HMS Blonde (1760)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Blonde and French ship Blonde.

Blonde at the Battle of Bishops Court

HMS Blonde was a 32-gun fifth-rate warship of the British Royal Navy captured from the French in 1760. The ship wrecked on Blonde Rock with American prisoners on board. An American privateer captain, Daniel Adams, rescued the American prisoners and let the British go free. The captain's decision created an international stir. Upon returning to Boston, the American privateer was banished for letting go the British crew and he and his family became Loyalist refugees in Nova Scotia.[1][2]

Career[edit]

On 24 February 1760, during the Seven Years' War, a British squadron, under Captain John Elliot in HMS Aeolus, met a French squadron under Captain François Thurot, who was aboard the French frigate Maréchal de Belleisle. In the subsequent Battle of Bishops Court, the British captured Maréchal de Belleisle (after Thurot was killed), Terpsichore, and Blonde. The Royal Navy took the latter two into service. It was named for its figurehead, in the form of a "large and shapely female in extreme décolletage," whose hair was painted blonde.[3]

American Revolution: On 17 December, 1777 she recaptured brig "Brothers" in Casco Bay, Brothers had been captured on 12 December.[4] On 6 April 1778 Blonde recaptured brigantine "Lord Dungannon" at (42°12′N 67°00′W / 42.200°N 67.000°W / 42.200; -67.000).[5] She participated in the Battle off Liverpool, Nova Scotia, 24 April 1778. On 30 May 1778 she captured Massachusetts privateer brigantine Washington south of Cape Sable Island.[6] In 1779, Blonde, under the command of Andrew Barkley from Halifax Station, captured the Resolution, under the command of Abel Gore, off Halifax, and the crew were imprisoned there.[7][8] She participated in the Penobscot Expedition of 1779, capturing, with HMS Virginia, the privateer "Hampden".[9]

On 25 January 1781, Blonde, Otter, and Delight, as well as some smaller vessels, carried 300 troops from Charleston to the Cape Fear River. The troops, together with 80 marines, temporarily occupied Wilmington, North Carolina, on 28 January.[10] The object of the expedition was to establish sea communications with Lord Cornwallis and provide a base for the army, which was moving north.[11]

Fate[edit]

Blonde was wrecked on Blonde Rock, Nova Scotia on 21 January 1782.[12][13][14][15][16] The 60 American prisoners on board HMS Blonde made their way to Seal Island, Nova Scotia. American privateer Noah Stoddard in the Scammell reluctantly allowed the British crew to go free and return to Halifax in HMS Observer, which was involved in the Naval battle off Halifax en route.[17][18]

Legacy[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ RADDALL, Thomas H. "Adventures of H.M.S. Blonde in Nova Scotia, 1778–1782". Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society, Vol. 35. 1966. pp. 29–52.
  2. ^ Paine, Ralph Delahaye (10 February 2007). The Ships and Sailors of Old Salem, Massachusetts. Heritage Books. ISBN 9780788437748 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ Society, Nova Scotia Historical (10 February 1966). "Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society". Nova Scotia Historical Society – via Google Books.
  4. ^ "Naval Documents of The American Revolution Volume 11 AMERICAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 EUROPEAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778" (PDF). U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  5. ^ "NAVAL DOCUMENTS OF The American Revolution" (PDF). history.navy.mil. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  6. ^ "NAVAL DOCUMENTS OF The American Revolution" (PDF). history.navy.mil. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  7. ^ "Massachusetts Archives Collection, 1772–1789 Content List: Vol. 139" (PDF). loyalist.lib.unb.ca. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  8. ^ Washington :History and Museums Division, Headquarters; Smith, Charles R. (Charles Richard); Waterhouse, Charles H. (10 February 1975). "Marines in the Revolution :a history of the Continental Marines in the American Revolution, 1775-1783 /". Washington : History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps : For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off. – via Internet Archive.
  9. ^ "The Penobscot Expedition: A Terrible Day for the Patriots". warfarehistorynetwork.com. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  10. ^ "No. 12162". The London Gazette. 13 February 1781. p. 4.
  11. ^ Clowes, William Laird; Markham, Clements Robert; Mahan, Alfred Thayer; Wilson, Herbert Wrigley; Roosevelt, Theodore; Laughton, Leonard George Carr (1899). The Royal Navy: A history from the earliest times to the present. Vol. 4. London: Sampson, Marston & Co. p. 61.
  12. ^ "The Town and Country Magazine, Or, Universal Repository of Knowledge, Instruction, and Entertainment". A. Hamilton. 10 February 1782 – via Google Books.
  13. ^ "The Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review". 10 February 1857 – via Google Books.
  14. ^ Wrongly reported by Colledge and Warlow as wrecked off Nantucket; mistake repeated by Hepper (1994), p.68.
  15. ^ RADDALL, Thomas H. "Adventures of H.M.S. Blonde in Nova Scotia, 1778–1782". Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society, Vol. 35. 1966. Pp. 29–52.
  16. ^ "HMS Blonde – 1782". Marine Heritage Database. Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  17. ^ Sacking of Lunenburg. Saga of the Seas, Archibald MacMechan, 1923
  18. ^ Thomas Head Raddall. "Adventures of H.M.S. Blonde in Nova Scotia, 1778–1782". Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society. 1966.
For other ships with the same name, see HMS Blonde.
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