Black Prince
Privateer Ship · United States · Lost 1779 · Penobscot Bay & Midcoast Maine
An 18-gun, 220-ton privateer ship out of Beverly, Massachusetts, burned in the Penobscot River after the collapse of the 1779 expedition.
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The Vessel and Her Loss
Black Prince was a privateer ship of 220 tons carrying about 18 guns, owned privately out of Beverly, Massachusetts, and commissioned in June 1778. She joined the Massachusetts fleet assembled in 1779 to attack the new British post at Penobscot Bay. When British reinforcements under Sir George Collier arrived and scattered the American fleet, Black Prince was driven upriver and burned with most of the expedition's other vessels rather than be taken.
Vessel
- 1777
- Not established
- Salisbury, Maryland
- Wood
- Not established
- Not established
- 220
- Sail, ship rigged
- Private owners, Beverly, Massachusetts
Loss
- August 14, 1779
- Fire
- Penobscot River, Maine
- Penobscot River
- Boothbay, Massachusetts (District of Maine) → Penobscot Bay, Maine
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- Not established
- Position not established
- Bangor, Maine
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (58/100)
Her master at the time of loss and her precise wreck position are not established in the sources reviewed.
threedecks.org naval history database, citing Octavius T. Howe
Tonnage, guns, crew, home port, commissioning date, and Penobscot Expedition service and loss.
