Evading British capture, she was later intentionally destroyed with a huge blast on June 29, 1776, during the Battle of Turtle Gut Inlet, off present day Wildwood Crest near Cape May, New Jersey.

[Note 1][3] On March 1, 1776, Robert Morris of the Pennsylvania Committee of Safety chartered Nancy to transport gunpowder and arms for the revolution.

This was "the first American stars ever seen in a foreign port"; that is, according to Elizabeth Montgomery, the captain's daughter, and Thomas C. Mendenhall, by family tradition.

[8] Although still out of range but sailing closer, the British shelled Nancy, while the Americans from Lexington, Reprisal, and Wasp attempted to salvage the cargo, especially the gunpowder kegs.

Another transferred the cargo onto longboats and rowed to shore where local residents helped unload and secure it behind the dunes.