Fireships on the Hudson River

From Geoff Hunt’s spectacular series of prints depicting dramatic naval actions associated with the War of Independence and the War of 1812. Night attack on H.M. ships Phoenix and Rose, August 1776. On 12 July 1776 the British sent a small squadron of warships into the Hudson River in order to attack the flanks of General Washington’s forces. The ships were the Phoenix, 44 guns, the Rose, 20 guns, the schooner Tryal, and two small tenders, the Charlotte and the Shuldham. They were to operate as far up river as Peekskill. They found themselves in an uneasy situation, with Washington’s army in unknown force on both shores.

After a month of inconclusive skirmishes, the ships were anchored off ” Colonel Philip’s Farm” on the night of 16 August. Just before midnight two vessels were sighted nearby, closing in. Their crews were seen setting fires and abandoning ship – the American rebels were using fireships, the most feared form of attack against combustible wooden warships. While the British hurriedly tried to cut their cables and set sail, the first fireship hit the Charlotte and both vessels burned out. The second fireship narrowly missed the Rose, and then crashed into the bows of the flagship Phoenix. It took twenty desperate minutes before the Phoenix’s crew managed to fend off the blazing hulk. Literally overnight, the situation had become far more dangerous than the British imagined. Next day the squadron retreated downriver, taking some damage while passing the American batteries, and anchored off Staten Island – where they found that Vice-Admiral Lord Howe had arrived with the main fleet and army.

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