Combat· American Revolutionary War
Loss of frigate Raleigh to HMS Experiment / HMS Unicorn
In late September 1778 the Continental frigate Raleigh, commanded by Captain John Barry, was run aground on Wooden Ball Island, just south of the mouth of the Penobscot River.
By mid-August her complement included about 50 British prisoners signed on as Marines, and her Marine officers were Captain George Jerry Osborne, First Lieutenant Stephen Meads and Second Lieutenant Jabez Smith. Raleigh left Boston on September 25 and was chased for nearly two days by the 50-gun Experiment and the 22-gun Unicorn. On September 27 the two ships reappeared, and Unicorn's second broadside carried away Raleigh's fore topmast. As night came on Barry stood for the shore to keep the ship out of enemy hands, and after seven hours the enemy sheered off. Barry and Osborne took fifty men to the mainland. On September 28 a midshipman ordered to burn Raleigh hauled down her colors, and the crew left on the island was forced to surrender. The British hauled Raleigh off the shoal and took her into their service.
Record no. 141