Battle off Barbados
Encyclopedia
The Battle off Barbados was fought in March of 1778 during the American Revolutionary War
. While escorting a fleet of American
ships in the West Indies, the frigate
USS Randolph
was attacked by the British
ship-of-the-line HMS Yarmouth
. The following action resulted in America's most costly naval defeat, in terms of human lives, until the sinking of USS Arizona
in 1941.
Nicholas Biddle
was in command of the thirty-six gun Randolph at the time, having received orders from John Rutledge
to break the enemy blockade of Charleston
, South Carolina
. A large number of merchantmen had been trapped there so after breaking the blockade, Biddle was to sail south into the South Atlantic. Four other armed ships accompanied the Randolph in this mission, the General Moultrie, Notre Dame, Fair American and the Polly. However, after sailing out to meet the British off Charleston on February 14, the enemy was nowhere in sight so the American fleet headed for the West Indies where Biddle would raid commerce. On February 16, the fleet burned a British ship which had been dismasted by a privateer
and on March 4, the Polly captured a small schooner
which was added to the fleet as a tender
. Three days after that, at about 5:30 pm, on March 7, 1778, the Americans were sailing off the eastern coast of Barbados
when lookouts spotted a large ship to the windward. Captain Biddle assumed the vessel to be a man-o-war so he directed most of his ships to continue on while he remained behind to engage with the Randolph and the eighteen gun ship General Moultrie.
The enemy ship turned out to be the sixty-four gun HMS Yarmouth under the command of Captain Nicholas Vincent. After a few hours of maneuvering, the engagement began at about 9:00 pm when the Americans raised their colors and opened fire on the Yarmouth with a broadside. The British responded with one of their own and for twenty minutes a bloody battle raged. Captain Biddle was wounded early on in the action but he continued to fight for a few minutes, the shots that wounded him are thought to have come from the General Moultrie which accidentally struck the Randolph. The Americans seemed to be on the verge of victory when a spark entered the Randolphs powder magazine
, causing a large explosion which completely destroyed the frigate in an instant. USS Randolph then sank with a loss of 301 men, only four others survived and Captain Biddle died ten days later from his wounds. According to Captain Hall of the Notre Dame, Biddle and his men heavily damaged the Yarmouth within twelve to fifteen minutes while the American ships were still mostly unharmed. The Yarmouth lost her bowsprit and her topmasts, a portion of which fell down and damaged the poop. Another portion of the topmasts fell into the top-gallant sails and then onto the cap. Five British sailors were killed and another twelve men received wounds.
After sinking the Randolph, Captain Vincent tried to go after the other American ships but they dispersed in separate ways. Damage to the Yarmouths sail also gave the Americans the advantage to slip away. The four survivng Americans were not captured right away but five days later. HMS Yarmouth came across them on March 12 while she was chasing a ship west. The four were clinging to some wreckage and had survived by sucking rain water out of a blanket. The death of Captain Biddle was considered a severe blow to the Continental Navy
; well respected, Biddle was regarded as a professional sailor and a strong leader.
WHAT distant thunders rend the skies,
What clouds of smoke in volumes rise,
What means this dreadful roar!
Is from his base Vesuvius thrown,
Is sky-topt Atlas tumbled down,
Or Etna's self no more!
Shock after shock torments my ear;
And lo! two hostile ships appear,
Red lightnings round them glow:
The Yarmouth boasts of sixty-four,
The Randolph thirty-two—no more--
And will she fight this foe!
The Randolph soon on Stygian streams
Shall coast along the land of dreams,
The islands of the dead!
But fate, that parts them on the deep,
Shall save the Briton, still to weep
His ancient honors fled.
Say, who commands that dismal blaze,
Where yonder starry streamer plays;
Does Mars with Jove engage!
'Tis Biddle wings those angry fires;
Biddle, whose bosom Jove inspires
With more than mortal rage.
Tremendous flash! and hark, the ball
Drives through old Yarmouth, flames and all;
Her bravest sons expire;
Did Mars himself approach so nigh,
Even Mars, without disgrace, might fly
The Randolph's fiercer fire.
The Briton views his mangled crew;
"And shall we strike to Thirty-Two"
(Said Hector, stained with gore);
"Shall Britain's flag to these descend--
Rise, and the glorious conflict end,
Britons, I ask no more!"
He spoke—they charged their cannon round,
Again the vaulted heavens resound,
The Randolph bore it all,
Then fixed her pointed cannons true--
Away the unwieldy vengeance flew;
Britain, the warriors fall.
The Yarmouth saw, with dire dismay,
Her wounded hull, shrouds shot away,
Her boldest heroes dead--
She saw amidst her floating slain
The conquering Randolph stem the main--
She saw, she turned, and fled!
That hour, blest chief, had she been thine,
Dear Biddle, had the powers divine
Been kind as thou wert brave;
But fate, who doomed thee to expire,
Prepared an arrow, tipped with fire,
And marked a watery grave,
And in that hour when conquest came
Winged at his ship a pointed flame
That not even He could shun--
The conquest ceased, the Yarmouth fled,
The bursting Randolph ruin spread,
And lost what honor won.
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. While escorting a fleet of American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
ships in the West Indies, the frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
USS Randolph
USS Randolph (1776)
The first USS Randolph was a 32-gun frigate in the Continental Navy named for Peyton Randolph.Construction of the first Randolph was authorized by the Continental Congress on 13 December 1775. The frigate, designed by Joshua Humphreys, was launched on 10 July 1776, by Wharton and Humphreys at...
was attacked by the British
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
ship-of-the-line HMS Yarmouth
HMS Yarmouth (1745)
HMS Yarmouth was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford Dockyard. She was previously ordered to the dimensions specified in the 1741 proposals for modifications to the 1719 Establishment, but the Admiralty had very quickly concluded that these were too small, and...
. The following action resulted in America's most costly naval defeat, in terms of human lives, until the sinking of USS Arizona
USS Arizona (BB-39)
USS Arizona, a , was built for the United States Navy in the mid-1910s. Named in honor of the 48th state's recent admission into the union, the ship was the second and last of the Pennsylvania class of "super-dreadnought" battleships. Although commissioned in 1916, the ship remained stateside...
in 1941.
Battle
The young twenty-eight year old CaptainCaptain (naval)
Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....
Nicholas Biddle
Nicholas Biddle (naval officer)
Nicholas Biddle was one of the first five captains of the Continental Navy, which was raised by the Americans during the American Revolutionary War.-Early life:Nicholas Biddle was born in Philadelphia....
was in command of the thirty-six gun Randolph at the time, having received orders from John Rutledge
John Rutledge
John Rutledge was an American statesman and judge. He was the first Governor of South Carolina following the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the 31st overall...
to break the enemy blockade of Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
, South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
. A large number of merchantmen had been trapped there so after breaking the blockade, Biddle was to sail south into the South Atlantic. Four other armed ships accompanied the Randolph in this mission, the General Moultrie, Notre Dame, Fair American and the Polly. However, after sailing out to meet the British off Charleston on February 14, the enemy was nowhere in sight so the American fleet headed for the West Indies where Biddle would raid commerce. On February 16, the fleet burned a British ship which had been dismasted by a privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
and on March 4, the Polly captured a small schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
which was added to the fleet as a tender
Tender
-Transportation:* Tender , a type of railroad car hauled immediately after the locomotive and used to carry fuel and water* Water tender, fire truck tanker-Boats/ships:* Buoy tender, used to maintain Aids to Navigation including buoys...
. Three days after that, at about 5:30 pm, on March 7, 1778, the Americans were sailing off the eastern coast of Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
when lookouts spotted a large ship to the windward. Captain Biddle assumed the vessel to be a man-o-war so he directed most of his ships to continue on while he remained behind to engage with the Randolph and the eighteen gun ship General Moultrie.
The enemy ship turned out to be the sixty-four gun HMS Yarmouth under the command of Captain Nicholas Vincent. After a few hours of maneuvering, the engagement began at about 9:00 pm when the Americans raised their colors and opened fire on the Yarmouth with a broadside. The British responded with one of their own and for twenty minutes a bloody battle raged. Captain Biddle was wounded early on in the action but he continued to fight for a few minutes, the shots that wounded him are thought to have come from the General Moultrie which accidentally struck the Randolph. The Americans seemed to be on the verge of victory when a spark entered the Randolphs powder magazine
Powder Magazine
Powder Magazine, Powder House, or Powderworks may refer to:* Gunpowder magazine*Magazine , the general term-in the United States:* Powder Magazine , listed on the NRHP in Alabama...
, causing a large explosion which completely destroyed the frigate in an instant. USS Randolph then sank with a loss of 301 men, only four others survived and Captain Biddle died ten days later from his wounds. According to Captain Hall of the Notre Dame, Biddle and his men heavily damaged the Yarmouth within twelve to fifteen minutes while the American ships were still mostly unharmed. The Yarmouth lost her bowsprit and her topmasts, a portion of which fell down and damaged the poop. Another portion of the topmasts fell into the top-gallant sails and then onto the cap. Five British sailors were killed and another twelve men received wounds.
After sinking the Randolph, Captain Vincent tried to go after the other American ships but they dispersed in separate ways. Damage to the Yarmouths sail also gave the Americans the advantage to slip away. The four survivng Americans were not captured right away but five days later. HMS Yarmouth came across them on March 12 while she was chasing a ship west. The four were clinging to some wreckage and had survived by sucking rain water out of a blanket. The death of Captain Biddle was considered a severe blow to the Continental Navy
Continental Navy
The Continental Navy was the navy of the United States during the American Revolutionary War, and was formed in 1775. Through the efforts of the Continental Navy's patron, John Adams and vigorous Congressional support in the face of stiff opposition, the fleet cumulatively became relatively...
; well respected, Biddle was regarded as a professional sailor and a strong leader.
Popular Culture
On the Death of Captain Nicholas BiddleWHAT distant thunders rend the skies,
What clouds of smoke in volumes rise,
What means this dreadful roar!
Is from his base Vesuvius thrown,
Is sky-topt Atlas tumbled down,
Or Etna's self no more!
Shock after shock torments my ear;
And lo! two hostile ships appear,
Red lightnings round them glow:
The Yarmouth boasts of sixty-four,
The Randolph thirty-two—no more--
And will she fight this foe!
The Randolph soon on Stygian streams
Shall coast along the land of dreams,
The islands of the dead!
But fate, that parts them on the deep,
Shall save the Briton, still to weep
His ancient honors fled.
Say, who commands that dismal blaze,
Where yonder starry streamer plays;
Does Mars with Jove engage!
'Tis Biddle wings those angry fires;
Biddle, whose bosom Jove inspires
With more than mortal rage.
Tremendous flash! and hark, the ball
Drives through old Yarmouth, flames and all;
Her bravest sons expire;
Did Mars himself approach so nigh,
Even Mars, without disgrace, might fly
The Randolph's fiercer fire.
The Briton views his mangled crew;
"And shall we strike to Thirty-Two"
(Said Hector, stained with gore);
"Shall Britain's flag to these descend--
Rise, and the glorious conflict end,
Britons, I ask no more!"
He spoke—they charged their cannon round,
Again the vaulted heavens resound,
The Randolph bore it all,
Then fixed her pointed cannons true--
Away the unwieldy vengeance flew;
Britain, the warriors fall.
The Yarmouth saw, with dire dismay,
Her wounded hull, shrouds shot away,
Her boldest heroes dead--
She saw amidst her floating slain
The conquering Randolph stem the main--
She saw, she turned, and fled!
That hour, blest chief, had she been thine,
Dear Biddle, had the powers divine
Been kind as thou wert brave;
But fate, who doomed thee to expire,
Prepared an arrow, tipped with fire,
And marked a watery grave,
And in that hour when conquest came
Winged at his ship a pointed flame
That not even He could shun--
The conquest ceased, the Yarmouth fled,
The bursting Randolph ruin spread,
And lost what honor won.