USS Diligent
Brig-Sloop · United States · Lost 1779 · Cape Ann & the Gulf of Maine
A British brig captured by the Continental Navy in 1779 and scuttled just months later in the Penobscot River during America's worst naval defeat of the Revolution.
The Vessel and Her Loss
Diligent began as a Royal Navy brig-sloop before the Continental Navy captured her in May 1779. Recommissioned as USS Diligent, she joined the Penobscot Expedition against the British post at Majabigwaduce that same summer. When the expedition collapsed under British counterattack in August 1779, her crew scuttled her in the Penobscot River along with most of the American fleet.
Vessel
- 1777
- Not established
- America (built for Royal Navy purchase)
- Wood
- 88 ft
- 25 ft
- 236
- Sail
- Continental Navy (formerly Royal Navy)
Loss
- August 14, 1779
- Intentional sinking
- Penobscot River, Maine
- Penobscot River
- Boston, Massachusetts → Majabigwaduce (Castine), Maine
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Possibly associated with the 'Phinney Site' wreck investigated by U.S. Navy underwater archaeologists in the Penobscot River
- Not established
- 1999
- Not established
Position
- Not established
- Position not established
- Penobscot River, Maine
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (70/100)
It is not established in the sources reviewed whether the archaeologically investigated 'Phinney Site' wreck is specifically the remains of Diligent rather than another vessel of the fleet.
Wikipedia, citing Royal Navy and Continental Navy records
Build, capture, and loss history
Naval History and Heritage Command, Penobscot Expedition Archaeological Project
Archaeological investigation of a Penobscot Expedition vessel wreck
