Sloop o' War

Hoist up the Sloop...

Apologies to the Beach Boys, but unfortunately, too many folks know the term "Sloop" from the great song "Sloop John B," which was actually recorded first by the Kingston Trio. But "Sloop B." was originally a West Indies folk song, The John B. Sails. Since the last Yankee Doodle Spies post had a naval theme, I thought I'd continue the theme as April is the month when the great American naval legend John Paul Jones set off on his renowned raids against Great Britain. And he set off in a sloop. I will save a comprehensive analysis of naval vessels for another time and will focus on the sloop. During the time of the Yankee Doodle Spies,  sloop was more of a generic term for a sailing ship of a certain size, rather than a specific type of vessel.

All kinds of Ships

The battleships of the age of sail were "rated ships" with square masts carrying more than 20 guns, and the most heavily armed carried upwards of 100. There were six rates of these ships. The first and second rates were the largest battleships of the period, boasting ninety or more guns. However, most rated ships, or men of war, during the period of the American Revolution were third rates, equipped with 64 to 84 guns. All of these ships were designed to fight in a line of battle, exchanging broadsides with the enemy line until one side cried uncle. Lower rates of ships also existed, with the best known being frigates—the battlecruisers of their day—with around 28 to 40 guns. In the type of war fought by the upstart Americans, many non-rated ships proved to be the most practical to employ, especially at the beginning of the American War for Independence. While I won't go into all the types of cannon used, suffice it to say that the weapons were generally rated based on the weight of the iron ball shot fired. The larger weights were in the 48-pound range, while the middle weights included 32, 24, and 18-pounders. Smaller guns were 12 and 6-pounders. There were even smaller weights (around a pound), mainly the swivel guns carried by most ships, which were not included in the ship's armament ranking. Yes, the larger rated ships typically carried more of the larger caliber (sic) guns.

Ships of the Line were the
battleships of the age

Sloop O' War

The definition of a sloop today is a one-masted sailboat with a fore-and-aft mainsail and a jib. However, during the time of the Yankee Doodle Spies, a sloop of war was defined as a small square-rigged sailing warship with two or three masts. Sloops were the next class below the rated ships. This loosely defined class of ship carried between 8 and 20 guns. They could be ship-rigged or brig-rigged, meaning they could have anywhere from one to three masts. There was no standardization for sloops, so exact categorization is difficult. A nautical dictionary of the time, Blanckey's Naval Expositor, shows how whimsical the definition of a sloop of the period could be: "Sloops are sailed and masted as men's fancies freed them, sometimes with one mast, with two and three, with Bermudoes, Shoulder of Mutton, Lugg, and Smack sails; they are in figure either square or round and stern'd." 

 

Sloops typically carried smaller guns of 12 pounds or less, mounted on a single deck. Therefore, until standardization, the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all unrated combat vessels, including the very small gun-brigs and cutters. In technical terms, even more specialized bomb vessels and fire ships were classified as sloops-of-war, and in practice, these were employed in the sloop role when not carrying out their specialized functions.

British Sloop O' War 1776

How They Fought

The war for American Independence at sea witnessed few large-scale engagements between Continental and British ships. Although the significant battles in the later phase of the eight-year conflict between the French and British were decisive for our victory, America's navy was small and limited. When Congress authorized a navy, the largest class built consisted of frigates, which were at the lower end of the rated ships. Thus, most engagements involved sloops from the fledgling fleet and American privateers. Most battles took place as raids, one-on-one encounters, and, of course, the seizure of merchant vessels. Sloops were particularly suited for all these purposes, as they were fast, maneuverable, and carried just enough armament to get the job done. Moreover, these small engagements held symbolic value in terms of propaganda, often impacting sentiments in America, Britain, and France. Let's now take a look at the life of a sloop of war through the eyes of two of the war's most famous.

USS Enterprise

Neither from the Star Fleet nor the Pacific Fleet, the first Enterprise originally belonged to the British and cruised on Lake Champlain to supply their posts in Canada. After the capture of Fort Ticonderoga by the Americans on May 10, 1775, it became the object of desire in the mind of Benedict Arnold, who realized he would not have control of Lake Champlain until its capture. He learned it was stationed at a small British garrison at St. John’s on the Richelieu in Canada and set out from Skenesborough (Whitehall, New York) in the commandeered sloop Liberty for that place on May 14, 1775. He surprised and captured the British garrison on May 18, took possession of the 70-ton sloop, and sailed it south to Crown Point. Arnold named it Enterprise and fitted it out with twelve long 4-pound carriage guns and ten swivels. On about August 1, 1775, Captain James Smith was sent by the New York Provincial Congress to General Philip Schuyler and ordered to take command of “the sloop Enterprise."

USS Enterprise

USS Ranger 

Ranger, initially called Hampshire, was launched on May 10, 1777, by James Hackett, master shipbuilder, at the shipyard of John Langdon on what is now Badger's Island in Kittery, Maine. Captain John Paul Jones was in command. Readers might recall that Kittery was mentioned in my last post. It sailed for France on November 1, 1777, carrying dispatches about General Burgoyne's surrender to the commissioners in Paris. During the voyage, Ranger captured two British prizes. Ranger arrived at Nantes, France, on December 2. On February 14, 1778, Ranger received an official salute to the new American flag, the "Stars and Stripes," from the French fleet at Quiberon Bay. On April 10, 1778, Ranger sailed from Brest for the Irish Sea, and four days later, she captured a prize between the Scilly Isles and Cape Clear. On April 17, she took another prize and sent it back to France. Captain Jones led a daring raid on the British port of Whitehaven on April 23, spiking the guns of the fortress and burning the ships in the harbor. Sailing across the bay to St. Mary's Isle, Scotland, Jones planned to seize the Earl of Selkirk and hold him as a hostage to obtain better treatment for American prisoners of war. However, the scheme failed. Several Royal Navy cruisers were searching for Ranger, and Captain Jones sailed across the North Channel to Carrickfergus, Ireland, to draw out HMS Drake, a 14-gun ship, for a fight. Drake slowly emerged against the wind and tide, and after an hour's battle, the battered Drake struck her colors (surrendered), resulting in three Americans and five British killed in the combat. After making temporary repairs and placing a prize crew on Drake, Ranger continued around the west coast of Ireland, capturing a stores ship, and arrived at Brest with her prizes on the 8th of May.

USS Ranger

John Paul Jones surrendered command of Ranger to take charge of the refurbished prize, Bonhomme Richard. He left his first officer, Lieutenant Simpson, in command. Ranger departed Brest on August 21, arriving in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on October 15 with three prizes captured in the Atlantic. The sloop set sail from Portsmouth on February 24, 1779, and joined the Continental Navy ships Queen of France and Warren in harassing British shipping in the North Atlantic. Seven prizes were seized in early April and safely brought into port for sale. On June 18, Ranger set out again with Providence and Queen of France, capturing two Jamaicamen ships in July and nine more vessels off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Of the 11 prizes, three were recaptured, but the remaining eight, along with their cargoes, were worth over a million dollars when sold in Boston. These attacks on British merchantmen by Ranger and other sloops of war significantly contributed to funding U.S. efforts and undermining British mercantile interests, ultimately leading to pressure on Parliament to respond in kind. But Ranger's fate would be ignominious.

Siege of Charleston

On the 23rd of November, Ranger was ordered to Commodore Whipple's squadron, arriving in Charleston on the 23rd of December to support the garrison under siege by the British. On the 24th of January 1780, Ranger and Providence captured three transports loaded with supplies during a brief cruise down the coast near Tybee, Georgia. The British assault force was also discovered in the area. Ranger and Providence returned to Charleston with this news. Shortly afterward, the British began their final push. Although the channel and harbor configuration made naval operations and support challenging, Ranger took a position in the Cooper River and was captured by the British when the city fell on May 11, 1780. USS Ranger was taken into the British Royal Navy and commissioned as HMS Halifax, but she was decommissioned the following year. This was a kind of anticlimax for the renowned and doughty sloop o' war.

Sloop o War USS Providence