AH-WR-1001

HMS Jersey

Prison Hulk · Great Britain · Lost 1783 · New York Harbor

The most infamous of Britain's Revolutionary War prison hulks, where thousands of American captives died at anchor in Wallabout Bay.

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Historically Reconstructed. Drawn from partial documentation of this vessel together with her known class and configuration. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Built in 1736 as a 64-gun ship of the line, Jersey was decommissioned and converted first to a hospital ship and then, from 1780, to a prison hulk anchored in Wallabout Bay off Brooklyn. She held captured American sailors and privateersmen in notoriously brutal conditions, earning the nickname "Hell" among prisoners. Thousands died aboard her from disease, malnutrition, and neglect and were buried along the Brooklyn shore. When the British evacuated New York in 1783 the ship was abandoned and left to rot at her moorings.

Vessel

Built: 1736
Builder: Plymouth Dockyard
Yard: Plymouth, England
Material: Wood
Length: 144 ft
Beam: 41.4 ft
Tonnage: 1065
Propulsion: Sail (hulked, dismasted as prison ship)
Owners: Royal Navy

Loss

Date: November 1, 1783
Cause: Intentional sinking
Location: Wallabout Bay, East River, near present-day Brooklyn Navy Yard
Water: New York Harbor (East River)
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Widely cited figures put total deaths aboard Jersey and the other Wallabout Bay prison ships at more than 11,000 over the course of the war, though the exact number attributable to Jersey alone is not established.
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: No confirmed surviving structure; site buried under later landfill and dockyard development.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: 1902
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: Not established
Accuracy: Position not established
Nearest: Wallabout Bay, Brooklyn, New York
Region: New York Harbor

Historical accounts place her mooring in Wallabout Bay, but no verified modern position for hull remains is published.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Partially documented (70/100)

The exact fate and any surviving remains of the hull are not established; the ship was left to rot rather than formally wrecked, and later landfill has obscured the site.

U.S. National Park Service
Prison ship history, conditions, and death toll context.
U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings
Detail on the sequence of Wallabout Bay prison hulks and Jersey's role.
Wikipedia, citing Royal Navy ship histories
Build date, dimensions, and general service history.