USS Providence was a sloop-of-war in the Continental Navy, originally chartered by the Rhode Island General Assembly as Katy. The ship took part in a number of campaigns during the first half of the American Revolutionary War before being destroyed by her own crew in 1779 to prevent her falling into the hands of the British after the failed Penobscot Expedition.
Alfred was the merchant vessel Black Prince, named for Edward, the Black Prince, and launched in 1774. The Continental Navy of what would become the United States Navy acquired her in 1775, renamed her Alfred after 9th century English monarch Alfred the Great, and commissioned her as a warship. She participated in two major actions, the battle of Nassau, and the action of 6 April 1776. The Royal Navy captured her in 1778, took her into service as HMS Alfred, and sold her in 1782. She then became the merchantman Alfred, and sailed between London and Jamaica.
Andrew Doria was a brig purchased by the Continental Congress in November 1775. She is most famous for her participation in the Battle of Nassau—the first amphibious engagement by the Continental Navy and the Continental Marines—and for being the first United States vessel to receive a salute from a foreign power.
HMS Rose was a 20-gun Seaford-class post ship of the Royal Navy, built at Blaydes Yard in Hull, England in 1757 and in service until 1779. Her activities in suppressing smuggling in the colony of Rhode Island provoked the formation of what became the Continental Navy, precursor of the modern United States Navy. She was based at the North American station in the West Indies and then used in the American Revolutionary War. A replica was built in 1970, then modified to match HMS Surprise, and used in two films, Master and Commander: Far Side of the World and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
HMS Orpheus was a British Modified Lowestoffe-class fifth-rate frigate, ordered on 25 December 1770, as one of five fifth-rate frigates of 32 guns each contained in the emergency frigate-building programme inaugurated when the likelihood of war with Spain arose over the ownership of the Falkland Islands. Sir Thomas Slade's design for Lowestoffe was approved, but was revised to produce a more rounded midships section; the amended design was approved on 3 January 1771 by Edward Hawke's outgoing Admiralty Board, just before it was replaced. The contract to build the Orpheus was awarded to John Barnard at Harwich, the keel being laid in May 1771, and the frigate was launched 7 May 1773, at a cost of £12,654.16.11d. She sailed from Harwich on 24 May for Sheerness Dockyard, where she was completed and fitted out to the Navy Board's needs by 11 June.
The fourth HMS Diamond was a modified Lowestoffe-class fifth-rate frigate ordered in 1770, launched in 1774, but did not begin service until 1776. Diamond served off the eastern North American coast and shared in the capture at least one brig during the American Revolutionary War. The frigate was paid off in 1779, but returned to service the same year after being coppered. Diamond sailed to the West Indies in 1780, was paid off a final time in 1783 and sold in 1784.
HMS Lively was a 20-gun post ship of the Royal Navy, launched in 1756. During the Seven Years' War she captured several vessels, most notably the French corvette Valeur in 1760. She then served during the American Revolutionary War, where she helped initiate the Battle of Bunker Hill. The French captured her in 1778, but the British recaptured her in 1781. She was sold in 1784.
HMS Lark was a 32-gun Richmond-class frigate fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1762 and destroyed in Narragansett Bay in 1778, during the American Revolutionary War.
USS Spitfire was a row galley authorized and constructed by Rhode Island during the American Revolution, and was placed in service in 1776 in the Rhode Island Navy. During this age of sail, row galleys were highly maneuverable compared to sailing ships whose movements were dependent on the wind. Spitfire had a reportedly successful career, helping to capture British cargo ships and engaging in the fight against British warships.
HMS Badger was a brig rigged Sloop-of-War in service with the Royal Navy in the late eighteenth century. Badger is notable as being the first Royal Navy ship to be commanded by Horatio Nelson.
HMS Glasgow was a 20-gun sixth-rate post ship of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1757 and took part in the American Revolutionary War. While under command of Capt. William Maltby she ran onto rocks at Cohasset, Massachusetts on 10 December 1774. Refloated and arrived in Boston on the 15th for repairs. Capt. Maltby was relieved of command at a Court Martial and replaced by Tyringham Howe some time between 8–15 January 1775. She is most famous for her encounter with the maiden voyage of the Continental Navy off Block Island on 6 April 1776. In that action, Glasgow engaged a squadron of 6 ships of the Continental Navy, managing to escape intact. Under the command of Tho. Pasley, she captured sloop Juliana on 1 April 1777. She captured sloop Unity on 2 April 1777. She captured the sloop Betsy & Ann on 4 April. She captured sloop Volante on 5 April. She captured the brig Aurora on 10 April. She captured sloop Sally on 16 April. She captured American privateer sloop Henry on 19 April. She captured schooner Providence on 2 May. She captured schooner Nancy, probably in early May. She captured schooner Betsy 27 June. She captured brig Dolphin on unknown date. She captured sloop Rover on 24 July. She captured sloop Antonio on 21 July. She captured sloop Tryall on 25 July. She captured an unknown schooner on an unknown date. She captured schooner Gen. Thompson on an unknown date. She captured sloop Industry at an unknown date. She captured schooner Betsy & Ann on 4 November. She captured brig Sally on 8 December. She captured sloop Defiance and schooner Success on 9 December. She captured brig Minerva on 19 December. She captured schooner Happy Return on 22 December 1777. On 28 February 1778, she captured sloop Abigale 5 leagues east northeast of the Tiburon Peninsula. On 9 March 1778, she captured schooner Nancy 6 leagues off Mayaguana, Bahamas. She captured sloop Lucy on 12 March off the south east end of Mayaguana. She captured a prize in April 1778, but it sprang a leak and sank.
HMS Winchelsea was a 32-gun fifth-rate Niger-class frigate of the Royal Navy, and was the sixth Royal Navy ship to bear this name. She was ordered during the Seven Years' War, but completed too late for that conflict. She cost £11,515-18-0d to build.
American colonial marines were various naval infantry units which served during the Revolutionary War on the Patriot side. After the conflict broke out in 1775, nine of the rebelling Thirteen Colonies established state navies to carry out naval operations. Accordingly, several marine units were raised to serve as an infantry component aboard the ships of these navies. The marines, along with the navies they served in, were intended initially as a stopgap measure to provide the Patriots with naval capabilities before the Continental Navy reached a significant level of strength. After its establishment, state navies, and the marines serving in them, participated in several operations alongside the Continental Navy and its marines.
The Rhode Island State Navy was the first colonial or state navy established after the American Revolutionary War began in April 1775 with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. On the following June 15, the General Assembly authorized the acquisition of two ships for the purpose of defending the colony's trade. The state's ships were generally used for defensive operations within Narragansett Bay, although some prizes were taken. The state was also one of the first to authorize privateering.
HMS Siren was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Siren was first commissioned in August 1775 under the command of Captain Tobias Furneaux, her only commanding officer.
HMS Milford was a 28-gun Coventry-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was built at Milford by Richard Chitty and launched in 1759. She was sold for breaking at Woolwich on 17 May 1785.
Two vessels of the Royal Navy have borne the name, HM galley Pigot. Both were acquired in 1778 during the American Revolutionary War, and both were lost that year; her crew destroyed the first to avoid her capture, and the Americans captured the second. Both were named for General Sir Robert Pigot, the general commanding the British Army at Newport, Rhode Island, during their service there.
HMS Pearl was a fifth-rate, 32-gun British Royal Navy frigate of the Niger-class. Launched at Chatham Dockyard in 1762, she served in British North America until January 1773, when she sailed to England for repairs. Returning to North America in March 1776, to fight in the American Revolutionary War, Pearl escorted the transports which landed troops in Kip's Bay that September. Much of the following year was spent on the Delaware River where she took part in the Battle of Red Bank in October. Towards the end of 1777, Pearl joined Vice-Admiral Richard Howe's fleet in Narragansett Bay and was still there when the French fleet arrived and began an attack on British positions. Both fleets were forced to retire due to bad weather and the action was inconclusive. Pearl was then despatched to keep an eye on the French fleet, which had been driven into Boston.
The first USS Mosquito was believed to have been purchased at Philadelphia late in 1775 for the new Continental Navy. She patrolled the Delaware River until destroyed during the British capture of Philadelphia led by the Howe brothers and completed by them in October 1777. The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS) has identified this ship as a sloop, yet records from the period which are believed to refer to the ship have consistently identified her as being a schooner. These records also provide a bit more detail of her fate, indicating she was burned after capture in July 1777 during Royal Navy operations along the Delaware River.
HMS Aeolus (1758) was a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. In 1800, she renamed as HMS Guernsey.
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