At least three British privateers bore the name Arbuthnot during the American Revolutionary War.
One Arbuthnot was a British privateer schooner named after Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot. In 1778 she was in company with His Majesty's armed brig Cabot, Edmund Dod, commander, when they captured the brigantine Deux Amis, and recaptured the ship York. At that time Arbuthnot was the property of the officers of HMS Rainbow. Arbuthnot became the prize of the American ships Argo and Fair American in April 1780, during the American Revolutionary War. Argo was a Pennsylvanian privateer brig, commissioned on 18 March 1780 under Commander John Ridge of Philadelphia. She was listed as being armed with fourteen guns and having a crew of sixty men. Fair American too was a Philadelphian privateer, under the command of Stephen Decatur, Sr.. She was listed as having a battery of sixteen guns and a crew of 130. Arbuthnot was armed with 14 guns.
A second Arbuthnot sailed from New York on 16 October 1780 as part of a squadron attacking the James River. She was armed with 16 guns and was under the command of James Goodrich.
A third Arbuthnot was the British privateer schooner of 10 guns, under the command of Captain John Riddle. She was sailing from New York to Newfoundland when the Connecticut brigantine Minerva captured her on 24 June 1781.
