American Revolution - War At Sea

Bonhomme Richard In Battle With H.M.S. Serapis

~ Introduction ~

"The American Revolutionary War was fought mainly on land and won mainly on the water. So great was the dependence of the colonists on overseas trade that many in England believed that the rebellion could be suppressed by naval force alone. In the absence of the actual presence of the enemy within the country . . . and with the resultant deterioration of the American economy, it would have been very difficult to keep even the most patriotic rebel at fighting pitch . . . history might have been written very differently.

An important factor, and one not always remembered, was that the Continental Congress relied heavily on aid from abroad. Aid which included not only muskets and powder, but ultimately ships and men as well. This aid could only be brought to American shores by water, and to do it required a sea power to counterbalance that of England. The struggle for North America was fought not only at Trenton, Monmouth, and Saratoga, but also in the cold, gray seas off Ushant; off Cadiz, and in the shadows of grim Gibralter, and in the tropical waters of the West Indies."
Jack Coggins - Ships and Seamen of the American Revolution

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Before the end of 1775, the majority of colonies had commissioned several craft, and Congress had established a navy and marine corps. The Continental Navy eventually put into service 50 or 60 ships; the Colonies' navies added another 40 or so. In contrast, the British Navy in 1775 had 270 ships and by 1783 had increased the number to 468. Although the combined American navies were unable to cope with the British fleets, they sank or captured nearly 200 royal ships.

The greatest damage to British shipping was inflicted by privateers, privately owned ships carrying letters of marque issued by Congress and the states. Early in 1778 approximately 10,000 Americans were engaged in privateering. After 1778, when the British had to deal with the fleets of France and Spain, American privateers multiplied. Late in the war more than 400 American vessels operated as privateers in the waters off the Atlantic coast, the West Indies, and even those surrounding the British Isles. They inflicted severe damage on British ships and trade, costing Britain about 2,000 ships, £18 million, and 12,000 men captured.

American Naval Raids

Credit for the first American naval victory belongs to *Commodore Esek Hopkins. Hopkins, (1718–1802), an American naval officer, was Commander in Chief of the Continental Navy. He was born near North Scituate, R. I., on April 26, 1718, a brother of Stephen Hopkins. He went to sea at 20 and eventually acquired a fleet of merchant ships. During the Seven Years' War (1756–1763) he was a successful privateer.

In the Revolution, Hopkins took over the new Continental Navy of 8 ships in December 1775. He raided New Providence, Bahamas, capturing the ordnance there. But in Rhode Island waters he allowed two British frigates to escape, and a shortage of seamen aborted other operations. Some of his officers brought charges against him, and despite support by John Adams he was dismissed in January 1778.

(*Hopkins was a victim of both the lack of financial support from the Continental Congress and his own unfitness for flag command; he had a hot temper and an unguarded tongue. He died at North Providence, R. I., on Feb. 26, 1802.)

By the end of 1777, United States ships had taken 464 enemy merchantmen. Britain, however, still commanded the seas with about 100 vessels in American waters, and had struck vigorously at the American commerce destroyers. In 1778, a second American raid on Nassau resulted in the capture of five ships. That year John Paul Jones, the most brilliant American naval officer of the Revolution, struck at the English border port of Whitehaven, on the Irish Sea, spiking the guns of the fort and destroying some of the vessels at the dock.

French and Spanish Action

The Franco-American alliance in 1778 and the entry of Spain into the war as an ally of France in 1779 fundamentally changed the war at sea. Thereafter, England was unable to maintain maritime supremacy, although throughout 1779 British ships dominated the waters adjacent to the American states. The cautious earl of Sandwich, first lord of the admiralty, insisted on keeping a fleet in the English Channel to guard against invasion, leaving the French and Spanish naval forces free to take the offensive where they pleased.

British Shipyards

American Victories and Defeats

The American Navy enjoyed its most notable victory in 1779. In June of that year John Paul Jones put to sea from France in a converted 42-gun merchantman renamed the Bon Homme Richard. With him were the frigate Alliance and three French vessels. In September, in the North Sea off Flamborough Head, England, Jones engaged the English Serapis of 50 guns and the Countess Scarborough of 20 guns. After a moonlight battle of two hours, he captured both.

John Paul Jones Jones (left) was among the foremost in service at the founding of the Continental Navy. He was commissioned in December 1775 as the first lieutenant on the frigate Alfred, on which he hoisted the Continental flag, the old Grand Union.

As captain of the sloop of war Providence and as commander of both the Alfred and the Providence, he captured valuable British merchantmen and destroyed important fisheries and many vessels. His skill in harrying the enemy was widely noted, and in February 1777, the Marine Committee directed its secretary, Robert Morris, to place the Continental fleet in his hands. But the jealousy of others thwarted these orders.

Superseded by many officers, he became, unfairly, the 18th captain in naval rank. But John Hancock, president of Congress, as well as Robert Morris recognized his abilities. Accordingly, on June 14, 1777, he received the command of the new sloop of war Ranger, one of the first naval vessels to fly the Stars and Stripes, and sailed to France.

Jones sailed the Ranger to the very shores of England, and tried to burn the shipping at Whitehaven. At Saint Mary's Isle he attempted, unsuccessfully, to take the earl of Selkirk as a hostage for the exchange of prisoners. On April 24, 1778, he captured the Drake, the first victory of a Continental vessel over a British warship.

Upon his return to the French port of Brest, Jones was eager to undertake more ambitious enterprises in larger ships. At every turn, however, he found political and naval intrigues, both French and American. The ship he eventually received (a merchantman renamed the Bonhomme Richard in honor of Benjamin Franklin), was old and slow, armed with 42 guns, and ill suited to fight or escape.

Off Flamborough Head, however, the Richard pursued and challenged to battle two British ships of war—the Serapis, carrying 50 guns, and the Countess of Scarborough, with 22 guns. In the grim struggle on Sept. 23, 1779, Jones had to fight not only against the superior crew, armament, speed, and maneuvering ability of the Serapis, as well as the Countess of Scarborough, but also against a grave and almost fatal accident. Two of the six old 18-pounders of the Richard burst at their first broadside and killed or wounded many men. It became imperative for Jones to outwit Richard Pearson, the captain of the Serapis.

An initial attempt to board the British frigate and win by sheer desperate fighting failed. In a second effort he managed to lock the two ships together. The Serapis was beating in one of the Richard's sides and blowing out the other. Most of the guns of the American ship were broken and silenced. The Richard with its dry old timbers was afire again and again, and the water in the hold rose ominously. A gunner, crediting a report that Jones had been killed, called to offer surrender of the Richard, and Pearson loudly responded, “Do you ask for quarter?” Jones then made his memorable reply, emphasizing it by hurling his two pistols at the head of the gunner: “I have not yet begun to fight!”

A grenade thrown from the Richard caused a disastrous explosion of ammunition on board the Serapis. After three and one-half hours of heroic battle in full moonlight, the Serapis struck its flag. Then Jones and his crew boarded the British ship and saw the Bonhomme Richard sink, stern uppermost and with its colors flying.

Jones escaped in the Serapis to Holland, accompanied by the captured Countess of Scarborough. He later went to Paris, where he was acclaimed by the populace, honored by the king, and feted and lionized by society. His dalliance in the French capital, his verse writing, and several romantic attachments made an unusual interlude in Jones's career.

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Another of America's new Naval Officers was John Barry, (1745–1803), regarded as one of the most skillful and daring American commanders in the Revolutionary War. He was born in Tacumshane, Ireland; went to sea as a youth; and became a shipmaster in Philadelphia. At the outbreak of the Revolution he was one of the first captains commissioned by the Continental Congress.

Commanding the brig Lexington, Barry captured the British sloop Edward off Chesapeake Bay on April 7, 1776. This was the first capture in action of a British vessel by a commissioned American warship. Later that year he led a notable raid by four small boats on British craft in the Delaware River near Philadelphia, seizing a quantity of supplies. He served briefly in the American army, leading a volunteer company of artillery at the Battle of Trenton on Dec. 26, 1776. From 1780 to the end of the war he commanded the frigate Alliance, engaging in several actions. Barry's fight with the British frigate Sybil on March 10, 1783, was the last sea action of the war. When Barry died in Philadelphia on Sept. 13, 1803, he stood at the head of the officers' list in the navy.

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In the fall of 1779, Congress replaced its Marine Committee with a Board of Admiralty composed of experts outside Congress, but the strength and performances of the American Navy did not improve. For sea power Washington had to depend upon France.

(See Bibliography Below)

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Authors: Jack Coggins; John D. Hayes, Rear Admiral, US Navy, Retired; Ronald W. McGranahan, US Navy Retired (contributing).
Bibliography: Clark, William Bell, Ben Franklin's Privateers (1956); Coggins, Jack, Ships and Seamen of the American Revolution (1969); Mahan, Alfred T., Major Operations of the Navies in the War of American Independence (1913; reprint, Greenwood 1968); Gilkerson, William, The Ships of John Paul Jones (1987); Jones, John Paul, Memoirs of Rear Admiral John Paul Jones (1830; reprint, Da Capo 1972); Lorenz, Lincoln, John Paul Jones, Fighter for Freedom and Glory (1943; reprint, Kraus 1969); Morison, Samuel E., John Paul Jones: A Sailor's Biography (1959; reprint, Naval Inst. Press 1990); Urquhart, James, John Paul Jones (1982).