Neptune's Needle

Thomas Boyle's first recorded appearance was on 15 October 1792, when he registered at the Baltimore Customs House as master of the schooner Hester... In 1804 he purchased his own vessel, the Traveller, and conducted many voyages to the West Indies and South America. Boyle quickly established himself as a successful shipmaster, but in 1806 he abandoned seafaring to open a tannery shop. He also served on the Mechanic Bank of Baltimore board of directors and, on 8 April 1808, received appointment as captain in the city's Fifty-first Militia Regiment. When renewed hostilities with England commenced in June 1812, Boyle forsook commercial pursuits and returned to sea as a privateer.

On 11 July 1812 Boyle departed Baltimore commanding the fourteen-gun schooner Comet. In quick order he subdued the ships Henry, Hopewell, and John as well as the brig Industry for a total prize value of half a million dollars. Boyle returned home in November 1812, having cruised eighty-three days without the loss of a man. Pausing only to refit and resupply, the Comet slipped back into Chesapeake Bay on 23 December 1812.

Boyle conducted his second cruise in the West Indian and South American waters that he knew so well. On 14 January 1813 he rashly attacked a convoy of three armed British transports escorted by a Portuguese warship near Pernambuco, Brazil. The Comet, firing accurately, disabled the escort and captured the three vessels. Two weeks later Boyle took the Adelphi, and on 6 February he seized the ship Alexis before enduring a six-hour chase by the frigate HMS Surprise. Following repairs at St. Bartholomew's, Boyle eluded additional British warships near St. Croix and reached Baltimore on 20 March 1813. Subsequent cruises in the Comet yielded additional prizes but also an unsuccessful nine-hour battle with the high-sided transport Hibernia. By the time the Comet was sold in December 1814, Boyle had taken twenty-seven prizes.

In the summer of 1814 Boyle transferred to a new ship, the sixteen-gun schooner Chasseur, which was based in New York. On 29 July he embarked on his most audacious cruise yet, directly into the chops of the English Channel. Boyle rapidly subdued the brigs Eclipse, Antelope, and Commerce and the ship James without loss. On 30 August he mockingly proclaimed England, Scotland, and Ireland under blockade and had the document sent aboard a cartel vessel to be posted at Lloyd's of London. This bravado induced the Admiralty to dispatch five Royal Navy brigs with specific instructions to capture the Chasseur, but Boyle easily outsailed his pursuers. He reached New York on 29 October 1814, having secured eighteen prizes in ninety days.

Boyle departed New York for the last time on 23 December 1814 and sailed directly for Barbados. Arriving there on 5 January 1815, he traded shots with a sloop-of-war, burned a schooner within sight of an admiral's ship, and easily outran a pursuing frigate. Within days Boyle captured two heavily laden cargo ships, Coruna and Adventure, before proceeding to the Cuban coast. On 15 February he approached an innocent-looking schooner that turned out to be a warship, HMS St. Lawrence. A desperate fight ensued at close quarters, but Boyle's superior gunnery wrecked his opponent, and the warship capitulated. Chasseur is the only privateer of the War of 1812 to subdue a vessel of the Royal Navy. Word of peace arrived soon after, and Boyle returned to Baltimore in triumph. In two years he had amassed a phenomenal record, having secured eighty prizes valued at more than a million dollars. For its exploits, Chasseur became popularly known as the Pride of Baltimore.

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Compiler

Peter Richards