Among the blockading vessels of the enemy outside of Boston was the _Shannon_, commanded by Captain Philip Bowes Vere Broke. She was one of the most efficient ships in the British navy, carried 38 guns and had a crew of 330 men, all well disciplined and skilled in firing guns and in fighting, while Broke himself probably had no superior as an officer. That he was brave was proven not only by his sending a challenge to Lawrence, inviting him to come out and fight him, but by his conduct during the battle. Captain Lawrence sailed out of Boston harbor before Broke's challenge reached him. He had learned that a single frigate had presumed to blockade the port, and, having been ordered to sail as soon as possible, he made unwise haste in venturing to give the _Shannon_ battle, even though one cause was the wish to leave the port before other blockaders appeared. [Illustration: CAPTAIN JAMES LAWRENCE.] The crew of the _Chesapeake_ was inferior in every respect to that of the enemy, except that it contained ten more men. The majority had been newly enlisted and contained many foreigners, landsmen, and objectionable sailors. They were not only unaccustomed to the ship--though they knew of its reputation as an unlucky one--but were unacquainted with one another and nearly all were strangers to the officers. The best of these were absent from illness and other causes. Worse than all, many were in a maudlin state of drunkenness when the _Chesapeake_ started out with flags flying to engage the well-manned _Shannon_. On the way down the bay some of the _Chesapeake's_ crew impudently notified Lawrence that they would not fight unless they received the prize money earned a short time before. It was a humiliating situation for the young commander, but he was virtually in the face of the enemy and he issued prize checks to the malcontents. Well aware of the character of the foe he was about to encounter, he must have looked upon the meeting with foreboding. Maclay uses these impressive words: [Illustration: THE BATTLE BETWEEN THE "CHESAPEAKE" AND THE "SHANNON."]