Capture of USS Trumbull

Capture of USS Trumbull
Part of the American Revolutionary War
"Storm Tossed Frigate" by Thomas Chambers.
Date August 29, 1781 Location off Virginia Capes, Chesapeake Bay, Atlantic Ocean Result British victory
Belligerents
United States	Kingdom of Great Britain
Commanders and leaders
James Nicholson	unknown
Strength
1 frigate	1 frigate 1 sloop-of-war
Casualties and losses
5 killed 11 wounded 1 frigate captured	unknown

The Capture of USS Trumbull occurred in August of 1781 and was one of the last naval battles of the American Revolutionary War involving the Continental Navy. After an engagement in Chesapeake Bay, two British warships forced the surrender of the Trumbull and towed her away.

Background

USS Trumbull was the last of the thirteen original frigates authorized by the Continental Congress for service in the war. She was commanded by veteran Captain James Nicholson and displaced 700 tons, with an armament of twenty-four 12-pounders and six 6-pounders. On August 8 of 1781 Captain Nicholson recieved orders to depart the Delaware Capes with two privateers to escort a convoy of twenty-eight American ships. On August 28, the fleet was still in Chesapeake Bay when lookouts sighted two or three sets of sails to the east. A chase began and continued into the night, at which time a rain squall struck and dispersed the American ships. USS Trumbull lost her main topgallant mast and her fore-topmast, forcing the Americans to run before the wind and thus falling far behind the convoy. A little later, in the morning of August 29, Captain Nicholson discovered the thirty-four gun British frigate HMS Iris, the former USS Hancock, and the eighteen gun sloop-of-war HMS General Monk, the former American privateer General Washington.

Capture

USS Trumbull depicted on the 1781 grave of Jabez Smith, a sailor killed on the ship, labeled "anchored in the haven of rest."

Nicholson knew that with only one remaining mast he could not escape so he ordered his men to beat to quarters and engage. The crew of Trumbull, who were mostly Brirish deserters, knew they had little chance of winning a battle, so one third of them cowered below deck while Captain Nicholson rallied the remainder. For an hour and thirty-five minutes the Americans resisted. Most of the battle involved the Trumbull engaging the Iris, but towards the end HMS General Monk closed and joined in. Soon after Nicholson chose to strike the colors, having lost five sailors killed and eleven more wounded. The General Monk then took the Trumbull under tow and sailed for New York where the frigate was broken up. The American ship was heavily damaged so she was not taken into British service like many of the other thirteen original frigates. An interesting coincidence was that of Iris' armament. First commissioned as USS Hancock, HMS Iris carried twenty-four 12-pounders and six 6-pounders which were originally intended to be used on the Trumbull.

References

 This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

• Paine, Lincoln P. (2000). Warships of the world to 1900. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 0395984149.
• Sweetman, Jack (2002). American naval history: an illustrated chronology of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, 1775-present. US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1557508674.