Rigged Model, Massachusetts Privateer <I>Rhodes</I>
date: label: Date made
content: 1962
label: privateer captured
content: 1782-02
notes: label: Description
content: Although the Salem, Massachusetts privateer <I>Rhodes</I> was less than 98 feet long, it had a crew of 90. Privateers needed large crews not only to intimidate their prey and hopefully make them surrender quickly, but also to overpower their enemies if a battle occurred. After a fight, the winner also needed to put a “prize” crew aboard to sail the captured vessel into port, where the ship and contents could be inventoried and sold. The auction proceeds were then distributed among the owners, the ship officers and the crew.
label: Description
content: The three-masted ship <I>Rhodes</I> was sharply built for speed and heavily armed, with 20 cannon. Despite these features, it was captured on a cruise in the West Indies by H.M.S. ship <I>Prothé</I> in February 1782. It was taken back to England, where its hull shape was drawn on paper to document how it might have obtained its speed. The Royal Navy then purchased it and renamed it H.M.S. <I>Barbadoes</I>.
place: label: where the privateer was built
content: United States: Massachusetts, Salem
label: where the privateer was captured
content: West Indies
label: ship taken, purchased, and renamed
content: United Kingdom: England
topic: label: related event
content: Revolution and the New Nation
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
label: See more items in
content: Military
label: See more items in
content: Transportation
label: See more items in
content: On the Water exhibit
label: Exhibition
content: On the Water
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: National Museum of American History. On the Water exhibition website
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TR.320667
label: catalog number
content: 320667
label: accession number
content: 245900
objectType: label: Object Name
content: ship model
label: Object Name
content: model, rigged
label: Other Terms
content: ship; Maritime
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: textile (part: lines material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (part: fittings material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 28 in x 38 in x 14 in; 71.12 cm x 96.52 cm x 35.56 cm