Combat· American Revolutionary War
Loss of Continental frigate Confederacy to HMS Roebuck and HMS Orpheus
On April 14, 1781, the Continental frigate Confederacy, Captain Seth Harding, surrendered to two British frigates off the Delaware Capes while escorting a fleet of merchantmen.
The sloop Saratoga had disappeared on the passage from Cape Francois, and on April 14 the Confederacy was alone with the merchant ships. Harding lay back to give his convoy an opportunity to escape and ordered the ship cleared for action. The enemy proved to be the 44-gun Roebuck and the 32-gun Orpheus. When the lead ship ran out a second tier of guns, Harding struck his colors without resistance. The British carried the frigate into New York. Harding and a few officers, among them Marine Lieutenant Samuel Holt, were paroled, and the crew was confined to the Jersey prison ship. Marine Captain Joseph Hardy and Lieutenant of Marines Gurdon Bill were sent to England but escaped when their ship put into an Irish port. The loss of the Confederacy and Saratoga left only three Marine detachments on board ships of the Continental Navy.
Record no. 147