In early 1772, Lieutenant William Dudingston sailed HMS "Gaspee" into Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay to force customs collection and mandatory inspection of cargo. He arrived in Rhode Island in February and met with Governor Joseph Wanton. Soon after he began patrolling Narragansett Bay, "Gaspee" stopped and inspected the sloop "Fortune" on February 17 and seized 12 hogsheads of undeclared rum. Dudingston sent "Fortune" and the seized rum to Boston, believing that any seized items left in a Rhode Island port would be reclaimed by the colonists.