Description
Book SynopsisUses rare surviving records, including fully intact logbooks, to situate the customs-enforcement interceptor Sultana within the wider picture of the British Atlantic in this crucial period. The small Boston-built schooner Sultana served as a customs-enforcement interceptor on the North American eastern seaboard in the period leading up to the American Declaration of Independence, when British taxation of American trade was a hugely contentious issue. As a typical workaday British American merchant ship taken into naval service, Sultana offers a rare opportunity to understand a technology of paramount importance to this world, where records for merchant ships are scarce, but where in this case a wealth of information, from plan drawings to the fully-intact logbooks, has survived. The book provides a detailed narrative of the ship's activities, and reveals the nature of life on board and the day to day business of operating a small sailing ship. It explores the technology of the ship and her sailing qualities as revealed by the ship's logs and also by the performance of a modern replica. In addition, the book situates Sultana's role within the wider picture of the British Atlantic in this crucial period. It is thereby both naval microhistory and also Atlantic history for all scholars interested in the formation and development of the British Atlantic world.
Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. The Royal Navy Buys a Boston-built Schooner, August 1767-September 1768 2. Back to New England and First Patrols, September 1768-July 1769 3. The Chesapeake and Rhode Island, July 1769-August 1771 4. The Delaware River, August 1771-July 1772 5. Back to England, July-December 1772 6. Sold Out of the Service: Sultana and the Royal Navy in British America Appendix A. Sailing Sultana Appendix B. The Crew of Sultana Appendix C. Vessels and Cargoes Intercepted by Sultana Appendix D. Damage, Repairs, and Maintenance Appendix E. The Thirty-Two-Point Compass Glossary Bibliography Index
