Combat· American Revolutionary War
Capture of the Bahamas
In the spring of 1782 the South Carolina state frigate South Carolina joined a Spanish expedition that captured New Providence in the Bahamas from the British.
The frigate, under Commodore Alexander Gillon, had sailed from Texel in 1781 with a crew of 550 that included 300 French Marines. John Trevett, a Continental captain of Marines who was aboard, recorded that the Spanish government hired the ship and her crew for a fleet fitting out to take New Providence. In company with Spanish vessels and some American privateers, the South Carolina sailed from Havana on April 22. Trevett counted fifty-seven sail carrying a Spanish governor and about 2,500 Spanish troops. McClellan's history dates the capture to May 8, while Trevett wrote that the fleet took possession on May 11, 1782, lowering the British colors and hoisting Spanish ones. It was the third time Americans had descended on New Providence, after the Marine landings of March 1776 and January 1778. The South Carolina arrived at Philadelphia on May 28, 1782.
Record no. 153