HMS Halifax (1768)

Type

Schooner

Period

18th Century

Nation

Great Britain

Overview: HMS Halifax was a small topsail schooner originally built as the merchant packet Nova Scotia Packet in 1765 and purchased by the Royal Navy in 1768 for coastal patrol duties in New England. She is regarded as one of the best-documented colonial schooners of the era, and Harold Hahn's plans based on the original Portsmouth dockyard draughts have made her a favorite scale-modeling subject, produced as both scratch-build plan sets and commercial kits (e.g. Lumberyard/Constructo). Specifications: On-deck length was 58 ft 3 in with a keel of 46 ft 10.5 in, beam 18 ft 3 in, and depth of hold 8 ft 10 in, for roughly 83 tons burthen. Rigged as a square topsail schooner, she carried six 3-pounder cannon plus 8 (later 12) half-pounder swivel guns, and shipped a complement of about 30 men. Service History: Built at Halifax, Nova Scotia by local merchants under managing owner Joseph Grey, she ran a mail/passenger packet route to Boston, completing 23 round trips before being chartered by Commodore Samuel Hood in 1768 and then purchased into naval service. Commissioned under Lt. Samuel Scott, she patrolled for smugglers and famously seized John Hancock's schooner Liberty in 1769; subsequent commanders included Lts. Abraham Crespin, Jacob Rogers, and Joseph Nunn. Notable Facts: By late 1774 she was reported leaky and poorly maintained, and on 15 February 1775 she wrecked in a storm at Foster Island near Machias, Maine, reportedly run aground intentionally by a local pilot. Admiral Samuel Graves wanted to recover the guns from the wreck, which were reported to be of interest to the Patriots of Machias, and this recovery effort helped precipitate the Battle of Machias in June 1775. A second schooner also named HMS Halifax was purchased in 1775 with identical lines to the wrecked vessel; she may have been the original Halifax, salvaged and returned to service, though this remains unconfirmed.