HMS Mentor 1781

pcolaboy

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Sep 5, 2006
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Please bear with me as this will be long.....

In March of 1781, British Pensacola was under imminent attack by a very large Spanish/French force commanded by Bernardo de Galvez. At the time of the Spanish Fleet's arrival outside the bar into Pensacola Bay the only British Warship in the bay at that time, HMS Mentor, was trapped and unable to leave Pensacola Bay. This vessel was a Sloop-of-War at 220 tons, with 18 twelve pounders, and 6 eighteen pounders. Facing a fleet of 34+ Spanish and French Warships, the commander of the Mentor, Capt. Robert Deans, decided that it would be better that the bulk of his crew be put to use defending the British works surronding Pensacola during the inevitable infantry assault. According to his log book, Capt. Deans orders the remaining skeleton crew of twelve to take the Mentor up the Middle River (now called Blackwater River) located to the extreme northeast of the Pensacola Bay system. While his log book contains EXTREME details of day to day operations, it was rather vaguely and passively written in his log that the Mentor had 'overset', or capsized, in the Middle River on March 23, 1781 due to a sudden rain squall. Two days later, the log again makes a very brief mention that the three crewmen that elected to stay with the Mentor decided to set her ablaze as a small Spanish schooner sailed toward their position. The infantry assault on Pensacola did not really get underway until May at which time the Spanish were victorious and Captain Dean and his log book were captured by the Spanish. When he was finally paroled and sent back to England, there was an Admiralty inquest on the loss of the Mentor that included Horatio Nelson on the committee. Some demanded that Deans be Court Martialed, but during the proceedings the log of the Mentor was finally received from Spanish authorities. Based on the entries in the log, Deans was acquitted and judged to have made a prudent decision to send the Mentor into the very shallow areas of the Middle River.

This wreck has never been found.

FACTS
  • Christined and launched as the "Who's Affraid" at an unknown shipyard in Maryland 1778 and placed into service as an American Privateer
  • Captured by the British in the Bahamas in 1779
  • Refitted in Kingston, Jamaica 1779-1780 for capturing Spanish merchants between Havana, New Orleans, and Mobile then ultimately based in Pensacola
  • Several Spanish prize vessels captured and crewed to Pensacola throughout 1780.
  • Damaged during a few minor skirmishes with Spanish warships and by a lightning strike on her masts requiring repair at Deer Point in Pensacola Bay in late 1780. Repairs completed by January 1781
  • Following repairs, the log indicated that the newly repaired Mentor had an operational draft of 14 feet and a non-ballasted (dry) draft of 11 feet.
  • Most of the Mentor's crew is reassigned for land defense around March 19th, 1781
  • The Mentor is recorded in the log as having been ordered to sail into to an area that no other vessel of its size had attempted before while being piloted by junior officers and a skeleton crew
  • The area and all approaches to the alleged capsizing are less than 10 feet in depth indicated by British soundings in that period as well as modern soundings
  • The capsizing event allegedly occurs during a spring rain storm in a sheltered waterway
  • The HMS Mentor is 64.5 feet from the upper deck to the top of the main mast
  • Having just lost his ship, the only logbook entry by the commander regarding the capsizing event was "The Mentor was overset in the Middle River by a sudden squall."

PROBLEMS
  • How do you pilot a large sailing vessel drawing 13-14 feet through a waterway that is 10 feet in depth except for occassional holes of 12 feet with a crew unfamiliar with the waterway?
  • How does a 220 ton, high-seas vessel simply capsize in a protected waterway during a rain storm in March?

Take a look at my attached map from 1857 showing very detailed soundings (in feet) of the approaches to Blackwater River. Note that the bay referred to as "Santa Maria de Galve Bay" is now called East Bay in the southern extreme and Blackwater Bay in the northern portion. I drew a general path that the ship would have to have taken to get there. Pay close attention to the depths. It's not hard to figure out a general area would have most likely stranded given its draft and the depths of the surrounding waters leading to Blackwater River.

blackwater.jpg

My theory is that the junior officers and crew grounded the vessel well short of Blackwater River on one of the many shoals in the area that are littered with oysters. They then set the Mentor ablaze fearing capture by the Spanish but the Captain probably did not want it noted in the record that the ship did not make it to the desired location as commanded.

Anyone want to put some thought into this? My whole point is that I believe the actual resting place of this wreck is far from where archies has been looking. Is it possible they overlooked these facts and are simply following the log entries without looking at the real world setting?

Thanks,

Pcola
 

Pcola, I agree with your analysis. Blackwater is narrow and shallow. Very, very shallow furthre North. I can't imagine any storm putting her in danger. If there were microburst it may have pushed her towards one bank or the other. I have been in some very bad storms in Pensacola and mobile Bay and nothing would have messed with her. In fact, she could have just dropped anchors to ride the storm out. Excellent analysis.........
 

Thanks MichaelB. I updated the FACTS section with a few more tid bits of info since the original posting.

Pcola
 

Pcola, from the information you posted, and the slightly different information from McCarthy's book (Google keywords Mentor 1781 McCarthy), it seems pretty certain the Mentor is in the Blackwater River, although it appears likely most of anything of value was removed from the ship before it was burned. Should still show up nicely on a mag survey, with permission of course.
 

mad4wrecks said:
Pcola, from the information you posted, and the slightly different information from McCarthy's book (Google keywords Mentor 1781 McCarthy), it seems pretty certain the Mentor is in the Blackwater River, although it appears likely most of anything of value was removed from the ship before it was burned. Should still show up nicely on a mag survey, with permission of course.

I own McCarthy's book "Log of the HMS Mentor". However, the details came from the actual log itself - not his summarized introduction. The question remains, how can this vessel drawing 12-14 feet possibly sail through 8-10 of water unless you have a four foot storm surge in the month of March?

McCarthy much like the actual archaeologists here on the ground are taking the Log entries regarding the location verbatim. There are exactly two entries made into the log referring to the loss of the ship:
March 23, 1781: "The Mentor was overset in the Middle River during a sudden rain squall"
March 25, 1781: "Three crewman remaining with Mentor returned by long boat having set the vessel's remains ablaze at the approach of Spanish"

Those two lines are the only details on the loss of the HMS Mentor. I don't see how it's possible to say that its clear that it lies in the Blackwater River based on this account that scholars are clinging to. Come up this way and I'll take you for a boat ride and you'll quickly agree when you see that at any point along the river, I can take a trolling rod and touch the bottom without getting my hand wet.

A quick reference on NOAA's online charts, as well as the historical chart I posted clearly show depths no greater than 9 feet three miles south of the river.

McCarthy says things like all that "should remain" are a few ribs, ballast, and fasteners. I guess he needs to be introduced to the 450+ year old Spanish wrecks that are WAY more preserved than that description.

One last point....the University of West Florida performed several magentometer surveys with the help of the US Navy in the search for the Mentor in the upper portions of Blackwater Bay and Blackwater River. While several well-preserved small vessels from the Civil War era and older were found, there was no trace of a vessel near the magnitude of the HMS Mentor. I should also point out that the Mentor was fitted with Iron Pig ballast like many British Warships of that era. Each of these are about 18" in length and weigh around 70lbs. If a magentometer was towed in the vicinity of these, I would imagine that it would do quite a dance.

In the end, I hope that the Mentor is found, whether it be in the Blackwater River, Blackwater Bay, or the Arctic Ocean. ;D

Pcola
 

They were trying to save the ship by taking it into shallow water. There was no cargo, the heavy arms were removed, so why would they not remove the ballast as well? What would the draft be then? And lack of ballast, cargo and armament may explain why the Mentor capsized or tipped over in a squall and why it hasn't (so far) been picked up on a mag survey. Any chance it was towed up into the Blackwater River?
 

humm -- thinking as a naval commander of the day would have --- if I was trying to take her a shallow as possible in a area that was well known to be very shallow even back then, --- I would have had the men strip and move the the heavy guns ashore, taqking with them to use at the fort for use by them and also I would have stripped and transported everything that I could have in attempt to lighten her as much as possible thus she would have been lightened of ballast in a attempt to get her as shallow as possible so as to push her as far up into the shallow river area as possible hopely out of enemy reach (in hopes of saving my "command" --- the british sea lords take a dim veiw of losing one of their vessels ---- this of course would have made her badly top heavy thus prone to rolling over in the wind --- being massively short handed make her hard to effectively steer and handle --- she most likely rolled over enroute to the up stream area and was set afire to prevent her capture and use by the spanish--- the fact that she didn't make it all the way up river would of course not making it "offically" in the log as it could be said the capt had left her "undermanned and in bad ballast condition" thus he could have been found at fault somewhat for her loss -- so in the "offical" log they recorded that after going as far as possible upstream she anchored and was blown over by a storm -- the capt had done what he could ( with 34 to 1 ship odds , fighting was not a real option ) --and since it was thus a lost cause --- why get strung out to dry over it ? --- often such "embarassing facts" are often omitted in the "offical" log books to keep the officers hides intact during inquest into matters like this (vague is good, as far as log books go when it hits the fan --because the very words you write might just hang your hide. .) --- Ivan
 

I too thought about the possibility of this thing simply rolling over due to it being lighter. My primary focus on this whole thing is that I don't believe the vessel would make it to the river as we call it today. I suspect that Middle River probably included the much wider and deeper Blackwater Bay just like Perdido Bay was once simply called Perdido River all the way to the point where it dumps out into the Gulf. Something to ponder at least.

I can confirm that the log does mention the vessel's guns and powder were removed beginning on Sunday March 18th, 1781.

Here are some of the daily entries from that point paying close attention to the weather:

Tuesday March 20th, 1781: Fresh Breezes & Hazey Weather. At 3PM the enemy's fleet forced the harbour and came to an anchor inside of Rose (Santa Rosa) Island. One of their transports got a ground going up toward Rosey Bay (Santa Rosa Sound). Sent all the people ashore to Fort George except 12 men who is to carry the mentor up Middle River. Sailed, the Mentor up the river.

Wednesday March 21th, 1781: Fresh Breezes and Clear

Thursday March 22nd, 1781: Moderate Breezes and Fair

Friday March 23rd, 1781: Moderate Breezes and Fair

Saturday March 24th, 1781: Fresh Breezes and Hazey Weather

Sunday March 25th, 1781: Fresh Breezes and Clear Weather

Monday March 26th, 1781: Fresh Breezes and Clear Weather. The boatswain and 6 men returned from the Mentor, she having overset in a squall going up Middle River.....

Tuesday March 27th, 1781: Moderate Breezes and hazey 28 of the (enemy's) fleet got under way and three men of war and the row galleys anchored off Sutton's Lagoon (Bayou Chico). A part of the light infantry went down to oppose their landing the troops. Heard several vollies of small arms....Sailmakers employed making tents.

Wednesday March 28th, 1781: Moderate Breezes and hazey weather. People employed as before. The Spainiards at 5PM, landing their troops betwixt Moor's Lagoon and Sutton's (Lagoon). Heard some firing in the night from the Indians. All the seamen employed getting water into the redoubts.

Thursday March 29th, 1781: Moderate Breezes & fair. William Morgan returned from the Mentor. His musquet went off by accident, blowed his left thumb off and wounded in the arm. Carpenters and blacksmiths employed at the works.

Friday March 30th, 1781: Calm and Hazey Weather. At 10, sent the pilot and a boat down to the Cliffs ( Fort Barrancas at present day Pensacola Naval Air Station)

Sunday April 1st, 1781: Strong Gales and Squally with thunder and hard rain. The pilot returned from the Cliffs left the boat and hands there.....

Monday April 2nd, 1781: Fresh Breezes and cloudy....Employed preparing the guns for an attack which was laid aside.

Tuesday April 3rd, 1781: Fresh breezes and cloudy... A small schooner of ours was taken above the town by the enemy.....At noon, the Galvez brigg and several boats went up the river above the town (this is referring to Escambia River)

Wednesday April 4th, 1781: Moderate and Fair weather...At 10 was alarmed with the firing of musketry. Found the enemy were taking possession of the Port Royal with all the prisoners and tower her off to the fleet with two transports and one merchant vessel....Seamen employed making wadds; the carpenters and armourers employed.

Thursday April 5th, 1781: Moderate and Fair weather...The enemy all quiet in their encampments and on board their ships. The Galvez brig took a polacre up the bay with some boats belonging to the inhabitants.......

Friday April 6th, 1781: Thick and cloudy....Several of the enemy's craft cruizing about the harbour.....

Saturday April 7th, 1781: At 4, one of the enemy's boats went up the bay, Heard some guns fired to the eastward (direction of Escambia and Blackwater Bays) and northward, supposed the first to have been at sea and the 2nd to have been the Galvez brig (what would they be firing at?). Cut away the buoys from the Port Royals anchors....

Sunday April 8th, 1781: heavy weather with rain, one of the enemys galleys went up the Yamasa (now called East Bay and is the front door to Blackwater Bay) supposed to be bound up Middle River. An express set out for the Cliffs. The enemy's fleet making various signals. Hauled the launch up (up where?).

Monday April 9th, 1781: moderate breezes and cloudy weather, The seamen employed in removing into the fort. The morning gun burst in firing, supposed to have been occassioned by over loading her. The enemy sounding in their boats towards the west end of the town. Sent an express to Georgia by land.

Tuesday April 10th, 1781: several showers of rain....About 5PM, a brigg came over the bar and joined the fleet. Observed the Royal Navy Redoubt to fire many guns at her. A sloop joined the fleet from the westward ....

Wednesday April 11th, 1781: The Galvez brigg lying in the mouth of the Scamby (Escambia Bay) apparently a ground on Indian Point. Spyed several boats from the enemy cruizing the bay. A flag of truce came up to town for the prisoner's baggage which the Indians fired upon.....Galvez brigg still lying a ground.....

Thursday April 12th, 1781: one of the enemy's galleys came down Yamasa (East Bay) with a schooner and sloop, supposed to be the Poder de Dios and Dilligence packet, taken from Middle River. The Galvez brigg as before with several boats round her. The gally lying behind Englishman's Head (Emmanuel Point. Two of the enemy's frigates went down the harbour and came to anchor abreat teh signal house on Rose Island. An express came in from the Cliffs. Seaman belonging to the Port Royal was killed loading a gun at the Navy Redoubt.

Saturday April 14th, 1781: Two of the enemys frigates got under way from abreast of the signal house on Rose island and came up to the left wing of the fleet. Royal Navy Redoubt fired many guns. The Galvez brigg still aground. Received information that the three men left in charge of the Mentor had set fire to her and gone in the country on the approach of the Spainiards who pursued them.

Tuesday April 17th, 1781: ...several boats came down Middle River, brought a confirmation of teh Mentor's being burnt. The Galvez brigg with several other small craft lying in Yamasa Bay (East Bay).

Thursday April 19th, 1781:...several sail hove in sight

Friday April 20th, 1781: 5 sail in sight, supposed to be enemys. At 3, one of them got a ground onthe easterly par of the bar........The enemy's ship got off the bar in the night after heaving many things overboard. (This was the French Frigate Andromache that reportedly dumped 14 of her bronze cannon into Pensacola Pass to get off the bar. One was found back in the 1950's during dredging operations)

Frequent infantry skirmishes began on April 21st and the main ground force began their major attack on the British Works to the north of Pensacola on Thursday May 3rd. On May 8th, the powder magazine at one of the redoubts of Fort George was hit igniting it. The resulting explosion killed hundreds of British instantly and created a gaping hole in the works through which the Spanish poured in. A cease fire was declared on May 9th and terms of surrender were proposed. On Thursday May 10th Spanish troops entered Pensacola. The last entry of the Mentor's log was made on Thursday May 17th at which point Captain Deans was impounded.

Some interesting points to note:

The weather was consistently clear or fair from the order to sail the Mentor up the Middle River on March 20th until the news of her capsizing on March 26. No recording of strong wind or any rain until April 1st.

The inital word of the Mentor being burned was recieved by Captain Deans on April 14th then additional confirmation was given him by other small boats that came down from the middle river.
 

in otherwords the man that kept the log (capt deans) wrote down what he was "told" by others rather than what he personally saw logs were normally direct knowledge that the capts personally knew to be fact as it was the "offical record" and anything put into was consired "fact" thus a log entry was a serious matter ( a ships log is still carried aboard ships to this very day as a merchant seaman I am well aware of that fact ) --- the capt was relaying second hand information something the are loath to do but due to the situation what else could he do?--- the boat sat for sometime "overturmed" and (capt deans) must have been thought it might be possible to salvage her or parts from her since men were posted to keep a eye on her -- otherwise she would have been burnt straight away --- maybe the capt wanted to see for himself with his own eyes before ordering her burnt (but ordered her burnt rather than fall into enemy hands sould that approach her)--- he knew that the loss of his command was not a small thing and that he would have to "account" for his actions --- thus I am very sure that he (very wisely ) wrote very little that could be used to hang him with ---often after a lost battle or loss of vessels ---"somebody" had to pay for the "shame" --many a good man that did all that he could was stripped of rank and command status this way --- so it was SOP for ships capts that when things went bad to put very little or even "dummy" up the books altogether to protect their backsides ---since the court martial folks were not there at the time but rather back in london--- they later on had to go by the "written log" record and witness accounts ( witness's were often hard to find or had died off , some of them where on a long voyage on a differant vessel) thus the rule was if its not flattering to you "omit" it from the log.
 

Friday April 20th, 1781: 5 sail in sight, supposed to be enemys. At 3, one of them got a ground onthe easterly par of the bar........The enemy's ship got off the bar in the night after heaving many things overboard. (This was the French Frigate Andromache that reportedly dumped 14 of her bronze cannon into Pensacola Pass to get off the bar. One was found back in the 1950's during dredging operations)


Forget looking for the mentor since if it was stripped prior to burning.look for all those bronze cannons and items toss overboard by that grounded ship.
 

yes indeed the 13 or so missing bronze cannons would be sweet indeed -- remember though being bronze those cannons will not hit on the mag (but heavy iron ballast type items would of course ballast items would be dumped before the guns were so find the iron ballast items that she dumped and the guns will be nearby --it stands to reason) -- with the heavy big iron guns and iron ballast and such removed a wooden sailing vessel's remains is a tough thing for many mags to find --- the bronze guns normally woul;d be too but at least you at least got a fairly good idea of where to look --- Ivan
 

Even though I know this is 'TreasureNet' Im not in this for profit. It's mostly something I've been wanting to know for much of my life since hearing about this ship and many other when I was in 5th grade. Would I love to stumble upon a pile of gold coins someday? Hell yeah! ;D I think one of the Florida Shipwreck (Steven Singer?) books mentions that most of the dropped cannon from the Andromache were recoverd but I'll have to check in my book tonite when I get home.

Ivan....On March 19th, 1781 Capt Deans elected to assist with the defense of the British works surrounding Pensacola with a majority of his crew as well as some from merchant ship Port Royal. He continued his log from shore while the 12 men sailed Mentor towards Middle River (Blackwater).

The link below is to a VirtualEarth placemark collection I made specifically for the major areas mentioned in the logs that should help everyone visualize the geography a bit. I will post some additional bathymetry surveys for this entire area as well so you can understand why I have a hard time believing Mentor is up the river.

http://maps.live.com/?v=2&cid=488C49F48F9EC2C2!166&encType=1

Pcola
 

Pcola the bronze cannons would be a very unique piece of history indeed (you would know which ship ,what event and what time frame it was from --- the archies "trifecta" seldom does all the facts fall into place like that ) and it would be in good shape when compared to the iron cannons normally used back then --yes I know that your into ther history of things and are not just seeking mere money --- but the bronze cannons are both highly valuible and very historical in nature to boot. -- measums would love them --since theres very little to no up keep on them unlike the iron ones
 

ivan salis said:
Pcola the bronze cannons would be a very unique piece of history indeed (you would know which ship ,what event and what time frame it was from --- the archies "trifecta" seldom does all the facts fall into place like that ) and it would be in good shape when compared to the iron cannons normally used back then --yes I know that your into ther history of things and are not just seeking mere money --- but the bronze cannons are both highly valuible and very historical in nature to boot. -- measums would love them --since theres very little to no up keep on them unlike the iron ones

Couldn't agree with you more Ivan. We've actually scouted the area where the Andromache, as well as countless other ships have grounded, broken up, etc over the last 450 years. Unfortunately not much showing on my sidescan in this area but sand thanks to fairly recent dregding required from all the hurricanes we've had in the last 5 years. I've got a pretty decent rapport going with the local historical society and I've made a pretty favorable acquaintance with the head of UWF's Underwater Archaeology. I've been very up front and honest with them about my finds and have donated pretty much everything of historical value. It's a pretty rewarding feeling to see something you've donated on display in our museum for others to enjoy. I wouldn't be too concerned about any random gold or silver I might find showing up there though! ;D
 

ah as I say a cannons a historical arrifact true enough, but the gold and silver are me booty ---- aarrrggghhh --- Ivan
 

PCB, Greetings. Had a thought on the depth situation.I know I have helped
get a smaller sailboat(well balasted),but with power,into shallow bays by
heeling it over with weight on the boom.This laid it over pretty far,and
would put in danger of flooding if we hadn't had all the hatches/openings
battened down.Don't know if you could do that with a large ship,but I
bet I could if using a large weight boomed way out-say a cannon.Don't
know if they did such things in those days,but it probably was used in
some way when desperation warranted it .Just a thought.Anything is
possible ,and could explain the easy sinking of the vessel.HH Joe
 

JoeSWFla said:
PCB, Greetings. Had a thought on the depth situation.I know I have helped
get a smaller sailboat(well balasted),but with power,into shallow bays by
heeling it over with weight on the boom.This laid it over pretty far,and
would put in danger of flooding if we hadn't had all the hatches/openings
battened down.Don't know if you could do that with a large ship,but I
bet I could if using a large weight boomed way out-say a cannon.Don't
know if they did such things in those days,but it probably was used in
some way when desperation warranted it .Just a thought.Anything is
possible ,and could explain the easy sinking of the vessel.HH Joe

Anything is possible I suppose but I don't think they had a chance to perform a heel-over. According to the historical account, the HMS Mentor sailed on her own towards Middle River with only a skeletal crew of 12 that did not include the Captain of the ship or any other senior officers. I honestly feel that Captain Deans knew that the loss of the Mentor to scuttling or capture was inevitable and that he was trying to perform his duty. It was obviously a lost cause with 34+ warships facing him on March 19th when he gave the order to take her up river, or at least attempt to as my arguement points out, but in the eyes of the Admiralty he would be in dereliction of duty if he didnt exhaust every effort.

Pcola
 

quite simple really.
1. a ships draft is usually figured fully loaded
2. he already said he left most of his crew at the fort
3. he probably left most of his cannon and stores to help the defense of the fort
4. if a squall arose the ship may have struck bottom, this changes her center of gravity and capsizing is very easy.
5. without a proper crew a large ship is almost impossible to control in close quarters.
6. the first ships going up the st.clair river into the upper great lakes were hauled up river and in some instances overland.
7. it is very possible to use her longboats as pontoons alongside to help lighten her draft. this is taught in boating classes to help unground boats.
8. are you sure of the draft of the mentor ? old depth ratings were actually the depth of the hold not the actual draft. if the depth of hold was 14 feet she may have only drew 8 feet of water to float her.
 

wwwtimmcp said:
quite simple really.
1. a ships draft is usually figured fully loaded
2. he already said he left most of his crew at the fort
3. he probably left most of his cannon and stores to help the defense of the fort
4. if a squall arose the ship may have struck bottom, this changes her center of gravity and capsizing is very easy.
5. without a proper crew a large ship is almost impossible to control in close quarters.
6. the first ships going up the st.clair river into the upper great lakes were hauled up river and in some instances overland.
7. it is very possible to use her longboats as pontoons alongside to help lighten her draft. this is taught in boating classes to help unground boats.
8. are you sure of the draft of the mentor ? old depth ratings were actually the depth of the hold not the actual draft. if the depth of hold was 14 feet she may have only drew 8 feet of water to float her.

Those are some very good considerations.

Captain Deans did have his armaments and stores taken off the ship for the defense of Pensacola prior to the order to send her up the river. No mention of ballast being dumped, but I suppose the crew could have done this to lighten the vessel as they approached Middle River. I wonder how many feet this would have made on the draft. I have seen boats rafted using other boats and that also seems like a logical possibility, there's just no mention of that either.

The book I have, "Log of the HMS Mentor - A New Account of the British Navy At Pensacola", not only includes the entire log, but also several chapters of notes derived from several various sources of information regarding the vessel. At the time she was acquired by the British, she had a "draught of 14 feet". She was then converted into a sloop-rigged ship while being refitted in Jamaica and just prior to being provisioned was listed at "10' 7" draft at the bow and 11' 9" draft at the stern with a hold 11 feet deep". I'm not sure if this includes the false keel that was replaced later on in Pensacola but I would have to assume so. The vessel had 96 feet of keel length and a beam of 28' and originally displaced 220 tons prior to refitting by the Royal Navy. There is also mention in the log that upon arrival in Pensacola, she had to take on many additional Iron Pigs of ballast indicating that maybe she was not ballasted enough upon the refit in Jamaica.

There are many inconsistencies in the log so I guess there are probably things that are being left out as well. This is yet another reason why I cannot see how historians can cling so strongly to the second hand information Capt Deans received about the Mentor making it all the way up into the river. He could have just as easily left out the fact that it was reported to him that she got stranded or capsized short of the main body of the river but did not feel it important enough to log- afterall there are really only a couple of dozen words in total spent recording the loss of his ship. I guess we won't know for sure until someone finds some evidence to prove otherwise.

All this feedback is GREATLY appreciated and educational!!!!

Thanks very much,

Pcola
 

draught is a british term for the drawings used by the shipwrights that built her. some vessels were built from half models. if you have access to david steels book " the elements and practice of naval architecture"
he explains to the letter how the british built there ships in the age of sail.

howard chapelle's the history of american sailing ships is another good reference book and much easier to obtain. draughts were also called scantlings by more modern people. from what you've written if she was converted to a sloop in 1778 her draft was probably 6'-8'. and that was probably fully loaded.

the term sloop to the british merely meant that her guns were on only 1 deck, or that she was commanded by an officer below the grade of captain. I have an extra copy of chapelles book if you're interested.

I hope I've been of help. p.s. let me know if you find her.
 

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