Abraham Whipple

Abraham Whipple 1733-1819, American Revolutionary naval officer, b. Providence, R.I. In 1759-60, as captain of the privateer Game Cock in the French and Indian Wars , he captured numerous prizes. Whipple commanded the party of Rhode Islanders that captured and burned the British revenue cutter Gaspee in Narragansett Bay in 1772, one of the most provocative instances of resistance to the British in the pre-Revolutionary period. At the beginning of the American Revolution he was made commodore of Rhode Island's small fleet and then became fourth-ranking captain in the Continental navy. With the Columbus in 1776 he fought the first sea fight of the war. In 1778, Whipple, commanding the Providence, evaded the British blockade of Narragansett Bay and carried important government dispatches to France. His most daring exploit occurred in 1779 when, as commander of several vessels, he encountered the large, well-protected British Jamaica fleet. Whipple, concealing the guns of his flagship, the Providence, hoisted the British flag and fell in with the fleet for several days. Each night he cut out one of the merchant ships, manned it from his own crew, and sent it to an American port. Eight of the 11 captured ships reached port, making this one of the richest hauls of the war. In 1780 he was charged with the naval defense of Charleston, S.C.; the city fell and Whipple was captured and held prisoner for the rest of the war.

Whipple, Abraham (1733–1819)Revolutionary War naval officer. Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Abraham Whipple captured 23 French prizes in six months as a privateer during the French and Indian War (1754–63). He led one of earliest overt acts of colonial rebellion when a group of rebels from Providence captured and burned the troublesome British revenue cutter Gaspée in June 1772. Three years later he captured the first British ship taken under an official commission while commanding a state coast defense vessel. In December 1775 he was commissioned a captain in the Continental navy. He took many British prizes as commander of the Columbus and then the Providence. The three ship squadron he led in the latter vessel captured 11 merchantmen out of one convoy in July 1779. The next year his reinforced squadron was sent to strengthen the defenses of Charleston, but when the city fell to the British Whipple was captured. He was paroled but saw no more action. After the war he farmed for a while in Rhode Island before moving to Marietta, Ohio, where he died.