Naval battle off Halifax

Battle off Halifax
Part of the American Revolutionary War
Battle off Halifax
Date 28–29 May 1782 Location off Halifax, Nova Scotia Result British victory
Belligerents
United States of America	Kingdom of Great Britain
Commanders and leaders
David Ropes †	Lieutenant John Crymes
Strength
1 privateer	1 brig
Casualties and losses
7 killed 13 wounded 1 privateer captured	3 killed 5 wounded

The Battle off Halifax took place on 28 May 1782 during the American Revolutionary War. It involved the American privateer Jack and the 14-gun Royal Naval brig HMS Observer off Halifax, Nova Scotia. Captain David Ropes commanded Jack, and Lieutenant John Crymes commanded Observer. The battle was "a long and severe engagement."

During the American Revolution, Americans regularly attacked Nova Scotia by land and sea. American privateers devastated the maritime economy by raiding many of the coastal communities, such as the numerous raids on Liverpool and on Annapolis Royal.

The engagement between Jack and Observer was one of several in the region. On 10 July 1780, the British privateer brig Resolution (16 guns) under the command of Thomas Ross engaged the American privateer Viper (22 guns and 130 men) off Halifax at Sambro Light. In what one observer described as “one of the bloodiest battles in the history of privateering”, the two privateers began a “severe engagement” during which both pounded each other with cannon fire for about 90 minutes. The engagement resulted in the surrender of the British ship and the death of up to 18 British and 33 American sailors.

Jack herself was involved in a previous naval engagement. Jack (or Saucy Jack) was originally a Massachusetts privateer commissioned in September 1779. After three successful cruises in which she captured a number of prizes, HMS Pandora and HMS Danae captured her in July 1780 in the St. Lawrence River. The British took Jack into the Quebec Provincial Marine, though she was commissioned out of Nova Scotia. She then served as a patrol vessel for the fisheries and the St. Lawrence River. In an engagement off Cape Breton with two French frigates at Spanish River, near Cape Breton Island in 1781 two French frigates captured her. They took Jack back to Boston, where her previous owners purchased her and sent her to sea again as a privateer.

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