Capture of Vigilant

Capture of Vigilant
Part of the King George's War
File:Commodore Edward Tyng.jpg Edward Tyng
Date 18–20 May 1745 Location off Fortress Louisbourg Result British victory
Belligerents
Great Britain	France
Commanders and leaders
Peter Warren Edward Tyng	Marquis de la Maisonfort
Strength
5 ships of the line	1 ship of the line; 500 men
Casualties and losses
6 wounded (including Tyng)	1 ship of the line captured 35 killed & 26 wounded 100 prisoners

File:Vigilant (1745) RMG J0895.png

Vigilant in 1745, a captured French third rate, as taken off prior to fitting as a 58-gun two-decker fourth rate

The Capture of Vigilant was an incident in May 1745 of the naval warfare of King George's War. British forces captured the French vessel Vigilant off Nova Scotia.

It involved Commodore Warren in HMS Superb (60 guns), Captain Durell in HMS Eltham (40 guns), Captain Calmady in HMS Launceston, Captain Douglas in HMS Mermaid and Captain John Rous of HMS Shirley Galley who fought the French ship Vigilant (64 guns) off Louisbourg. Douglas in Mermaid (40 guns) engaged the French ship. John Rous in Shirley Galley was the first to fire, giving the ship several broadsides into the stern. Captain Durell was next to give a broadside. The commodore got alongside the ship - they fired briskly, tearing the rigging and sails to pieces. Fog settled in and Vigilant got away. In the morning, Vigilant was visible and clearly wrecked. The British took 100 French sailors prisoner to Boston.

References

Sources

• Canadian Biography - Edward Tyng
• Memoirs of Edward Tyng, Esquire ... and of Hon. William Tyng ... By Edward Tyng, William Tyng, Timothy Alden
• Capture of the Vigilant, A particular history of the five years French and Indian war in New England ... By Samuel Gardner Drake p. 209
• French third rate ship of the line 'Le Vigilant' (1744)
• Seeds of Discontent: The Deep Roots of the American Revolution, 1650-1750 By J. Revell Car, p. 244
• Blue Pete