The Armed Boat Company was organized in 1781 under a warrant issued by the Commander in Chief of the British Army in America, authorizing William Luce, a New Jersey loyalist, to raise one company of able bodied men employed in whaleboats and other armed vessels. The men were to be clothed and armed and serve under the same regulations as His Majesty's Provincial Forces. The Company served until British evacuation of New York City in November 1783. They participated in engagements on the Hudson River at Tappan Zee, on August 21, 1781; at Woodbridge, New Jersey on December 21, 1781; and off Elizabethtown Point, New Jersey on March 10, 1782. On January 8, 1782, the Company joined about 300 British regulars in attacking Patriot whaleboats at New Brunswick, New Jersey. The company was also involved in the attack on Toms River, New Jersey, a Patriot whaleboat base and the locality of important saltworks, on March 23, 1782. Together with 40 Associated Loyalists took the Patriot blockhouse and most of its garrison after a bloody struggle with several killed and wounded.