Hunter
Privateer Sloop · United States · Lost 1779 · Penobscot Bay & Midcoast Maine
A 14-gun American privateer sloop depicted under British fire in a commissioned Royal Navy painting of the Penobscot Expedition's destruction.
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The Vessel and Her Loss
Hunter was a 14-gun privateer sloop that joined the 1779 Penobscot Expedition against the British post at Majabigwaduce, Maine. She appears in Dominic Serres's contemporary painting of the fleet's destruction, shown taking fire from HMS Raisonnable as the British squadron broke up the American force in mid-August 1779. Naval reference sources differ on whether she was destroyed or captured in the action.
Vessel
- 1779
- Not established
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- Wood
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- Sail, sloop rigged
- Private owners
Loss
- August 14, 1779
- Enemy action
- Penobscot Bay or River, Maine
- Penobscot River
- Boston → Penobscot Bay, Maine
- Not established
- Not established
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The Wreck Today
- Not established
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Position
- Not established
- Position not established
- Penobscot Bay, Maine
Evidence
Overall confidence: Sparsely documented (40/100)
Whether Hunter was destroyed or captured in the action is not settled between the sources reviewed.
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich (via Wikipedia entry on the Serres painting)
Depiction of Hunter under fire from HMS Raisonnable during the action.
threedecks.org naval history database
Listing of Hunter as an American privateer sloop, 14 guns, captured 14 August 1779.
