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Nov. 1776: Franklin sails to France on 'REPRISAL'
The following is from various sources, dates may vary but the general picture is clear!
In 1776, the American 'Fleet' numbered all of [eight, viz.]: Two 24-gun frigates, 2 brigs, 2 sloops and 2 schooners.
Great effort was made to find Franklin a suitable [armed] vessel: The 
Reprisal, "a merchantman designed for the tobacco trade." An old British vessel. (Manceron p.373)
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"The Massachusetts navy began its existence in August, 1775, when the Machias Liberty and Diligent were taken into the service of the province and Jeremiah O'Brien was put in command of them. The Diligent was afterwards commanded by Captain John Lambert. These vessels cruised intermittently and with some success for over a year, or until October, 1776."
"Ten vessels were authorized by the General Court of Massachusetts in February, 1776, the number being shortly afterwards reduced to five. April 20 it was resolved "that the Brigantine building at Kingston be called the Independence,[Captain Simeon Sampson]
, that the Brigantine building at Dartmouth be called the Rising Empire, that the Sloop building at Salisbury be called the Tyrannicide, that one of the Sloops building at Swanzey be called the Republic [Captain John Foster Williams] and the other the Freedom [Captain John Clouston] . The Tyrannicide was changed into a brigantine a few months later. Another vessel, the brigantine Massachusetts, was built at Salisbury in the spring. The Tyrannicide, Captain John Fisk, carrying fourteen guns and seventy-five men, seems to have been the first of these newly constructed vessels to get to sea. She sailed July 8."
"In May, 1776, the Connecticut brig Defence, Captain Harding, captured several Tories crossing to Long Island. Harding then fitted out three small sloops to search for Tories, the Defence being too well known to them."
"Those that cruised along the coast of the Middle States were the brigs Lexington, Captain John Barry, and Reprisal, of sixteen guns each, and the sloops Independence and Sachem, of ten guns each, and Mosquito of four guns. The Continental schooner Wasp, Captain Alexander...the ship Defence, Captain James Nicholson, of the Maryland navy....
Governor Dunmore of Virginia employed a considerable fleet in Chesapeake Bay, which in July comprised more than forty vessels.
[There were also the Continental navies of Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina.]
"The end of the year 1776 found the War for Independence well advanced and a fair share of the strife had fallen upon the sea forces of the Revolutionists. A comparatively few small vessels, mostly converted merchantmen, under Continental and state authority, supplemented by privateers, had done the enemy a good deal of injury. It would be difficult to make even an approximate estimate of the number of American privateers at this period. Thirty-four were commissioned by the Continental Congress in 1776; probably a much larger number by the various states, as Continental letters of marque do not seem to have come into common use at this early date (Naval Records of the American Revolution (calendar), 217-495.)"
"In October [1776] the Reprisal was placed at the disposal of the Committee of Secret Correspondence of Congress and the Lexington, Andrew Doria, and Sachem were put under the orders of the Secret Committee; these were two distinct committees. These vessels, in addition to other duties, carried important dispatches. The Reprisal was ordered to take Franklin, who had been appointed a commissioner to France, to his post; and afterwards to cruise in the English Channel. She sailed about the 1st of November and anchored in Quiberon Bay a month later; two small prizes were taken during the voyage. Franklin went ashore at Auray, and made the best of his way to Paris, where he arrived December 22 (Mar. Com. Letter Book, 34, 35 (October 17, 18, 1776); Pap. Cont. Congr., 37, 75, 83, 95 (October 24, 1776) Am. Arch., V, ii, 1092, 1115, 1197-1199, 1211-1213, 1215, iii, 1197.)
In November, according to a letter from London, "the Marine Force of England now in America consists of two ships of the line, ten fifties, and seventy-one frigates and armed vessels, amounting in the whole to eighty-three ships and vessels of war and 15,000 seamen." (Boston Gazette, February 24,1777; Brit. Adm. Rec., A. D. 484, March 22, July 6, 1776, A. D. 487, July 28, September 18, 1776; Am. Arch., V, i, 463, ii, 1318; Schomberg, iv, 318-321.)
"The Marine Committee of the Continental Congress purchased merchantman Molly on 28 March 1776; renamed her Reprisal; and placed her under the command of Capt. Lambert. On 24 October 1776, Wickes was ordered by Congress to proceed to Nantes, France, in the Reprisal, taking to his post Benjamin Franklin who had been appointed Commissioner to France. The Reprisal afterwards was to cruise in the English Channel. En route to France, the Reprisal captured two brigs, reaching Nantes, November 29th.
The Reprisal was the first vessel of the Continental Navy to arrive in European waters. She set sail again about the middle of January 1777, cruising along the coast of Spain, in the Bay of Biscay and in the mouth of the English Channel. On February 5th, the Reprisal captured the Lisbon packet, 2 days out of Falmouth, after a hard fight of 40 minutes, in which two of the Reprisal's officers were seriously wounded and one man killed. Five other prizes were captured on this cruise, which ended February 14th."
[*]
.........On 14 September 1777, the Reprisal left France, accompanied by the Dolphin for the United States. About 1 October, the Reprisal was lost off the banks of Newfoundland and all on board, except the cook, went down with her.
(Hazegray qf. DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN NAVAL FIGHTING SHIPS, Vol. VI, p 78)
* SM 23/6/1777: Extract of a letter from Brussels dated 9th June, 1777. Mr. Cunningham, Captain of the American Privateer SURPRIZE, hath sent from Dunkirk to Dr. Franklin at Paris, the mail with the letters from London of 29th April last, which he took in the PRINCE ORANGE packet-boat, Captain Storey, which Dr. Franklin, having with Mr. Dean, opened, read the greatest part of the letters contained in it. [CHECK - Refer to; Franklin's examination by the House of Commons in 1766 ]
Franklin realised he ran the risk, if caught by the British, of being shot as a traitor to the crown. (Manceron, p.371)
"He packs while caulkers make the ship seaworthy. Two worn and battered Saragota trunks. He settles his affairs, leaving all his property to the Congress, denounced his son, then in prison for pro-British leanings, taking grandson away from him once again."
*3 November, 1776: Franklin boards ship and sails from Philadelphia on Reprisal, arriving off Quiberon Bay on 3 December. [*26 October (Mike Phillips), 27 October (Lemay)]
For fear of offending the British, King Louis would not allow Reprisal to land two prizes she had taken towards the end of her passage, the Brigs Success, bound for Cork with wines and timber, and Vine, with spirits and linseed for Hull. (Manceron, p.373)
[Reprisal presumably left them in charge of her prize-masters, and sailed up to Nantes, arriving on 7 December. ]
"He goes ashore not far from the church of Sait-Pierre-Quiberon, the first steeple they had seen from the ship, and talks to a group of long-haired peasants with broad-brimmed black hats, short jackets, baggy breeches and tight gaiters. They speak neither French nor English, but Franklin knows them to be Britons more ancient than the English. A priest comes to the rescue, in Latin. A cart is brought to take Franklin to Auray for the night, 10 miles of woods and thickets. One night in Auray, three days to reach Nantes, via Vannes .. [where] Franklin is obliged to buy his own gig... and enters Nantes on December 7.
The Maritime History and Naval Heritage Web Site: "Benjamin Franklin sailed for France on *26 October 1776 on board the 16-gun REPRISAL of the Continental Navy, commanded by Captain Lambert Wickes. Wickes had strict orders to deliver his passenger with the utmost dispatch and great secrecy at St. Nazaire. Only then could he continue with the second part of his mission, to attack shipping around the British coast.
His first cruise in January 1778 was a success. Five vessels were captured and sent into French ports to be sold, for his activities had to be self financing. Four were ordinary merchant ships but the other, a snow named Swallow, was a mail packet from Falmouth in Cornwall bound for Lisbon. She struck after an action which lasted an hour during which several were wounded on both sides. [Cronab]
In April REPRISAL was joined by the brig LEXINGTON and the cutter DOLPHIN and they sailed for the Irish Sea. At first things did not go smoothly. Soon after they left St. Nazaire they had to run far to the westward to avoid a British ship-of-the-line and a gale then blew them up the west coast of Ireland. It took them three weeks to get back into the English Channel where they captured eighteen vessels in a week. While returning to St. Nazaire they encountered a British 74-gun warship in the Bay of Biscay and only outran her by jettisoning all their guns overboard to lighten the ship.
REPRISAL foundered during a gale in September 1778 and Captain Wickes and all his crew were lost.
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The Reprisal, Captain Wickes, was the first vessel of the Continental navy to arrive in European waters, although probably several privateers besides the Hawke and Union had preceded her. The prizes taken by the Reprisal on the passage over and brought into Nantes were probably the first American captures sent into French ports. The Committee of Secret Correspondence had written to the American Commissioners in Paris: "We desire you to make immediate application to the court of France to grant the protection of their ports to American men-of-war and their prizes. Show them that British men-of-war, under sanction of an act of Parliament, are daily capturing American ships and cargoes; show them the resolves of Congress for making reprisals on British and West India property, and that our continental men-of-war and numerous private ships of war are most successfully employed in executing these resolutions of the Congress; show them the justice and equity of this proceeding and surely they can not, they will not refuse the protection of their ports to American ships of war, privateers and prizes." They were also, if possible, "to obtain leave to make sale of those prizes and their cargoes." If successful in these applications, they were to "appoint some person to act as judge of the admiralty, who should give the bond prescribed for those judges, to determine in all cases agreeable to the rules and regulations of Congress." (Wharton, ii, 179.)
The arrival at Nantes of these first American prizes brought forth from Lord Stormont, the British ambassador, a vehement protest. In an interview with Vergennes, December 17, 1776, [before Franklin's arrival in Passy] Stormont said he expected that the Reprisal's prizes would "be immediately restored to their owners; . . . that it was a clear and indisputable Principle [of the law of nations] that no Prize can be a lawful one that is not made by a ship who has either a Commission or Lettre de Marque from some sovereign Power." Vergennes replied that France must be cautious about exposing her trade to the resentment of the Americans, but that treaties with England would be observed. The Treaty of Utrecht, concluded between France and England in 1713, expressly closed the ports of either power to the enemies of the other. Stormont said that England might have to issue letters of marque, because it was "next to impossible for our Frigates alone to get the better of the numberless small American vessels with which the seas swarmed and which greatly distressed our Trade. [He] added that the Difficulty was considerably encreased by France and Spain receiving these Armateurs into their Ports, which was a step . . . never expected, as it was the General Interest of all civilized Nations to give no Refuge or Assistance to Pirates." (Stevens, 1392 (Stormont to Weymouth, December 18, 1776.) On a later occasion Vergennes asked if such letters of marque would be authorized to search neutrals, as to which Stormont was without the information necessary for a definite answer. Vergennes was apprehensive of results that might follow to French Commerce, especially the shipment of supplies to America, from the inquisitorial zeal of British privateers. A number of British agents were employed in France to collect intelligence for their government, and through them Stormont was kept advised of much that was going on. The transactions of Hortalez and Company were known to him, and the connection of the French government with that establishment was doubtless surmised. (See Beaumarchais)
As soon as she could refit, after her arrival in France, the Reprisal sailed on a cruise in the Bay of Biscay and returned to L'Orient in February. On the 14th, Wickes reported to the commissioners: "This will inform you of my safe arrival after a tolerable successful cruise, having captured 3 sail of Brigs, one snow and one ship. The Snow [Swallow] is a Falmouth Packet bound from thence to Lisbon. She is mounted with 16 guns and had near 50 men on board. She engaged near an hour before she struck. I had one man killed. My first Lieut. had his left arm shot off above the elbow and the Lieut. of Marines had a musquet ball lodged in his wrist. They had several men wounded, but none killed . . . Three of our prizes are arrived and I expect the other two in to-morrow." (Hale's Franklin in France, i, 114.)
In due time Stormont was informed of these proceedings and, February 25, he called upon Vergennes, intending to demand "the Delivery of these Ships with their Crews, Cargoes, &c."; but the French minister said "that immediately upon the Receipt of this News, a Resolution was taken to order the American Ship and her Prizes instantly to put to Sea and that orders were given in Consequence," and added that these directions had probably already been carried out. Vergennes also said that instructions had been issued "not to suffer any American Vessel to cruise near the Coast of France." (Stevens, 14, 38 (Stormont to Weymouth, February 26, 1777.) On March 4, Stormont complained that the Reprisal was still at L'Orient and that two of the prizes had been sold. Vergennes doubted the sale of these vessels and declared that the Reprisal had been ordered to sail immediately, although Captain Wickes had asked to be allowed to make necessary repairs first (lbid., 1442 (March 5, 1777.) Two weeks later Stormont sent a memorandum to Vergennes setting forth that the orders of the French government had been disregarded, that the Reprisal was still at L'Orient, careened and undergoing repairs, and that all five of the prizes had been sold and must have been sold with the knowledge and consent of the French commissary at L'Orient. The immediate departure of the Reprisal and the restoration of the prizes, which had all been sold to Frenchmen, was demanded (lbid., 1483 (Stormont to Vergennes, March 18, 1777.) Vergennes admitted that if these prizes, sailing under French colors and manned by French crews, should fall in with British cruisers, they might rightfully be taken. "Property cannot be altered by such sales; you would restore us the sailors." (Stevens, 1484 (Stormont to Weymouth, March 19, 1777.) Through M. de Sartine, the Minister of Marine, an investigation of the affair was made, but no satisfactory explanation of the condemnation and sale of the prizes could be furnished (lbid., 1536 (Sartine to Vergennes, May 22, 1777.) Meanwhile the American Commissioners had at the outset disclaimed responsibility. February 20 they wrote: "We have ordered no Prizes into the Ports of France, nor do we know of any that have entered for any other purpose than to provide themselves with necessaries, until they could sail for America or some Port in Europe for a Market . . . The Reprisal had orders to cruise in the open Sea and by no means near the Coast of France." If she "has taken a Station offensive to the Commerce of France, it is without our Orders or Knowledge and we shall advise the Captain of his Error." They had been informed, they said, that the cruise had been on the coast of Spain and Portugal (lbid., 644.) In April they wrote to the Committee of Secret Correspondence of Congress that bringing the prizes "into France has given some trouble and uneasiness to the court and must not be too frequently practiced." (Wharton, ii, 287. See Wickes's letters in Hale, i, 115, 119, 120.)