HMS Pearl was a fifth-rate, 32-gun British Royal Navy frigate of the . Launched at Chatham Dockyard in 1762, she served in British North America until January 1773, when she sailed to England for repairs. Returning to North America in March 1776, to fight in the American Revolutionary War, Pearl escorted the transports which landed troops in Kip's Bay that September. Much of the following year was spent on the Delaware River where she took part in the Battle of Red Bank in October. Towards the end of 1777, Pearl joined Vice-Admiral Richard Howe's fleet in Narragansett Bay and was still there when the French fleet arrived and began an attack on British positions. Both fleets were forced to retire due to bad weather and the action was inconclusive. Pearl was then despatched to keep an eye on the French fleet, which had been driven into Boston.
Pearl was part of the British fleet that captured the island of St Lucia from the French in December 1778, and was chosen to carry news of the victory to England, capturing the 28-gun Spanish frigate Santa Monica off the Azores on her return journey. She joined Vice-Admiral Marriot Arbuthnot's squadron in July 1780, capturing the 28-gun French frigate Esperance while stationed off Bermuda in September; the following March she took part in the First Battle of Virginia Capes, where she had responsibility for relaying signals. Pearl returned to England in 1783, where she underwent extensive repairs and did not serve again until 1786, when she was recommissioned for the Mediterranean.
Taken out of service in 1792, she was recalled in February 1793, when hostilities resumed between Britain and France. On her return to the American continent, she narrowly escaped capture by a French squadron anchored between the Îles de Los and was forced to put into Sierra Leone for repairs following the engagement. In 1799, Pearl joined Vice-Admiral George Elphinstone's fleet in the Mediterranean where she took part in the Battle of Alexandria in 1801. In 1802, she sailed to Portsmouth where she served as a storeship for sailors' clothes and then a receiving ship. She was renamed Protheé in March 1825 and eventually sold in 1832.
Construction and armament
Pearl was a British fifth-rate, 32-gun, Niger-class frigate designed for the Royal Navy by naval architect, Thomas Slade. Eleven were eventually built, all requested during the Seven Years' War, and Pearl was the seventh ship in her class to be finished. She was ordered, with , on 24 March 1761, and her keel was laid down at Chatham Dockyard on 6 May. When launched on 27 March 1762, Pearl was along the gun deck, at the keel, had a beam of and a depth in the hold of .Winfield p. 195 She was 683 tons burthen and by the time she had been completed, on 14 May 1762, she had cost the Admiralty £16,573.5.4d. Niger-class frigates, were full-rigged ships, carrying 32 guns: a main battery of twenty-six guns on the upper deck, four guns on the quarterdeck and two on the forecastle. When fully manned, they carried a complement of 220.Winfield p. 193
Service Pearl was first commissioned in April 1762, under Captain Joseph Deane, who took her to the Downs, to be fitted-out. In March 1763 she was recommissioned under Captain Charles Saxton and on 22 May 1764, she left for Newfoundland in British America. Pearl served there under captains Patrick Drummond and, subsequently, John Elphinston, until she was paid off in December 1768.Winfield pp. 195–196 She was recommissioned the following month under John Leveson-Gower, who was succeeded by Sir Basil Keith in November.
From April 1770, Pearl spent time on and off the Newfoundland station, under first John Ruthven and then James Bremer. Towards the end of 1772, she sailed for Portsmouth where she underwent repairs and a refit, at a total cost of £9,008.15.11d. The combined works took until February 1776.Winfield p. 196 John O'Hara, who had been in command since November 1775, was replaced by Thomas Wilkinson in March 1776, shortly after completion.
American Revolutionary War
Wilkinson returned Pearl to North America in April to fight in the American Revolutionary War, bringing a convoy of troopships from Ireland to Quebec, with the sixth-rate frigate , before escorting transports along the Hudson River to take part in the landings at Kip's Bay, New York, in September.McCullough p. 204Beatson p. 164 On the evening of 13 September, the British began moving into position. Six troopships with three fifth-rates, , and , and the smaller Carysfort, moved up the East River and anchored in Bushwick Creek, opposite Kip's Bay.McCullough p. 208 At the same time, Pearl, the fourth-rate, 50-gun and fifth-rate, 32-gun , were sent up the North River as a diversion. On the day of the landings, 15 September, the small squadron passed the enemy batteries without incident and anchored at Bloomingdale, upstream of New York. The following night the Americans sent fireships but these caused no damage other than the inconvenience to the British of having to move their ships.
Towards the end of the year, Pearl joined a small squadron under Captain Andrew Snape Hamond on a cruise along the coast to South Carolina and, on 20 December, captured the , a 16-gun sloop of war of the Continental Navy.Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Vol.VIII) p. 72 A strong gale prevented the removal of prisoners and the allocation of an adequate prize crew, and with only eight British sailors on board, she was retaken that night. Sometime later, Pearl detained a French vessel, carrying arms and ammunition. Wilkinson saw this as proof that the French were aiding the Americans but as there had been no formal declaration of war at that point, he was obliged to let her go.
From South Carolina Pearl sailed to Antigua where she arrived on 27 January 1777 to await careening and refitting.Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Vol.VIII) p. 295Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Vol.VIII) p. 80 While this was being carried out, on 13 February, Wilkinson died from disease and was replaced by George Elphinstone.Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Vol.VIII) p. 77Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Vol.VIII) p. 150 Work was completed in mid-March, after long delays caused by a shortage of skilled labour, and she returned to the American coast, leaving English Harbour on 18 March, in the company of Roebuck and the two 20-gun post ships and .
Despite the time spent in port, Pearl managed more than a dozen captures between January and May 1777, including Batchelor on 21 March (suspected of piracy because of its armament) and a whaleboat from Lewes, Delaware, on 29 May that was thought to be spying. Another change in command occurred in 1777 when John Linzee was appointed as captain and on 6 July, boats from Pearl and Camilla captured and burnt the schooner, USS Mosquito in a cutting out expedition. The American vessel of six cannon and four swivel guns was moored in a tributary of the Delaware River when, at 03:00, the British sailors boarded without opposition. The only two people guarding her, the master and the gunner, were taken off and she was set alight.Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Vol.IX) pp. 232–233
Pearl was anchored off Bombay Hook, Delaware, on 21 July. At 15:00, a fleet of twelve Continental Navy vessels, under the command of Charles Alexander in the frigate USS Delaware, came in sight. A signal gun was fired to warn her tender, which was ashore collecting supplies, then the ship weighed anchor and sailed off but ran aground on Cross Ledge. The tender was captured along with a fortnight's worth of provisions but Pearl managed to get free and escape downriver.Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Vol.IX) p. 778 At 11:00 the following morning she spotted Camilla some away. Pearl requested she join her and the two ships anchored to await the enemy fleet.Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Vol.IX) p. 809 On the morning of 23 July, an American vessel came under a flag of truce but by this time the sixth-rate, , had sailed into view. At 06:00 the next day, the American fleet arrived and made a second attempt to discuss terms but were dismissed. The three British frigates cleared for action, the Americans scattered and were pursued up the river but not caught; the British losing sight of their quarry and giving up the chase the next day.Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Vol.IX) pp. 809–810
Assault on Philadelphia
When American land forces were defeated at the Battle of Brandywine near Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, and retreated to Philadelphia that September, Pearl was part of a squadron tasked with opening up the Delaware River, which had been heavily protected with redoubts and sunken obstructions to prevent its navigation. Led by Vice-Admiral Richard Howe in Roebuck, the small force worked its way upstream to Billingsport, New Jersey, where a large earthworks and gun battery protected a channel, blocked with a submerged cheval de friselarge wooden frames, filled with stones and fronting iron-tipped spears.Lossing pp. 291–292Lossing p. 298 Stationed along the river were floating batteries and gunboats, and further upstream, another set of obstacles had been sunk between Fort Mifflin and Fort Mercer.Lossing p. 292 On 22 September, Pearl, Roebuck, Liverpool and the third-rate, 64-gun , forced a passage in order to support an attack on Red Bank by British troops.Beatson p. 269 Joined later by the fourth-rate, 50-gun and the 16-gun sloop , the British vessels were subjected to heavy fire when they engaged the American flotilla and batteries. Augusta ran aground and caught fire, and Merlin blew up; Pearl and the remaining force broke off the attack and returned to Billingsport.Lossing pp. 295–296Beatson pp. 269–270
British troops entered Philadelphia on 26 September but a supply route was needed and control of the river was therefore crucial. In November, Province Island was captured and Howe began erecting batteries. A hulk was converted to a floating gun platform and with the assistance of Pearl, Roebuck and Liverpool, a six-day bombardment of Fort Mifflin forced the Americans out. Two days later Fort Mercer fell and the British vessels pushed upriver in pursuit of the American fleet which was later scuttled at Gloucester, Massachusetts.Lossing pp. 296–299Allen p. 241
At the end of the year, Howe's fleet removed to Narragansett Bay where Pearl and her compatriots patrolled the coast and preyed on enemy shipping. On 18 March, 1778 boats from Pearl and captured Pennsylvania Navy armed boat named Fame (A.K.A. No. 71) up a creek above Reedy Point. The next day her boats captured an armed boat and a yawl. At dawn on 25 July 1778, a large vessel was seen off Sandy Hook in Lower New York Bay and Pearl, anchored nearby, was sent in pursuit. The stranger turned out to be the Industry, an American frigate of 26 guns operating under a letter of marque. Pearl came up with her at 09:00 and the privateer fought for an hour and a half before striking her colours.Beatson p. 380
Pearl was present when the French fleet from Toulon arrived at the end of July, and was at the ensuing engagement in August.Clowes (Vol.III) p. 406 The French force, under Comte d'Estaing, entered the bay on 29 July and attacked British positions on Conanicut and Goat Island the following day.Clowes (Vol.III) pp. 402–403 On 8 August, 4,000 French soldiers and sailors were landed to reinforce the 10,000 American troops who had just crossed from the mainland to lay siege to the British garrison on Rhode Island.Clowes (Vol.III) p. 403