Maritime Society of the American Revolution

Naval engagement of 7 July 1777

Although one is never taught about the naval history of the American Revolution in elementary school, as one is about the land battles, some historians argue that naval battles had an equally important influence on the War for Independence. In joint effort, the Continental Navy, the navies of each state, and privateers all had their significant affect in sustaining the war effort with supplies and blockading British troop movement. The American Revolution was, by virtue of the conflicts over trade and government regulation, a war about maritime autonomy. At the beginning of the war, the United States had very little naval independence, but huge potential as claimed by Thomas Paine in Common Sense in January of 1776. Paine recognized that U.S. naval forces were tiny, but "it is not in numbers, but in unity, that our great strength lies."
From the defeats on Lake Champlain, to the French fleet blockade of the Chesapeake Bay thereby forcing a surrender at Yorktown, naval conflict was a prominent tool in the war.

Naval engagement on 7 July 1777, between the American frigates HANCOCK and BOSTON, their prize, HMS FOX, and the British frigates FLORA and RAINBOW

The Continental Navy was officially established in October of 1775 (note, before the Declaration of Independence) by the Continental Congress long after privateering was declared legal against British merchants. The original document read: "Resolved, That a swift sailing vessel, to carry ten carriage guns, and a proportionable number of swivels, with eighty men, be fitted, with all possible dispatch for a cruise of three months, and that the commander be instructed to cruize eastward, for intercepting such transports as may be laden with warlike stores and other supplies for our enemies, and for such other purposes as the Congress shall direct.... Resolved, that another vessel be fitted out for the same purposes...." (see the U.S. Navy's History Page ) The navy fleet consisted of forty (at the war's peak) relatively small ships--frigates, brigs, sloops, and schooners and were not intended to engage in intense battle with large British men-of-war.
To read the Congressional document describing how the new navy for the "United Colonies" was to be regulated go to 1775 Navy Document

With the formation of a Continental Navy, there was 620 new enlisted men and officers for the Congress to feed, cloth, and maintain. By 1776, there were 3,090. After this initial surge in personnel, the navy declined to a steady 1,500 for the rest of the war. The US Navy was actually disbanded in 1786, and not reformed until 1794. There was contention after the war between the northern states and the southern ones over the new navy. The southern states distrusted it justifiably since it was really entirely the north's creation.

Thus, at the end of the war, the death toll was approximately twenty percent for the American navy, or more precisely: from 19 April 1775--11 April 1783, there were Navy: KIA 342/ WIA 114, in the Marine Corps: KIA 49 /WIA 70. Notice the difference between the navy's large number of KIA compared to their wounded in contrast to the Marine Corps which had the opposite. The heavier warfare the navy engaged in, no doubt, explains the difference. The Marine Corps are really part of the Navy. A really good analogy would be Barnard and Columbia.
The original use of the Marines was as police, and the infantry type of protection for the ships. The Marines mostly patrolled the Atlantic and raided any thing smaller than them (and British).

The Uniform for the Navy of the United States of America Uniform Regulations, 1797

The Events and Faces

A fabulous site for more early Navy History check out: David Blum's Permanent Naval Force

Timeline of the Maritime Events of the American Revolution

Much of the history on this page and others in this section is from a magnificent book by Nathan Miller, Sea of Glory: The Continetal Navy Fights for Independence

There are several excellent books on the construction of the early navy:
1) Building Early American Worships: the journal of the Rhode Island committee for constructing the Continental frigates, 1775-1777 / introduction, illustrations & plans by John Fitzhugh Millar
2)Rebels under sail: the American Navy during the Revolution, by William M. Fowler, Jr. c1976.
3)Captains of the Continental Navy by John A. McManemin c1981
4)The Pennsylvania Navy, 1775-1781: the defense of the Delaware by John W. Jackson. 1974
All available at the Columbia Library: Clio

Also some germane fiction: 'Revolution at Sea' trilogy by James L. Nelson, By Force of Arms, The Maddest Idea, Continetal Risque

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