cargoes of lumber for the West Indies.[2] In early June the three encountered the British privateer Revenge, of some 24 carriage guns, Sheppard, master, which had left Halifax, Nova Scotia, some 12 days earlier.[Note 1] A two-hour engagement ensued, with Charming Sally bearing the brunt of the action. Revenge struck after she had five men killed and several wounded, and had sustained substantial damage. Charming Sally had lost one man killed and three men wounded. The three American ships then escorted their prize to Boston, where they arrived on 10 June. Charming Sally remained in Boston to refit, while her two companions resumed their journeys, only to have the British capture them later.[3]
Charming Sally participated in the disastrous, for the Americans, Penobscot Expedition in July and was destroyed there to prevent her capture.[1] The American colonel John Brewer declared her "burnt and blown up".[4] As Sally, she is one of the 15 American vessels that Schomberg lists as having been scuttled on 14 August by their crews to avoid their being captured.[5]
Notes
editCitations
edit- ^ a b [1] Allen (1927), p.98.
- ^ Pennsylvania Evening Post [Philadelphia], June 29, 1779, datelined Portsmouth, June 12; cited in AWIAS (see below).
- ^ a b Pennsylvania Packet or the General Advertiser [Philadelphia], Tuesday, June 29, 1779, datelined Boston, June 14; Norwich Packet and the Weekly Advertiser, Tuesday, June 22, 1779, datelined Boston, June 17; Massachusetts Spy: Or, American Oracle of Liberty [Boston], Thursday, June 17, 1779; Independent Ledger, and the American Advertiser [Boston], Monday, June 14, 1779. All cited in American War of Independence at Sea (AWIAS) – accessed 18 September 2015.[usurped]
- ^ Buker (2002).
- ^ Schomberg (1802), p.56.
References
edit- Allen, Gardner Weld (1927) Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University).
- Buker, George E. (2002) The Penobscot Expedition: Commodore Saltonstall and the Massachusetts Conspiracy of 1779. (Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press). ISBN 978-1557502124
- Schomberg, Isaac (1802) Naval Chronology, Or an Historical Summary of Naval and Maritime Events from the Time of the Romans, to the Treaty of Peace 1802: With an Appendix. (London: T. Egerton).