250 and Counting

Category: Naval History

  • Happy Birthday to the US Navy!–October 13, 1775

    Cover art for October 13, 1775: The Continental ship ALFRED, oil, by W. Nowland Van Powell. Meant to commemorate the official commissioning of the ship on December 3, 1775.

    It’s Cake and Candles for the US Navy, born this day in 1775.

    The Continental Congress initially authorized the purchase and retrofitting of two ships. But before long they saw the wisdom of having a navy, and soon many more ships were purchased, and commissioned into service.

    The Continental Navy, to be honest, didn’t have a huge impact on the war. Many ships were lost to British attacks, weather, or accidents. What it did have a big impact on, however, was the War of 1812. The seamen who fought in the Revolution were well-seasoned officers by the time that war came along.

    It’s also worth noting that the Continental Navy was disbanded after the Revolution, but a few years later the US Navy was officially established. However, given the continuity of tradition and the fact that today was the day that Congress authorized the purchase of the vessels, the Navy decided in 1971 that October 13, 1775 was the date of its official establishment.

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  • October 3, 1775: Rhode Island Suggests a Navy

    It’s often tough to remember that when the fighting first broke out, it wasn’t a bid for independence from Britain. It was an attempt to protect and defend rights that the Colonists thought they had as part of their relationship with Britain. Reconciliation was (amazingly) still on the table, even six months after Lexington.

    So while many colonies had created their own small navies (with Congress’ encouragement), there were several in Congress who felt that creation of a navy was a step too far. They were okay with an army, but not a navy? I don’t really get it either.

    When Rhode Island finally put forth a formal proposal for a Continental Navy, it met with almost universal resistance. Why? Tune in and find out.

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  • September 7, 1775: Submarine Warfare is Revolutionary

    Cover art for September 7, 1775: the full-size cutaway model of the American Turtle at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport, UK

    The Turtle, or the American Turtle as it’s often called, was invented by a man who thought it should be possible to stealthily attach a bomb to a ship and then detonate it shortly thereafter, by approaching the ship from under the waterline.

    The Turtle was a brilliant idea in concept, if not in execution. There were just too many things that had to go exactly right for the turtle to successfully execute its design purpose, and when it was first tried in genuine combat on this day in 1775, unfortunately it was not successful.

    But every failure is one step closer to success, right?

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  • September 5, 1775: Setback in Canada

    Cover art for September 5, 1775: Painting of the Schooner Hannah by John F. Leavitt, date unknown

    American forces began to move on Fort St. Jean in Canada. Unfortunately they ran into a couple of unexpected obstacles on the way, so they had to adjust their approach. This led to a six-week siege of the fort.

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  • August 30, 1775: Your Cows or Your Life

    Cover art for August 30, 1775: Replica HMS Rose under sail off Massachusetts in 1971 on her way from Newport to Boston, photo taken by the late General William Lanagan (USMC), not copyrighted. Via Wikimedia.

    The HMS Rose was a 20-gun ship of the Royal Navy, built in 1757. When hostilities broke out between the Colonies and the Crown, the Rose was tasked with preventing smuggling off the coast of Connecticut and (especially) Rhode Island.

    She spent the first few years of the Revolution in Narragansett Bay, in the Long Island Sound, in the Hudson River and down to the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland.

    The Rose’s last action as a British naval ship was in Savannah, Georgia. She was no longer fit for battle not was she seaworthy, so she was scuttled in a channel of the Savannah River, essentially blocking it off and preventing other naval forces from reaching the city. This meant that Savannah remained in British hands until the war ended.

    In 1971 a replica was built (see the cover art), originally as a “dockside attraction.” Eventually she was purchased by Fox Studios and redressed for the film Master and Commander. Afterward she was renamed the Surprise and regained her status as a dockside attraction in San Diego, if you’re inclined to visit.

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  • August 26, 1775: Rhode Island Wants Some Naval Action

    Cover art for August 26, 1775: Map of Rhode Island in 1775

    Rhode Island has been proactive about the war effort ever since the events at Lexington and Concord. And one thing you’re going to learn today is just how much coastline there is to Rhode Island, and why having a navy was important to them.

    But it’s important to get an outsider’s view of things, and this wasn’t necessarily the Continental Congress’ viewpoint. It took a long while before any real action was taken.

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  • August 21, 1775: Rhode Island Cracks Down

    Cover art for August 21, 1775: Public requisition of supplies for the Continental Army. Source unknown, via Wikimedia Commons.

    We have two events taking place on this day. First, Rhode Island allows the death penalty for certain activities at sea.

    Next, word goes out that the Continental Army is in need of supplies…lots of supplies. It’s looking like General Washington isn’t seeing an end to the Siege of Boston anytime soon.

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  • August 14, 1775: “Stolen” Goods From Bermuda

    Cover art for August 14, 1775: Map of Bermuda from 1778, origin not known to this writer.

    There’s an episode of The West Wing in which Leo McGarry explains how, several years earlier, the President wanted to meet the Dalai Lama. The problem was that China was strongly opposed to such a meeting, so they arranged for an “accidental” meeting between the two:

    Set up a low-level meeting with someone else and leave the door open. The President wanders by, “Hey, how ya doing, Dalai Lama?”

    The point is, diplomacy can be weird. And when the Continental Army, needed gunpowder from Bermuda, it was arranged to have the gunpowder be “stolen” from their armory and somehow make its way into American hands.

    Who knew!

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  • August 7, 1775: A Victory in Failure

    Cover art for August 7 1775: Map of St. Augustine in 1740.

    Once again, complacency wins the day. An American ship heads to Florida to raid the British ammunition stores there, and instead stumbles on a ship carrying literal tons of gunpowder. And it’s easily captured because the crew was asleep.

    Wasn’t anyone on watch? Apparently not, or they still managed to allow the American ship to get close enough that they could get on board. EIther way, American ships weren’t worth considering, and there wasn’t any American Navy…yet. But events over the next few days could change all that.

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  • August 4, 1775: A Letter of Dissatisfaction

    Cover art for August 4, 1775: Edward Thornborough, as an admiral in 1821. Painted by Samuel Lane.

    One of the reasons (we think) that the Colonial forces were able to gain small advantages over the British forces is that the Colonial Army was relatively untrained, and sometimes succeeded through dumb luck. They attempted things that “everyone knows” wouldn’t work, and surprise! It did work because nobody thought they’d be dumb enough to try it.

    The Colonies also didn’t have a lot of Navy going on just yet, and it may have been because of this that they were able to succeed at sea, as well. British ships would sail past American fishing vessels, thinking them of no consequence, and suddenly they’d find themselves outwitted by a whaling ship.

    Some British captains did manage to catch on to American tactics, though. Edward Thornborough was one of them, and he made his concerns clear in a letter written on this day in 1775.

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