Provincetown in Barnstable County, Massachusetts — The American Northeast (New England)

H.M.S. Somerset

By Alan M. Perrie, September 14, 2016

1. H.M.S. Somerset Marker

Inscription. Of all the enemy ships that haunted Provincetown Harbor during the Revolutionary War, perhaps the most fearsome was the huge British man-of-war H.M.S. Somerset. With her 64 mounted guns and crew of 400, she symbolized British tyranny where-ever she appeared along the New England coast.

On November 2, 1778, a tempest drove the Somerset onto the shallow Peaked Hill Bars that lay just offshore (about 3 miles / 5 km to your right). Fifty crewmen drowned as storm waves battered the great ship, yet most survived to be taken prisoner by Cape Cod militia. After stripping the frigate of its armament, defiant patriots burned the ship down to the waterline.

Fragments of the Somerset remain buried along the shore, where wave action occasionally exposes them to view.

Built in Chatham, England in 1748, the Somerset saw action in the French and Indian War, and the Revolutionary War. She transported some of the British who marched on Lexington and Concord, and her guns were heard at Bunker Hill.

Erected by Cape Cod National Seashore.

Location. 42° 4.449′ N, 70° 12.315′ W. Marker is in Provincetown, Massachusetts, in Barnstable County. Marker can be reached from Race Point Road. Touch for map.

View of the Atlantic. Peaked Hill Bars is on the Bay side image. Click for full size.

By Alan M. Perrie, September 14, 2016

2. View of the Atlantic. Peaked Hill Bars is on the Bay side

The marker is located on the back deck of the Race Point Visitor Center. Marker is in this post office area: Provincetown MA 02657, United States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 3 other markers are within 8 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Provincetown (here, next to this marker); The First Landing Place of the Pilgrims, Nov. 11, 1620, O.S. (approx. 2.6 miles away); Cape Cod Highland Lighthouse (approx. 7.8 miles away).

Also see . . .
1. H.M.S. Somerset. (Submitted on December 18, 2017, by Alan M. Perrie of Unionville, Connecticut.)
2. H.M.S. Somerset. (Submitted on December 18, 2017, by Alan M. Perrie of Unionville, Connecticut.)
3. H.M.S. Somerset. (Submitted on December 18, 2017, by Alan M. Perrie of Unionville, Connecticut.)
4. Peaked Hill Bars. (Submitted on December 18, 2017, by Alan M. Perrie of Unionville, Connecticut.)
5. H.M.S. Somerset. (Submitted on December 18, 2017, by Alan M. Perrie of Unionville, Connecticut.)

Categories. • Disasters • War, US Revolutionary • Waterways & Vessels •

Credits. This page was last revised on December 20, 2017. This page originally submitted on December 18, 2017, by Alan M. Perrie of Unionville, Connecticut. This page has been viewed 75 times since then and 16 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on December 18, 2017, by Alan M. Perrie of Unionville, Connecticut. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.