.
The year 1781 began with some success
when, in March 1781, Confederacy and the
sloop Saratoga captured a 32 gun ship. The
Connecticut Journal reported that this ship was
the Stag, carrying 200 slaves "and a large quan-
tity of plunder" from St. Eustatius. However, bad
luck soon followed. In April, she was escorting a
convoy of 32 merchant ships bound for
Philadelphia when they encountered a British
warship off the American coastline. Captain
Harding ordered the merchant ships to scatter
and he cleared for action, sailing straight for the
British ship. Soon, another British ship appeared
and Confederacy was now hopelessly outnum-
bered. Captain Harding ordered Confederacy's
surrender. The first ship he encountered was
the 44 gun Roebuck, while her consort was the
new Amazon class 32 gun frigate Orpheus.
The initial reports of Confederacy's capture indi-
cated that she would be a useful addition to the
Royal Navy. Vice Admiral Arbuthnot reported
that the ship "is well constructed and propor-
tioned, and only two years old." The ship was
taken into the Royal Navy under the name
Confederate. The suggestion was made to add
to her upper works to make her a two-decker
since she had the necessary keel length.
