Having appointed you Captain of His Majesty's Ship the Rainbow at Sheerness which we have order'd to be fitted and stor'd at that place for foreign Service, Mann'd with Two hundred and fifty Men and victualled to six Months will all Species of Provisions except Beer of which she is to have as much as she can conveniently stow, and to be supplied with a proportion of Wine or Spirits for two Months in lieu of the remainder, You are hereby required and directed, to use the utmost dispatch in getting her ready for the Sea accordingly, & then proceed to the Nore for further Orders.
J. Buller Palmerston H. Palliser
Given &c. the 27th Decr 1775.
By &c G. J. DS
1. PRO, Admiralty 2/100, 333. An identical order was given this same day to Captain Elliot Salter, H.M. Sloop Cygnet, with a complement of 110, at Portsmouth.
