HMS Sultana

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HMS Sultana was a small Royal Navy schooner that patrolled the American coast from 1768 through 1772, preventing smuggling and collecting duties. She was retired when unrest in the American colonies required larger, better armed patrol craft.

The original Sultana was built in the yard of renowned Boston Shipwright Benjamin Hallowell in 1767. She became HMS Sultana when she was subsequently purchased by the Royal Navy.

His Majesty’s Schooner Sultana left Dungeness on the morning of August 27, 1768, carrying a crew of twenty-five men and eight swivel guns. Her assignment was to enforce the Townshend Acts (And to enforce Tea Taxes) by stopping smugglers. The Sultana's logbook began on July 15, 1768, and listed her commander as Lieutenant John Inglis. Inglis would end his service to the crown as Vice Admiral of the Blue. The schooner’s master was David Bruce. The Sultana's first assignment once she reached Halifax was to proceed to Boston to help land General Gage’s troops in Boston for the protection of customs officials. Following that, she sailed up and down the coast of the Colonies, visiting Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia and many spots in the lower Chesapeake tidewater region. On October 10, 1772 the Sultana left the colonies to return to England where she was sold at auction for a meager 85 pounds.

A reconstructed Sultana launched in 2001, serves as a museum, and for sail training and excursions out of Chestertown, MD.