NO. 2 LAST CRUISE OF H.M.S. LOO PETERSON 29 



pounds 4 shillings ii pence due them after deductions of 1,121 pounds 

 4 shillings 1 1 pence for tobacco, clothing, hospital fund, pay advances, 

 etc. James Compton, Captain, Royal Navy, a Navy Commissioner, 

 kept an eye on the proceedings while navy clerks Stephen Mercer and 

 Philip Stephens and treasury clerks John Wilson and Thomas Vaughn 

 checked the pay list and disbursed the money.^^^ 



After his acquittal Utting attended the Secretary of the Admiralty 

 frequently while waiting for an answer to his request for another com- 

 mand. On June 12 he discussed with the secretary the possibility of 

 getting command of the Mary Galley and the next day advised Cor- 

 bett that several of the men and petty officers of the Loo desired to 

 ship with him on his next cruise. He also reminded Corbett of the 

 desirability of his return to the Carolina station since his wife was 

 there.^22 



On July 7, 1744, a commission was issued giving Utting command 

 of the Gosport}^^ While fitting out his new ship, Utting continued to 

 hope that he would be able to get orders to return to the Carolinas. 

 No one knew better than he the danger of invasion to which the 

 colony was exposed through the loss of the Loo, and he was anxious 

 for the safety of Mrs. Utting, who was at Port Royal. His fears were 

 multiplied when, on August 10, he received a letter from his wife, 

 dated July 5, in which she reported that the settlements south of 

 Charleston had been evacuated because of fear of an invasion and that 

 she was a refugee in the provincial capital. Utting's patience reached 

 the breaking point as he pleaded for orders to America: "This is a 

 very shocking affair both to her and me and beg for God's sake you'll 

 be so good to use your interest with Lord Winchelsea ^-* to git me to 

 some part of America." ^^^ 



The exigencies of war, however, outweighed the personal problems 

 of Utting, and he was ordered to the Baltic to convoy a fleet of 

 merchantmen to Elsinore, Denmark, and Bergen, Norway. 



On October 13 Utting was back in England with the convoy from 

 Bergen, The next month he took a convoy to Ostend, leaving on the 

 1 5th and returning to England on the 24th, assuming command of the 

 Aldborough sometime between his return and November 29 under a 

 commission dated November 7.^-" Utting's wish to return to South 



^^'^ Loo's pay list dated Aug. 10, 1744, Admiralty Ships Pay Books, Treasurers 

 Series I, ADM 33, No. 352. 

 122 Admiralty In-Letters, ADM i, vol. 2267. 

 1-3 AD 6/16, Commission and Warrant Book, 1743-1745, p. 335. 



124 First Lord of the Admiralty. 



125 ADM I, vol. 2625, No. 477. 



126 AD 6/16, Commission and Warrant Book, 1743-1745, p. 380. 



