Battle off Halifax (1780)

For the later battle, see Battle off Halifax (1782).
Battle off Halifax (1780)
Part of the American Revolutionary War
Date10 July 1780
Location
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Result American victory
Belligerents
 United States  Great Britain
Commanders and leaders
United States William Williams[1][2][3] Kingdom of Great Britain Thomas Ross[4]
Strength
1 Privateer (16 guns)
British report: 130 men
American report: 90 men		 1 Brig
unknown
Casualties and losses
British report: 33 killed and wounded
American report: 1 killed, 2 wounded[5]		 8 killed; 10 wounded
1 Brig captured

The Battle off Halifax took place on 10 July 1780 during the American Revolutionary War. The British privateer Resolution fought the American privateer Viper and heavy casualties were suffered by both sides.[6] The battle was "one of the bloodiest battles in the history of privateering.... a loss of 51 lives in a single battle was virtually unheard of."[7]

  1. ^ William Williams[usurped] at awiatsea.com; Retrieved 16 February 2021
  2. ^ Gardner Weld, Massachusetts privateers of the Revolution (1927) at babel.hathihursttrust.org, p. 317
  3. ^ Gardner Weld, Massachusetts privateers of the Revolution (1927) at babel.hathihursttrust.org, p. 156
  4. ^ Capture of ship in 1777
  5. ^ Viper (William Williams)[usurped] at awiatsea.com; Retrieved 16 February 2021
  6. ^ Murdoch, Beamish (1866). A History of Nova-Scotia, Or Acadie. Vol. II. Halifax: J. Barnes. p. 608.
  7. ^ Plunder & Pillage: Atlantic Canada's Brutal and Bloodthirsty Pirates and ... By Harold Horwood, p. 134