Sarah Ann (1811 ship)

Sarah Ann was a United States privateer commissioned at Baltimore in 1812. She captured a British merchantman in a single-ship action before HMS Rhodian captured Sarah Ann on 16 September 1812.

For other ships with the same name, see Sarah Ann (ship).

History
United States
NameSarah Ann
OwnerDutton Williams, James Ramsey, Charles Malloy, & John Craig
BuilderSaint Mary's County, Maryland
Launched1811[1]
Commissioned27 July 1812[1]
Captured16 September 1812
General characteristics [1]
Tons burthen78 or 230[2] (bm)
Length90 ft (27 m)
Beam18 ft 10 in (5.7 m)
Complement40, 44, or 50
Armament1 × 9[3] or 12–pounder[4] gun on a pivot

Prize taking

Captain Richard Moon sailed Sarah Ann on a cruise in August. She encountered the brig Elizabeth, Hanna, master, which was coming from Kingston, Jamaica, bound for London.[5] Elizabeth was armed with ten 12-pounder carronades but she tried to escape. Sarah Ann chased Elizabeth for three hours before Sarah Ann was able to board her.[3] Elizabeth struck after she had four men wounded;[6] Sarah Ann had two men wounded.[3] Sarah Ann took her prize into Savannah, Georgia,[3] arriving there on 2 September. Elizabeth was carrying 323 hogsheads, and some tierces and barrels of sugar.[7] She was also carrying 13 hogsheads and 37 tierces of coffee, and nine hogsheads and 29 barrels of ginger. Elizabeth was four years old.[8] Lloyd's List (LL) reported that an American privateer had taken Elizabeth, Hannah, master, and taken her into Savannah.[9] She was sold for US$65,883.10, though half of the proceeds went for duties and court costs.[10] Sarah Ann had had two men wounded in the acton.[11]

Capture

Variable and the boats of Rhodian, Captain John George Boss, captured Sarah Ann, of one 12-pounder gun and 44 men, on 16 September 1812.[4][12] The prize was sent into New Providence, The Bahamas, in October 1812.[6][lower-alpha 1]

Prisoners

When Sarah Ann arrived at New Providence, six men of her crew, including Baltimorean George Roberts, were identified as possibly British subjects and were sent to Jamaica on Sappho for further investigation.[15] Captain Moody wrote a letter attesting to the fact that the six were American citizens, five native born and one naturalized.[16] Eventually Vice Admiral Charles Stirling, commander of the Royal Navy's Jamaica Station, had the men reclassified as prisoners of war, not British subjects. He had them transferred to a prison ship for eventual exchange for American prisoners.[17]

Notes
  1. Some sources give the name of the captor as HMS Statira.[1] However, Statira captured Sally Ann on 16 or 17 September 1812 and sent her into Halifax, Nova Scotia.[13] Sally Ann, a schooner of 124 tons, J.Day, master, had been sailing from New London to St. Bartholomew with a cargo of flour, corn, and tobacco.[14]

Citations
  1. Cranwell & Crane (1940), p. 393.
  2. Kert (2015), p. 181.
  3. Quick (2015), p. 23.
  4. "No. 16684". The London Gazette. 22 December 1812. p. 2571.
  5. Cranwell & Crane (1940), p. 90.
  6. Emmons (1853), pp. 192–193.
  7. Coggeshall (1856), p. 57.
  8. Alexandria Daily Gazette, Commercial & Political, Volume 12, Number 3749, 15 September 1812.
  9. LL 20 October 1812, №4712/
  10. Kert (2015), p. 50.
  11. Good (2012), p. 83.
  12. Lloyd's List 29 December 1812, №4732.
  13. "No. 16713". The London Gazette. 20 March 1813. p. 579.
  14. Vice-Admiralty Court (1911), p. 154.
  15. Maclay (2004), p. 455.
  16. Congress of the United States (1832), p. 599.
  17. Congress of the United States (1832), p. 634.

References
  • Congress of the United States (1832). American State Papers: Documents, Legislative and Executive of the Congress of the United States ... part 1. Vol. 3. Gales and Seaton.
  • Coggeshall, George (1856). History of the American Privateers, and Letters-Of-Marque. New York.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Cranwell, John Philips; Crane, William Bowers (1940). Men of marque; a history of private armed vessels out of Baltimore during the War of 1812. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
  • Emmons, George Foster (1853). The navy of the United States, from the commencement, 1775 to 1853; with a brief history of each vessel's service and fate ... Comp. by Lieut. George F. Emmons ... under the authority of the Navy Dept. To which is added a list of private armed vessels, fitted out under the American flag ... also a list of the revenue and coast survey vessels, and principal ocean steamers, belonging to citizens of the United States in 1850. Washington: Gideon & Co.
  • Good, Timothy S., ed. (2012). American privateers in the war of 1812: the vessels and their prizes as recorded in Niles' weekly register. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786466955.
  • Kert, Faye M. (2015). Privateering: Patriots and Profits in the War of 1812. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 9781421417479.
  • Maclay, Edgar Stanton (2004) [1899]. A History of American Privateers. New York: D. Appleton.
  • Quick, Stanley (2015). Lion in the Bay: The British Invasion of the Chesapeake, 1813-14. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 9781612512372.
  • Vice-Admiralty Court, Halifax (1911). American vessels captured by the British during the revolution and war of 1812. Salem, Mass.: Essex Institute.
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