The following information comes from two sources cited below:
Bowman, Larry G. Captive Americans: Prisoners During the American Revolution. (University of Ohio Press, 1976).
Burrows, Edwin G. Forgotten Patriots: The Untold Story of American Prisoners During the Revolutionary War. (Basic Books, 2008).
Below, there is information concerning the prisoner capacity of each of the ships named as well as the first year the ship in question was employed as a prison or hospital ship by the British in New York City harbor and, more specifically, in Wallabout Bay, NY. This information, for which this blog writer is very thankful, comes from the following online source:
"American Merchant Marine at War" - www.usmm.org
The purpose of this post will be to attempt to locate and record information on this weebly blog site pertaining to these "hulks" and their time in New York City and, particularly, in Wallabout Bay, NY. In the post immediately below, dated "05/27/2015", cites pension applications and indent claim citations that only mention two of these prison "hulks" as receiving prisoners-of-war from the frigate South Carolina - the Jersey and the Scorpion.
First, additional information has been located concerning the most infamous of the prison "hulks" - the Jersey. The HMS Jersey was initially built as a 4th-rate frigate of 64 guns. In Royal Navy terminology or designation, a 4th-rate frigate was a large, three-masted frigate, mounting 50-70 cannons on two decks below the main deck and carrying a crew of about 400 sailors and marines. The HMS Jersey was built in 1736 and spent several decades in operation in the Mediterranean Sea. Officially, the Royal Navy converted her to a hospital ship in 1771. When the massive British invasion fleet entered New York City harbor in the summer of 1776, the Jersey was probably with it or arrived shortly thereafter. She was a massive vessel, measuring 41' at the beam and 144' from stem to stern, and her massive black-hulled presence would have been a familiar sight to the residents of the city.
The HMS Jersey continued in her function as a hospital ship for some time after her arrival in New York City harbor. Also, there were other hospital ships serving alongside the HMS Jersey. According to Burrows's work, Forgotten Patriots, page 93, we know at least the names of two of these other hospital ships - the HMS Falmouth and the HMS Hope. All three of them are referenced as being located in the East River at various different locations. Sometimes, the HMS Jersey is reported as being located somewhere along the city's west side, perhaps near the HMS Good Intent. Again according to Burrows's work, Forgotten Patriots, page 93, "...changing weather conditions often required them [the prison or hospital ships] to find new anchorages, few if any remained in the same place for more than two or three months at a time."
(Note: Bowman's work, Captive Americans, page 42, refers to the HMS Good Hope while Burrows's work, Forgotten Patriots, page 164, refers to the HMS Hope as both being hospital ships in New York City harbor. But, Burrows's work also identifies an HMS Good Hope as a prison ship, also in New York City harbor. Burrow's work, Forgotten Patriots, seems to make the point that these are two distinct ships even though their names are indeed very similar to one another. If Borrow's work is correct there is no way of knowing which ship is referred to in Bowman's work, Captive Americans, the HMS Hope or the HMS Good Hope.)
According to Burrows's work, Forgotten Patriots, page 93, "...when the Hudson began to freeze in December [1777], the Good Hope and the Good Intent were brought round Manhattan to Wallabout Bay , where they joined the Prince of Wales and several other ships that cannot now be identified. The Jersey followed sometime over the winter (if she was not there already), and by the spring of 1778 she was serving as the first stop for captives destined for the prison ships anchored nearby." There, in Wallabout Bay, NY, the Jersey would be "hulked", turned into a prison ship, to await her new charges. This process was described in detail in the post dated "05/19/2015". This quiet backwater of Wallabout Bay was the location of the Jersey prison ship when the captured crew and marines of the frigate South Carolina came to be acquainted with her deadly presence in their lives.
Returning to the discrepancy between the Bowman work, Captive Americans, and the Burrows work, Forgotten Patriots, as to which prison ships were actually present in Wallabout Bay, NY. The Bowman list is found on page 42 of his work and cites twenty-five ship by name, though he states that there were twenty-six ships that served as prison ships or hospital ships in Wallabout Bay, NY during the American Revolution. These ships are cited in the post dated "05/19/2015". Burrows's work does not provide a list in the same manner as Bowman does but, the ships are cited individually and their names thus can be collected into a list. If any additional information is known of these ships that served as prison or hospital ships, then this information will be included in the citation of the vessel. The list according to Burrows's work, Forgotten Patriots, is as follows:
Whitby - a large, former transport ship was first employed as a prison ship in 1776. It had a prisoner capacity of 250.
Prince of Wales - a decrepit warship. No further information.
Kitty - a hospital ship, burned in mid-October 1777. It was first employed as a hospital ship in 1777. It had a prisoner capacity of 500.
Judith - a former transport ship. No further information.
Myrtle - a former transport ship. No further information.
Good Hope - a hospital ship, burned in the spring of 1780. It was first employed as a hospital ship in 1780. It had a prisoner capacity of 500.
Good Intent - a former transport ship. No further information.
Jersey - a former warship, later a hospital ship, and finally a prison ship. It was initially used as a prison ship on the East River in 1779. It had a prisoner capacity of 400 to begin with but, the number of prisoners on her in 1783 rose to 1200-1400. She was the most infamous of all the prison ships in New York City harbor during the American Revolution.
Strombolo - a small prison ship. It was originally a sloop of 4 guns or, possibly, a fire ship. It was first employed as a prison ship in 1780. It had a prisoner capacity of 200.
Scorpion - a small prison ship. It was first employed as a prison ship in 1780. It had a prisoner capacity of 300.
Falmouth - a hospital ship. It was first employed as a hospital ship in 1780. It had a prisoner capacity of 200.
Hope - a hospital ship. It was first employed as a hospital ship in 1780. It had a prisoner capacity of 200.
Hunter - a hospital ship. It was originally a sloop. It was first employed as a hospital ship in 1780. It had a prisoner capacity of 200.
John - a former transport ship. It was first employed as a prison ship in 1783. It had a prisoner capacity of 200-300.
Bristol Pacquet - a former transport. It was first employed as a hospital ship in 1783. There is no further information on her prisoner capacity.
Frederick - a hospital ship. It was first employed as a hospital ship in 1783. There is no further information on her prisoner capacity.
Perseverance - a hospital ship. It was first employed as a hospital ship in 1783. There is no further information on her prisoner capacity.
Falconer - a hospital ship. No further information.
Grosvenor - a former transport ship. No further information.
Huntress - a hospital ship. No further information.
Several other ships had prisoners-of-war incarcerated on board them but, these ships were neither prison ships nor hospital ships. More than likely, these were Royal Navy men-of-war that served temporarily as holding ships for captives before they could be more permanently assigned to a prison ship. These additional ships-of-war are the Mentor, Argo, Eagle, Felicity, Isis, Richmond, Otter, Dispatch, York, Vigilant, and Mercury. All of these ships held prisoners-of-war at some point or the other in New York City during the course of the American Revolution. But, as to whether or not these vessels were actual prison "hulks", that is completely in question.
(Note: In the earlier post dated "05/19/2015" and dealing with the list of prison and hospital ships gleaned from Bowman's work, Captive Americans, the name of the Perserverance appears and was corrected by this blog writer to be Perseverance. Two more alternate spellings of these prison ships have turned up. Bowman also speaks of a Grovnor and a Bristol Packet. Yet, in Burrows's work, Forgotten Patriots, one comes across the Grosvenor and the Bristol Pacquet. Burrows's spelling of the former ship's name is almost certainly the correct one but, the spelling of the later ship's name is completely up to conjecture, whether the Bristol Packet as in Bowman's work, Captive Americans, or the Bristol Pacquet as in Burrows's work, Forgotten Patriots.)
There is little information about the final fate of these prison "hulks" or hospital ships. Some may have been sailed out of New York City harbor at the end of the American Revolution. Others may have been scuttled or burned so as not to fall into enemy hands or, possibly, to destroy evidence of mistreatment of prisoners-of-war in British hands. But, for one of these prison "hulks", we do know what became of it - the Jersey. She was left behind when the British evacuated New York City in one of their final acts of the American Revolution. According to the Burrows's work, Forgotten Patriots, pages 209-210, it states that "for many years after the end of the war, the sandy beaches of Wallabout Bay remained littered with the bones of men who died in the prison ships - one resident of the area described skulls lying about as thick as pumpkins in an autumn cornfield - while the abandoned black hulk of the "Jersey" slowly broke up out on the mud flats beyond." Evidently, the Jersey prison "hulk" was too decrepit and unseaworthy to move. Likewise, it was totally impossible to conduct her across the Atlantic Ocean, even if the British had wanted to take the Jersey with them. Thus, she was abandoned where she had been moored since her arrival in Wallabout Bay, NY in the winter of 1777. The date of her final breaking deep and sinking is not recorded, as far as this blog writer knows.
But, the Jersey had one, last curtain call to make in American history. In 1902, construction crews were expanding the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which had been constructed in what used to be Wallabout Bay, NY. In their excavations to deepen the floor of the bay in order to accommodate ships with deeper drafts, "...came the news that workmen...had found timbers of the old "Jersey" herself buried under fourteen feet of silt...." But, the passage, from Burrows's work, Forgotten Patriots, page 237, cites that "...recovering the ship, or what remained of her, proved impracticable..." So, to this day, the bones of the Jersey lie silently so very near the bones of her victims, who were buried along the sandy banks of Wallabout Bay, NY. Together in life, together in death....in Wallabout Bay, NY.