HMS Enterprize seemed lonely, so I decided to construct a little playmate, the privateer Oliver Cromwell from Boston:
Enterprize spent most of the US Revolutionary War patrolling the coasts and hunting for privateers, so this seemed like a good foil. The design I came up with is based on the model plans for "HMS Mediator" (a 1740s British coastal patrol cutter) which are widely available on the web, with an assist from the book Armed Virginia Sloop of 1768. I was also visually inspired by the USS Providence, of which there is a replica ship (currently in need of major repairs, sadly).
It's a 10-gun topsail-cutter rigged ship, roughly in the style of a Bermuda cutter. A very simple and straightforward ship, although with beautiful rakish lines.There were a number of Continental 10-gun privateer cutters to choose from historically, and I thought Oliver Cromwell had the most interesting name.
From tip-to-tip the Oliver Cromwell is 37 inches long, 27 inches high and 13 inches wide. But a whole lot of that is bowsprit. As you can see it is vastly smaller than Enterprise (probably about 1/7 the tonnage and broadside weight). But it does pack on a lot of sail for its size!
I hope you like it.
Click for full album on Flickr