Bunker Hill (1778 ship)

History
Massachusetts
NameBunker Hill
NamesakeBattle of Bunker Hill
OwnerBartholomew Putnam and Jacob Ashton
CommissionedMay 1778
HomeportSalem, Massachusetts
CapturedDecember 1778
Kingdom of Great Britain
NameHMS Surprize
AcquiredOctober 1778 by capture
FateSold 1783
General characteristics
Tons burthen222 6394 (bm)
Length
  • 96 ft 9 in (29.5 m) (gundeck)
  • 80 ft 5+38 in (24.5 m) (keel)
Beam22 ft 10 in (7.0 m)
Depth of hold16 ft 10 in (5.1 m)
Sail planSloop
Complement
  • Bunker Hill: 100
  • HMS Surprize: 125
Armament
  • Bunker Hill: 18-20 × 6-pounder guns
  • HMS Surprize: 18 × 6-pounder guns + 8 × 12-pounder swivel guns

Bunker Hill was a Massachusetts privateer sloop, first commissioned in 1778. She made two cruises, capturing three prizes, but during her second cruise the Royal Navy captured her at Saint Lucia. The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Surprize. She served in the Caribbean, and was one of the two sloops that captured Essequibo and Demerara in March 1781. She sailed to Britain in late 1782 where the Navy sold her in 1783. The French Navy may have purchased her. If so, they sold her in 1789.