Blenheim (1783 ship)

For other ships with the same name, see Blenheim (ship) and HMS Hinchinbrook.

History
Naval Ensign of Massachusetts or Massachusetts
NameBritannia
BuilderPhiladelphia
Launched1776
RenamedAmerican Tartar
CapturedAugust 1777
Royal Navy Ensign (1707-1801)Great Britain
NameHMS Hinchinbrook
Acquired9 October 1777 by purchase of a prize
FateSold 1783
Great Britain
NameBlenheim
Acquired1783 by purchase
FateCaptured and burnt 1806
General characteristics
Tons burthen300,[1] or 318,[2] or 321,[3] or 331[4] (bm)
Complement
  • Privateer:150–200
  • Royal Navy:125[2]
Armament
  • Privateer
    • July 1777:20 × 9-pounder + 12 × 4-pounder guns
    • August 1777:10 × 9-pounder + 8 × 6-pounder guns + 2 × 4-pounder + 4 × 3-poundeer guns
  • Royal Navy:16 × 6-pounder guns[2]
  • Whaler:6 × 4-pounder guns[4]
NotesBuilt of live oak and cedar[5]

Blenheim may have been launched in 1776 in Philadelphia as Britannia. By 1777 she was the Massachusetts-based privateer American Tartar and had taken several prizes. She had also participated in an inconclusive single-ship action with a British merchantman. The British Royal Navy captured American Tartar late in 1777 and she became HMS Hinchinbrook. The Royal Navy sold her in 1783 and she became the West Indiaman Blenheim. In 1785-86 she became a Greenland whaler and she continued in that trade until two French frigates captured and burnt her in 1806.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference LR1783 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c Winfield (2007), p. 290.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference RS1805 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference LR1798 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference LR1784 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).