Prince de Neufchatel
Encyclopedia
The Prince de Neufchatel was a fast sailing United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
schooner-rigged
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....
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...
, built in New York by Noah and Adam Brown in approximately 1812. She is a fine example of the peak of development of the armed schooner. Neufchatel operated in mainly Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an waters, damaging British
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
shipping during the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. Noted for her speed, at one time she outran seventeen men-of-war. In 1813, operating in the English channel, she took nine British prizes in quick succession. She also delivered a crushing defeat to the boats of a British frigate that tried to capture her. The British finally captured her in December 1814; She was broken up in 1815.
Construction
Her design is believed to be due to Christian Bergh. She had a hermaphrodite rigHermaphrodite
In biology, a hermaphrodite is an organism that has reproductive organs normally associated with both male and female sexes.Many taxonomic groups of animals do not have separate sexes. In these groups, hermaphroditism is a normal condition, enabling a form of sexual reproduction in which both...
, i.e., she combined the rigs of a 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....
and a brigantine
Brigantine
In sailing, a brigantine or hermaphrodite brig is a vessel with two masts, only the forward of which is square rigged.-Origins of the term:...
. "She carried four sails on the foremast, one square sail on the main, and a large fore-and-aft sail with gaff abaft the fore, with large staysails over and three jibs. Her spanker boom projected far beyond the stern."
After her capture her design caught the Navy Board's interest and on 10 April 1815 it ordered Woolwich Dock to build a copy. However, with the end of the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
and the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, the copy was never built.
Career
On October 11, 1814, under Captain John Ordronaux, she engaged in one of the most violent privateer clashes of the war. Becalmed on the south side of Nantucket, she became vulnerable. Captain Henry Hope of the thereupon sent 111 men in five boats to cut out the privateersman defended by 40 Americans. After 20 minutes of savage fighting, the Englishmen asked for mercy. British casualties amounted to 28 killed, 37 wounded, and 28 taken prisoner. The Americans reported 7 killed and 24 wounded. Ordronaux put most of the wounded and prisoners off at Nantucket, and made the best of his way to Boston.On 28 December 1814, in the Atlantic, the three British frigates, , , and sighted her and began to pursue. Under the strain of the large sail area her masts sprung. Not being able to out run the British frigates Prince de Neufchatel surrendered. John Ordronaux was apparently not her captain at the time; her commander was Nicholas Millin. At the time of her capture, Prince de Neufchatel was armed with 18 guns and had a crew of 129 men. She was eight days out of Boston.
Fate
The British took Prince de Neufchatel back to England. There, however, she was damaged beyond repair on the back of the sill of a dock gate as she was being undocked. As a result she was never commissioned into the Royal NavyRoyal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. She was broken up in 1815.