The Origins and Fates of America's First Thirteen Frigates Ship & Guns Hancock 32
Raleigh 32
Builder Jonathan Green leaf James Hackett, Stephan Paul, & James Hill
Location
Launch Date
Newburyport MA
July 10, 1776
Portsmouth NH
May 21, 1776
Fate Captured off Nova Soctia by HMS Rainbow on Julv 8, 1777. Captured by British squadron off Wooden Island, Maine, Sept. 28, 1778.
Randolph 32
John Wharton and Joshua Humphreys
Kensington PA
July 10, 1776
Warren 32
Benjamin Talman
Warren RI
May 15, 1776
Washington 32
Manuel, Jehu, & Benjamin Eyre
Kensington PA
August 7, 1776
Congress 28
Lancaster Burling
Poughkeepsie NY
Oct. 29, 1776?
Effingham 28
Joseph and Thomas Grice
Southwark PA
October 31 , 1776
Providence 28
Sylvester Bowers
Providence RI
May 18, 1776
Trumbull 28
John Colton
Portland CT
Virginia 28
George Wells
Fells Point MD
August 12, 1776
Captured by British squadron off Hampton, Virginia, March 31 , 1778.
Boston 24
Stephen and Ralph Cross
Newburyport MA
June 3, 1776
Captured at Charleston , May 12, 1780
Delaware 24
Warwick Coats
Southwark PA
July 21 , 1776?
Captured in Delaware River on Sept. 27, 1777.
Montgomery 24
Lancaster Burling
Poughkeepsie NY
November 4, 1776
Burned to avoid capture on Oct. 7, 1777
papers and fled the vessel. C ongress held an inquiry into this action bur acquitted Nicholson of any wrongdoing, again .
* * * * * In historical studies of rhe Revolutionary War, the performance of rhe Conrinenral Navy and the thirteen fri gates remain unimportant footnotes to outcome of rh e conflict. Al rho ugh it could have relied solely on privateers and stare navies, Congress decided to establish a national force. The difficulties encountered in outfitting these thirteen ships did nor deter Congress from authorizing additional ships. On 20 N ovember 1776 ir passed an act calling for the construction of five new frigates, several smaller ships, and three 74-gun ship-ofrhe-line blockade busters. Although construction of most of these ships never even began, the gesture demonstrated the resolve of the fledgling nation nor to accede to Britain 's control of rhe seas. The delays in construction and outfitting the frigates prevented their sailing upon the Atlantic en masse. Such a force could have posed a threat to British lines of communica tion. Although the C ontinental Navy could never have directly challenged the British fleer, it could have pounced on supply ships while eluding ships-o f- rheline. With such a force committed to a guerre de course, the British wo uld have been
16
Blown up in action with HMS Yarmouth on March 7, 1778. Burned to avoid captu re near Frankfort, Maine on August 14, 1779. Scuttled at White Hill, NJ on Nov. 2, 1777 and burned on May 8, 1778. Burned to avoid capture on Oct. 7, 1777 Scuttled at White Hilll , NJ on Nov. 2, 1777 and burned on May 8, 1778. Captured at Charleston .May 12, 1780.
Captured by HMS Iris and September 5, 1776 General Monk off Delaware Capes on August 28, 1781.
compelled ro respond by dispatching large naval fo rces to hum down the Americans, much like the strategy used by the Confederacy against the U nion navy in the C ivil War. Instead, rhe stagge red compl etion of the ships enabled the British to hum them down and eliminate them individually, or even before they were completed. This performance of the fri gates rends to reflect the notion that the United Stares never had a serious chance of challenging rhe British . By 1779, nine of the rhirreen ships had been destroyed or captured, and the others did nor remain at large for long. T har year, Warren served as the flagship for the ill-fared Penobscot Bay expedition and was burned to prevent her capture. The follo wing year, General Benjamin Lincoln surrendered C harleston to the forces of General C linton, and the frigates Providence and Boston fell into enemy hands. T he last of the thirteen mer its end at rhe hands of one of its sister ships. Trum bull, finally free ofirs captivity in rhe Connecti cut Rive r and comm anded by Jam es N icholson, suffered damage in a storm while escorting a fleer of merchantmen in August 178 1. U nable ro elude pursuing British warships, and accusing his crew of cowardice, N icholson surrendered to the Royal Navy wa rship Iris, which had been H ancock, rhe firs t of rhe rhirreen fri gates to
be lost to rhe enemy. T he performance of the first thirteen Co ntinental fri gates was lackluster despite rhe best effort of many to get them into the war. N onetheless, the ships represented the U nited States' initial effo rt to become a naval power and the legacy of these fri gates remained strong in the US N avy. In 1801 , fo llowing the end of the Q uasi-War, the Peace Establishment Act requi red President T homas Jefferson to retain thirteen fri gates-Constitution, President, United States, Constellation, Congress, Chesapeake, Philadelphia, New Yo rk, Boston, Essex, General Greene, j ohn Adams, and Adams- as the core of the new navy. A decade later, a third set of th in een was authorizedGuerriere,java, Columbia (I) , Brandywine, Potomac, Columbia (II) , Santee, Savannah, Sabine, Raritan, Cumberland, St. Lawrence, and Congress-followin g in the tradition of their predecessors. Each of this trio of thi rteen frigates served as th e bulwark of rhe American sailing navy during its time period, and until the navy turned to steam and iron, rhe first thirteen, although neither glorious nor even successful, es tablished an 1. inspiring tradition for the US Navy. Salvatore M ercogliano is Lecturer ofH istory at East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, andAdjunct Professor ofH istory at Campbell University, Buies Creek, North Carolina.
SOURCES Allen, Gardn er W .ANavalHistoryoftheAmerican Revolution. (Bosto n, 19 13) Bauer, K. Jack and Stephen S. Ro berts. Register ofShips ofthe US Navy, 1775-1990 (Wesrpo rr, 1991 ) C hapelle, H owa rd l. The History ofthe A merican Sailing Navy: The Ships and Their D evelopment (New Yo rk, 1949) Mackesy, Piers. The War far America, 17761783. (Lin coln, 1992) Mah an, Alfred T. The Influence of Sea Power Up on History, 1660- 1783. (Bosto n, 19 18) McCusker, John J. "T he Rise of rhe Shi pp ing Industry in Colonial Ame ri ca, " Americas Maritime Legacy: A History of the US M erchant Marine and Shipbuilding Industry Since Colonial Tim es. (Bould er, 1979) M iller, Nathan. Sea ofGlory:A Naval History of the A merican Revolution. (Ann apolis, 1974) Naval Documents of the American Revolution. (Washin gto n, 1964-1996).
SEA HISTORY 103, WINTER 2002-03