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The HMS Jersey: The Ship That Killed More Americans Than the British Army
In the summer of 1776, British forces seized New York City and soon faced a shortage of prison space for captured soldiers, sailors, and civilians. The Royal Navy turned aging warships into floating prisons and anchored them in Wallabout Bay, off what is now Brooklyn. The most notorious was the HMS Jersey, used as a prison ship from around 1780. Stripped of her sails and largely sealed to prevent escape, the rotting hull became a crowded, lightless holding pen where men endured extreme heat, rampant disease, and starvation.
By most estimates, more Americans died on the prison ships than in…
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