Catalogue description Captured ship: Notre Dame de la Deliverance or Nuestra Senora de la Delibranza of St...

Captured ship: Notre Dame de la Deliverance or Nuestra Senora de la Delibranza of St Malo (master Pierre Litant).

History: a French merchant ship contracted as a Spanish register ship (300 tons, 22 guns, 60 men and 1 passenger) bound from Callao, Peru to [Cadiz], laden with $1,280,000 in silver, and cocoa, in company with the Marquis D'Antin and the Louis Erasme; the two latter ships (carrying $3,000,000 in silver plus cargo) were taken in fight on 10/24 July 1745 by the privateers Prince Frederick (James Talbot commanding) and Duke (Morecock commanding), but the Deliverance fled to take refuge in Louisbourg, not knowing it had been taken by the British a month before.

Deliverance (in morning fog, and by the deception of the armed brigantine Boston Packet of Massachusetts (William Fletcher commanding, since deceased) acting on Fletcher's initiative as a lure under French colours) was taken on 28 July/13 August 1745 off Cape Breton Island by HMS Sunderland (John Brett commanding), and HMS Chester (Philip Durell commanding), both coming out from Louisbourg under French colours, and was brought into Louisbourg, where the ship was broken up in search of the treasure.

Several naval ships and some of the captors's crew also under the command of Admiral Peter Warren remained behind to guard Louisbourg from the expected French squadron. These ships, HMS Canterbury (Daniel Hore), HMS Vigilant (William Holburne), HMS Princess Mary (Henry Edwards), HMS Mermaid (Warwick Calmady), HMS Lark (John Wickham) and several locally-commissioned ships including the Boston Packet, the Massachusetts Frigate, Hector, Sylvester, Fame and Caesar, also claimed as joint captors.

Documents:

Court papers:

[CP 1]: three examinations taken before the Vice-Admiralty Court of Massachusetts Bay on 26 September 1745, on the petition of William Fletcher of the Boston Packet, on being denied any interest in the capture; brought into court, 4 February 1746;

[CP 2]: attestation as to the ship's papers by Captain John Brett of HMS Sunderland, 27 January 1746, made at Deal, reporting:-

• the delivery to the Naval Officer at Deal of a large chest of papers marked PW, to be sent to Thomas Corbett, Secretary to the Admiralty;
• papers enclosed in a letter sent by Brett from Dungeness to Messrs Baker merchants in London, prize agents;
• two commissions of the passenger, Lieut Antonio de Ulloa of the Spanish Navy, which were returned to him by Brett. [Ullua was returning from the 12 year French Geodesic Mission of La Condamine to measure the true shape of the earth. During his time as a prisoner of war on parole at Fareham, his scientific papers were passed to the President of the Royal Society, who reported on them to the Royal Society in May 1746 (see ADM 7/839), and then returned them to Ullua].

[CP 3]: attestation of William Baker as to 12 ship's papers brought into court on 20 February 1746;

[CP 4]: standing interrogatories, three examinations (of Pierre Litant, Pierre Sciochan, and Guillaume Hamon, all of St Malo), commissioners' affidavit, taken in Portsmouth 3 January 1746, brought into court 20 February 1746;

[CP 5]: copies of evidence taken by Joshua Winslow esq, JP for the county of Suffolk, province of Massachusetts Bay, supporting the claims of William Fletcher, commander of the Boston Packet: certified by William Shirley, Captain-General and Governor of Massachusetts Bay on 28 February 1746; copies of orders, line of battle, signals, signals by night, and instructions for better keeping company [unclear when these were brought into court];

[CP 6-CP 7]: abstracts and translations of the ship's papers in French and Spanish [now SP 1- SP 12], by Sebastian Puchol notary public, London, 1 March 1745/6 [these appear to be duplicates, but in different hands: it is possible that CP 6 was created for the appeal];

[CP 8- CP 9]: letters of attorney for the 44 crew of the Boston Packet of Massachusetts; letters of attorney of HMS Canterbury; received 21 March 1745/6;

[CP 10]; allegation on behalf of the Boston Packet, with copies of evidence from the Registry of the Vice-Admiralty Court of Massachusetts Bay (as in CP 8); received 21 March 1745/6;

[CP 11-CP 13]: interrogatories on behalf of HMS Sunderland and HMS Chester to be put to witnesses produced on behalf of the Boston Packet, and two allegations; received 21 March 1745/6;

[CP 14-CP 15]: allegation and exhibit of the Boston Packet, received 17 June 1746;

[CP 16-CP 26]: exhibit A-I (letters, orders of Admiral Warren), interrogatories and allegation on behalf of HMS Sunderland and HMS Chester

[CP 27-CP 30 ]: attestations as to Brett's fury at the refusal of Sunderland's crew to appoint Warren as prize agent instead of Lieut Kerly;

[CP 31-CP 32]: attestation as to proposals , at Louisbourg (by the crews of ships in the harbour), rejected (by the ships at sea) to share prize money, with exhibit, the proposed agreement over sharing the proceeds of the capture of the Delivery [Notre Dame de la Deliverance], La Charmante (see HCA 42/26/11) and Le Heron (HCA 42/36/3), dated 7 August 1745; received 10 June 1746;

[CP 33-CP 34]: attestation, and copy of the muster roll of HMS Sunderland and of the supernumeraries on the ship, 13 August 1745;

[CP 35]: petition to the Privy Council for distribution of the proceeds of the three ships taken at Louisbourg; dated London, 20 December 1749, and signed by several hundred officers and seamen present at Louisbourg in July 1745, from HMS Sunderland, HMS Chester, HMS Mermaid, HMS Princess Mary, HMS Canterbury and Vigilant.

Ship's papers numbered SP 1-SP 12.

[Decision: condemned as prize, 21 March 1746, to Warren, HMS Sunderland and HMS Chester. Appealed November 1746 by Kerly and for Fletcher: see HCA 42/41 and HCA 43/10]