View source for USS Confederacy

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=October 2011}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= USS Confederacy.jpg
|Ship caption=A Revolutionary War painting depicting the Continental Navy frigate ''Confederacy'' is displayed at the Navy Art Gallery at the Washington Navy Yard.
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country= United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1778}}
|Ship name= USS ''Confederacy''
|Ship namesake= 
|Ship builder=Norwich, Connecticut
|Ship laid down= 
|Ship launched= 8 November 1778
|Ship acquired= 
|Ship commissioned= 
|Ship decommissioned= 
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|Ship captured=
|Ship fate= Captured 14 April 1781
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country= Great Britain
|Ship flag= [[Image:Naval Ensign of Great Britain (1707-1800).svg|60px|RN Ensign]]
|Ship name= ''Confederate''
|Ship acquired:14 April 1781 by capture
|Ship fate=Broken up March 1782
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class=
|Ship type= [[Frigate]]
|Ship tonnage=
|Ship displacement= 
|Ship tons burthen=959, or {{frac|970|86|94}} ([[Builder's Old Measurement|bm]])
|Ship length=* US:{{convert|153|ft|m|1|abbr=on}}
* British
** Overall:{{convert|159|ft|7|in|m|1|abbr=on}}
** Keel:{{convert|133|ft|6|in|m|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam=* US:{{convert|35|ft|6|in|m|1|abbr=on}}
* British::{{convert|36|ft|9|in|m|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship height= 
|Ship draft=
|Ship depth=
|Ship hold depth=* US:{{convert|12|ft|3|in|m|1|abbr=on}}
* British: {{convert|12|ft|1|in|m|1|abbr=on}}
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|Ship complement=260 officers and men
|Ship armament=*Gun deck: 28 × 12-pounder (5 kg) guns
*[[Quarterdeck|QD]]: 8 × 6-pounder (2.7 kg) guns
*[[Forecaste|Fc]]: 2 × 6-pounder (2.7 kg) guns
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{{Infobox service record
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|commanders=*US
**Captain [[Seth Harding]]
**Captain Nicholson
*British:Captain James Cumming
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''' USS ''Confederacy''''' was a 36-gun [[frigate]] of the [[Continental Navy]]. The British [[Royal Navy]] captured her in March 1781. The British renamed her '''''Confederate''''' but never commissioned her. She reached England in about half-a-year and was [[Ship breaking|broken up]] in 1782.

==Career==

She was [[Ceremonial ship launching|launched]] on 8 November 1778 at Chatham ([[Norwich, Connecticut|Norwich]]), Connecticut, and towed to [[New London, Connecticut|New London]] to be prepared for sea. From 1 May to 24 August 1779 she cruised on the Atlantic coast under the command of Captain [[Seth Harding]]. While [[convoy]]ing a fleet of merchantmen, on 6 June, she and {{USS|Deane|1778|2}} captured three [[Prize law|prizes]], drove off two [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] frigates and brought the convoy safely into [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]].

On 17 September 1779 ''Confederacy'' was ordered to carry the French Minister and his family back to France. Later [[John Jay]], the first American Minister to Spain, his secretary, and family were added to the passenger list. During the passage on 7 November 1779 ''Confederacy'' was completely [[dismasting|dismasted]] and almost lost, but managed through the skillful [[seamanship]] of Captain Harding to reach [[Martinique]] early in December. After repairs, she returned to convoy duty.

Captain Nicholson replaced Harding in on 20 October 1780.

''Confederacy'', back under Harding's command, was homeward bound from [[Cap-Haïtien|Cap-Francois]], [[Saint-Domingue]] in 1781 with military stores and other supplies and escorting a fleet of 37 merchantmen, when on 14 April she encountered the British warships {{HMS|Roebuck|1774|6}} and {{HMS|Orpheus|1780|6}} off the [[Delaware Bay|Delaware Capes]]. Harding ordered his crew to [[striking the colours|strike the colors]] to the British.<ref>{{London Gazette|date=29 March 1783|issue=12427|page=2}}</ref> Most of the merchantmen she was escorting escaped. Many of her crew were sent to the old prison hulk {{HMS|Jersey|1736|2}}, though some ended up in Mill and Forton prisons.

==Fate==
[[File:Confederate (captured 1781) RMG J5352.jpg|thumb|''Confederacy'', captured and drawn in 1781]]
The [[Royal Navy]] sent her to England, under the command of Captain [[James Cumming (Royal Navy officer)|James Cumming]]. He [[Ship decommissioning|paid her off]] in September 1781. She was never commissioned and was docked on 18 November 1781 at Woolwich. She was broken up there in March 1782.<ref name="NMM-WH-382667">{{cite web|url=http://www.nmm.ac.uk/upload/pdf/Warship_Histories_Vessels_xii.pdf|title=NMM, vessel ID 382667|work=Warship Histories, vol xii|publisher=[[National Maritime Museum]]|access-date=30 July 2011|url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110802041601/http%3A//www.nmm.ac.uk/upload/pdf/Warship_Histories_Vessels_xii.pdf|archive-date=2 August 2011}}</ref>

==See also==

* [[List of sailing frigates of the United States Navy]]
* [[Bibliography of early American naval history]]

==Citations==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/confederacy-frigate.html}}
*{{WarshipHist}}

==External links==
* The [http://www2.hsp.org/collections/manuscripts/c/confederacy0222.htm Frigate Confederacy Papers], including correspondence, bills, receipts and other materials pertaining to the construction of USS ''Confederacy'', are available for research use at the [[Historical Society of Pennsylvania]].

{{DEFAULTSORT:Confederacy (1778}}

[[Category:Ships built in Norwich, Connecticut]]
[[Category:1778 ships]]
[[Category:Fifth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Frigates of the Continental Navy]]
[[Category:Vessels captured from the Continental Navy]]