Lowestoffe Waterlogged Prize

Generated illustration. Not a historical photograph. A sailing fleet. Not a named portrait of Lowestoffe.

Overview

Lieutenancy Examination — 8 April 1777 already records the examination and the next-day Lowestoffe commission. This note covers the water-logged prize boarding only. A later Lowestoffe cruise and a prize name stay on RESEARCH_QUEUE.¹

The Boarding

Southey says that during one of their cruises the Lowestoffe captured an American letter-of-marque in a gale, with a heavy sea running. The first lieutenant, ordered to board, went below to put on his hanger and found it mislaid. Capt. William Locker came on deck, saw the boat still alongside and in danger of being swamped, and asked whether he had no officer who could board the prize. Hearing the master volunteer, Nelson jumped into the boat. The American, which had carried a heavy press of sail, was so completely water-logged that the Lowestoffe’s boat went in on deck and out again with the sea.²

The examination date stays on Lieutenancy Examination — 8 April 1777. This page does not name the prize or invent a gun-count for Lowestoffe.

Sources

• @southey1813nelson
• Lieutenancy Examination — 8 April 1777

Related

Navigation

• MOC_Ships_Maritime
• Individual_Ships_Index

Same Subject

• Lieutenancy Examination — 8 April 1777
• Lowestoffe Commission — Second Lieutenant — next-day commission only
• Nelson Horatio — Biography Overview

Cross-Domain

• Age of Sail — Era Overview
• @southey1813nelson

Footnotes

1. Examination and next-day commission only: Lieutenancy Examination — 8 April 1777. ↩

2. “The American, who had carried a heavy press of sail, in hope of escaping, was so completely water-logged, that the Lowestoffe’s boat went in on deck, and out again, with the sea.” @southey1813nelson vol. 1, pp. 26–27 (1813). Do not invent the prize’s name or a gun-count. ↩