Upon his return, Whipple received command of a small squadron—"Providence", "Ranger", and "Queen of France". On one occasion in mid-July 1779, this group of ships encountered a large British convoy in dense fog off the Newfoundland Banks. Whipple concealed his guns and ran up the British flag. Thus disguised, Whipple cut 11 prizes out of the convoy, eight of which contained spoils of war valued together at over one million dollars (roughly 16.7 million in 2015 dollars), making the venture easily one of the richest captures of the entire war.