HMS Antigua (1757)

The first HMS Antigua was a 14-gun brig-sloop that served in the British Royal Navy from 1757 to 1763.

History
United Kingdom
Name: HMS Antigua
Namesake: Antigua, an island in the West Indies
Acquired: 4 June 1757
Fate: Sold 13 August 1763
General characteristics
Type: Brig-sloop
Tons burthen: 157 BM
Length: 71 ft 6 in (21.79 m)
Beam: 23 ft 6 in (7.16 m)
Armament: 14 guns
For other ships with the same name, see HMS Antigua.

Antigua had served as a privateer before the Royal Navy purchased her on 4 June 1757. She was sold in the West Indies on 13 August 1763.[1]

The sloop brought the French privateer Marie-Catherine into St. John's, Antigua, on March 24, 1758. The Antigua had captured the Marie-Catherine with the aid of privateers. The French crew threw its 8 carriage guns and 8 swivel guns overboard during the pursuit.[2] The Antigua recaptured a British schooner that was departing Dutch Suriname days later. The schooner, loaded with sugar and molasses, was sent into English Harbor.[3] Months later, the Antigua captured a 10-gun French privateer on May 1 after a "smart engagement" in which the French suffered several casualties. The prize was brought into St. John's.[4] The Antigua captured a 10-gun French privateer in the Atlantic in June 1758 after a battle that lasted for several hours. The prize was brought into Philadelphia harbor.[5] In July, the Antigua was attacked while sailing from Barbados on the windward side of Martinique by a 16-gun French privateer. The two ships exchanged fire until two more French privateers arrived and the Antigua broke off the engagement and safely reached English Harbor.[6] On November 6, the Antigua brought a 5-gun French Privateer and its 24-man crew into St. John's.[7] The Antigua, under commander Weston Varlo, engaged a 12-gun French privateer off the windward coast of its namesake island on December 11. The battle lasted for a half hour and resulted in the capture of the French ship, with 5 privateers killed and 9 wounded.[8]

The Antigua started 1759 with much activity. On January 7, the ship spotted the merchant Nancy from Bristol being captured by two privateers off of Wiloughby Bay. Varlo signaled HMS Spy in English Harbour and the two Royal Navy ships sailed after the French ships and their prize. The two privateers left their prize to be recaptured by the Antigua and Spy, abandoning a prize crew that had taken control of the Nancy. Six days later, the Antigua brought in a 6-gun French privateer. Another privateer, a sloop loaded with beef and wine, was captured on January 23 while it was en route from Sint Eustatius to Martinique.[9] In October 1759, the Antigua recaptured the sloop George, a New London-based vessel that had been taken by a French privateer.[10] The sloop captured an additional 4 ships in November, bringing 3 ships engaged in the Dutch-French Caribbean trade and a 6-gun French privateer sloop into St. John's, Antigua.[11]

References
  1. Colledge, p. 34
  2. "St. John's (Antigua)". The Pennsylvania Gazette. 11 May 1758.
  3. "St. John's, in Antigua". The New-York Mercury. 26 June 1758.
  4. "Antigua Gazette". The Boston News-Letter. 22 June 1758.
  5. "Philadelphia". The Boston Weekly Advertiser. 26 June 1758.
  6. "St. Christophers, July 26". The Pennsylvania Gazette. 24 August 1758.
  7. "St. John's, (in Antigua) November 4". Boston Post-Boy. 8 January 1759.
  8. "St. John's in Antigua, Dec. 6". The Boston Evening-Post. 22 January 1759.
  9. "St. John's in Antigua, January 10". The Pennsylvania Gazette. 8 March 1759.
  10. "St. John's, in Antigua, October 18". The Pennsylvania Gazette. 29 November 1759.
  11. "St. John's, in Antigua, November 3". The Pennsylvania Gazette. 7 February 1760.
  • Colledge, J.J. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy From the Fifteenth Century to the Present. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1987. ISBN 0-87021-652-X.
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