On October 13, 1775, the Second Continental Congress established the Continental Navy. How could the rebellious colonies dream of putting themselves forward as a sea power against the Royal Navy, the strongest maritime force in the world? It was another instance of the weakness that sometimes makes men audacious. Knowing that they had neither the expertise nor the resources to build warships, the Congressional delegates saw the opportunity to launch a campaign of harassment against British shipping. The initial goal was to purchase two armed ships to attack unarmed merchant vessels. As usual, Congress was a half-step behind the realities. George Washington had taken the initiative by commissioning ships to attack the vessels supplying the British terrestrial forces. Congress was catching up.
But Congress’s action is now remembered as the official birthdate of the U.S. Navy. Washington had commissioned the USS Hannah out of Marblehead, a four-gun schooner, in September 1775. But it was an off-the-books operation—a privateer. Congress made the Hannah an official warship on October 13.
Not a moment too soon. Hannah’s first exploit, on September 11, had been to capture the Unity, flying a British flag and filled with fish, lumber, and munitions. It was a clean victory, but because the Unity had been an American vessel before the British had seized it, Congress ordered that the ship and its contents be returned to its original American owner. The Hannah’s Marblehead crew was incensed at losing their prize, and it did not help matters that the rightful owner, John Langdon, was himself a member of Congress and a confidant of George Washington. The sailors staged a brief—and bloodless—mutiny. The captain appealed to Washington to reverse the decision to return the Unity to Langdon, but Washington refused and ordered harsh punishments for the Hannah’s crew. On further thought, Washington remitted the punishments for all but the ringleader, who received 20 lashes and a dishonorable discharge.
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Let’s say it was not the most auspicious start for the American Navy.
Philadelphia, where the Continental Congress met on October 13, is often cited as the birthplace of the American Navy. Marblehead makes a similar claim, because after all, that was the home port of that first ship. But there is a third claimant. A year later, Benedict Arnold—still an American patriot in 1776—built a fleet of sixteen ships in Skenesboro, New York, at the base of Lake Champlain, with the goal of blocking a lake-borne British invasion. Sixteen custom-built ships are a lot more Navy-esque than one re-commissioned privateer. But when the British under Burgoyne invaded Lake Champlain, the American fleet proved of no avail.
So let’s let October 13 stand as the birthdate, and give precedence to Philadelphia, never mind Congress’s self-dealing. War preparations always have a seamy side, and even the Revolution, it seems, had its own Daddy Warbucks. Thank goodness that America’s ingenious privateers continued the work of the Hannah for some months. Still, the Scottish-born John Paul Jones volunteered and took his first American command in 1776. At that point, America had not just a titular Navy but one of history’s greatest naval commanders.
America would, in time, have the world’s most powerful navy, but the U.S. Navy in its origins was little more than a gamble based on the recognition that the British forces had a very long and very vulnerable supply line. The Revolution succeeded because of such gambles.
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Image: “USSHannah” on Wikipedia, edited by Jared Gould
We need to view the USS Hannah in terms of (a) the 18th Century, (b) the unique geography of Massachusetts Bay, and (c) 1775 when the British Navy wasn’t yet at war with the Americans, even though the British Army was.
“Schooner” comes from the Scottish word “skip” — these were nimble ships that “skipped” across the water. They were far more maneuverable than the larger square-rigged warships, and they drew less water. The latter is the feet of the ship below the waterline, and hence the depth of water needed to not run aground (although you need more than just the actual draft of the vessel).
It wasn’t like they had bow thrusters (or even engines) back then, it was all sail so they had to be careful to avoid getting into some place they couldn’t get out of. They also were dealing with there being upwards of 13 feet more water at high tide than low tide which meant that just because there was enough water for you now, there wouldn’t necessarily be six hours from now.
Hence a schooner could not only outmaneuver the ships of the Royal Navy but could go over ledges and into shallow waters where the Navy couldn’t chase her. Furthermore, the local fishermen knew where the holes in the ledges were, the places where there was deeper water — and the British captains didn’t.
So while the 4-gun Hannah wouldn’t stand a chance in a battle with a British warship, and probably couldn’t outrun her, she could outmaneuver her and run into places like Marblehead harbor where the British couldn’t chase her. Or duck into the nearest fogbank, of which there are a lot in the summer.
Second, Marblehead is to the north and east of Boston. With a favorable wind, one could attack ships approaching Boston Harbor without the British Navy (in the harbor) being able to do anything about it. I’ve read letters from British Army officers complaining about having to watch the Americans seize their supply ships within sight of the shore because the Navy couldn’t get out of the harbor.
Third, this was 1775 — the British eventually learned that they had to be at sea to intercept attacks on shipping and that this really was a war. Until then, the Hannah would be quite effective.
An interesting question is how much of the gunpowder that the Americans had in 1775 and early 1776 was stolen from incoming British supply ships. My guess is probably most of it because where else would it have come from?
Prior to the French assistance, it would have otherwise had to be purchased somewhere else (e.g. French West Indies) and then smuggled in — folk like John Hancock could have helped with the latter (although he would have needed to somehow compensate his crews) but there would also be the FOB cost.