Randolph Against the Odds, 7th March, 1778

From Geoff Hunt’s spectacular series of prints depicting dramatic naval actions associated with the War of Independence and the War of 1812. The subject of the painting is Captain Biddle’s brave but ultimately disastrous action in the Randolph, 32 guns, against the British 64-gun ship Yarmouth, which took place off Barbados on a moonlit night.

The Randolph appeared to be acting in defense of a small convoy of merchant vessels. After a short but fierce engagement lasting some fifteen minutes, Randolph blew up, showering the Yarmouth with debris, and apparently leaving no survivors. But four days later Yarmouth happened to be returning through the same area, and picked up four men from the Randolph who had somehow survived, with nothing to eat or drink, on a piece of wreckage.

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