Navy
First Five of Thirteen
Shipbuilders who we would today call Marine Architects or Marine Engineers like Joshua Humphreys and James Hackett were coming into their prime. Yards in the colonies had ready access to wood, cordage, pitch, tar, and other materials needed to build a ship. They were innovative as well as efficient and began designing and building the authorized frigates.
Read MoreThe Three Navies of the Frigate Hancock
Back to the frigate Hancock that was commissioned in 1776. It was one of 13 frigates the Continental Congress authorized on December 13th, 1775. Built in Newburyport, MA, the 860-ton Hancock was armed with twenty-four 12-pounders and eight 6-pounders.
Read MoreMess Cooks
One by one, the mess cooks would dump their mess’s rations into the kettle, where they would be boiled. If they were cooking meat, a mess tag was attached to the meat that was placed in a burlap bag. At the end of the string, stick with the number of the mess hung over the edge of the kettle.
Read MoreThe Role of the Purser
Thus, the purser, even though he was an employee of a ship owner or an officer in the Navy, was also an independent contractor. A purser who purchased poor-quality or insufficient food could become very unpopular in a hurry. In some cases where a purser was not assigned or died, the duties of the purser were assigned to the Second or Third Lieutenant. Captains who did not allow pursers on board their ships did so in an attempt to minimize the potential for corruption.
Read MoreBritish Difficulties in Sustaining a Blockade
Blockades are simple in concept, i.e., station your warships outside an enemy harbor and prevent warships and merchant vessels from entering or leaving. The goal is to starve the enemy into submission, change their behavior or destroying their will to fight.
Read MoreEscape of the Enterprise
Paired with Rattlesnake, Enterprise, now under the command of LT John Renshaw, was tasked with protecting U.S. merchant ships. Off Florida, which at the time was a territory of Spain, they captured the British privateer Mars and two merchant ships.
Read MoreBeginnings of a Global U.S. Navy Presence
Between 1783 and 1794, the United States didn’t have a standing Army or Navy. Except for detachments kept to guard Fort Pitt (near modern Pittsburgh) and West Point, the Continental Army was dissolved and its weapons given to state militias. All the ships of the small Continental Navy were either sold or scrapped.
Read MoreThree Ship Navy Legacy of the U.S.’s First Ship-of-the-Line
The French scrapped the American-built America and a new 74-gun Temaire-class ship-of-the-line was built and named America. It had twenty-eight 36-pounders on the lower gundeck, twenty 18-pounders on the upper gun deck, and sixteen 8-pounders and four 36-pounder carronades on the forecastle and upper deck.
Read MoreBarbary Pirates Déja Vu All Over Again
Once the war of 1812 was over, Madison now had a battle-tested Navy that had won battles on Lake Erie and Lake Ontario as well as many frigate duels. Many of those Navy commanders who had been junior officers during the First Barbary Pirate War were now senior officers and well-versed in what was needed to deal with the Algerians.
Read MoreSeeds of Our Defense Procurement Issues
It was Sections 1 and 9 that caught my attention. When Vice President John Adams signed this bill into law, the United States was paying tribute to the Dey of Algiers, the Bey of Tripoli, and other leaders along the North African littoral. By the time the U.S. went to war with the Barbary Pirates in 1803, 20+% of the Federal budget went to tribute to these pirates in the hopes that they would stop seizing U.S merchant ships.
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