Continental Navy

But he was also a true-blue patriot, and he was unusual in the rag-tag Continental Navy for his ability to fight.

John Paul Jones 9781451603996 2003

But he was also a true-blue patriot, and he was unusual in the rag-tag Continental Navy for his ability to fight.

John Paul Jones 9781451603996 2003

From their separate stations in Philadelphia and Baltimore, Morris and Richard Henry Lee schemed constantly to deploy the few armed vessels of the Continental Navy to open sea lanes and escort cargo ships, but to little effect.

Robert Morris Charles Rappleye 2010

This was a direct consequence of the war, of course: securing supplies for the Continental Army and the Continental Navy was a truly national project requiring, for the first time, the concerted effort of all thirteen colonies.

Robert Morris Charles Rappleye 2010

The riches reaped by the privateers caused real problems on land, as fighting sailors routinely deserted the ships of the Continental Navy—and sometimes even their regiments in the army—to join the gold rush at sea.

Robert Morris Charles Rappleye 2010

The Continental Navy was a source of real disillusionment to Morris.

Robert Morris Charles Rappleye 2010

Since early December, the Willing & Morris facility at the south end of Front Street had been utilized as a staging area for the converted merchant ships that were to comprise the first squadron of the new Continental Navy.

Robert Morris Charles Rappleye 2010

And it afforded Morris another opportunity to exercise his keen appreciation for raw talent—days after the fighting, on his authority as a member of the Marine Committee, he elevated Joshua Barney, first mate of the Wasp, to the rank of lieutenant in the Continental Navy.

Robert Morris Charles Rappleye 2010

The tiny, hastily formed Continental Navy consisting mainly of improvised small craft and converted merchantmen had to content itself with pinprick raids on enemy commercial shipping or coastal targets and occasional small-scale actions against lesser British military craft, never ships of the line in battle array.

The Revolutionary War's Other Naval Hero 2010

He sponsored the careers of great fighting sailors like John Paul Jones top left and Joshua Barney, and supervised construction of the Continental Navy.

Robert Morris Charles Rappleye 2010