USS Virginia (1776)

Last updated

History
US flag 13 stars.svgUnited States
NameUSS Virginia
Laid down1776
LaunchedAugust 1776
CommissionedEarly 1777
FateCaptured, 1778
Naval Ensign of Great Britain (1707-1800).svg Great Britain
NameHMS Virginia
Acquired1778
FateCondemned and sold, 1782
General characteristics
Type Frigate
Tonnage681
Length126 ft 4 in (38.51 m)
Beam34 ft 4 in (10.46 m)
Draft10 ft 6 in (3.20 m)
Complement315
Armament
  • 24 × 12-pounder (5.4 kg) guns
  • 6 × 4-pounder (1.8 kg) guns
  • 6 swivel guns
Service record
Commanders: Capt. James Nicholson

The first USS Virginia was a 28-gun sailing frigate of the Continental Navy, a ship with a short and unfortunate career.

She was one of 13 frigates authorized by the Continental Congress on 13 December 1775, laid down in 1776 at Fells Point, Maryland, by George Wells, launched that August, and commissioned in the spring of 1777, Captain James Nicholson in command.

The newly commissioned frigate's first orders directed her to attempt a run through the strong British naval blockade at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay and then if successful, to head south to the West Indies and cruise in search of English merchantmen. However, her first sortie failed, as did four subsequent attempts to get to sea which she made in May, October, November, and December 1777. These successive failures frustrated Virginia's restive crew, and many deserted to join the numerous privateers scattered about the wharves of nearby Baltimore.

By early January 1778, the desertions had become so numerous that Virginia was unable to leave the docks. This situation prompted a series of ugly exchanges between Capt. Nicholson, his executive officer Lt. Joshua Barney, and the governor of Maryland Thomas Johnson. New recruits were finally procured through the auspices of the Maritime Committee of the Continental Congress, enabling Virginia to attempt another run past the blockade in mid-January. This latest dash went smoothly until Emerald sighted Virginia near the Chesapeake capes. The British frigate pursued the Americans back towards Baltimore. Virginia tied up behind a water battery and chain stretched across the northwest branch of the Patapsco River, Md., between Whetstone Point and later Lazaretto Point, where she took on board 20 more seamen.

Later that month, when Capt. Nicholson again tried to run the blockade, he sent Lt. Barney ahead in the schooner Dolphin to reconnoiter the positions of the British warships. Dolphin sighted a large patrol vessel in Tangier Sound but outran her. Before meeting with Virginia, the schooner recaptured a Baltimore sloop taken earlier. On the basis of Lt. Barney's report, Capt. Nicholson decided to abandon this latest attempt to get to sea and returned to Baltimore.

Virginia lay at anchor at Baltimore for two months repairing and reprovisioning. During this time, Barney was dispatched to York, Pennsylvania, to explain Virginia's predicament to the Maritime Committee; and he returned in March with orders to make another attempt to get by the British as soon as possible. Awaiting Barney upon his arrival back in Baltimore were a letter of thanks from the Royal Navy for his kind treatment of Dolphin's prisoners and a large English cheese.

Virginia left Baltimore late in March in obedience to the Maritime Committee's orders. Nicholson's plans called for Virginia to sail first to Annapolis, to pick up a bay pilot promised by Governor Johnson. Completing this, the frigate and pilot vessel weighed anchor off Annapolis on 30 March and proceeded down the bay, plotting a night passage into the Atlantic. However, early on the morning of 31 March, Virginia grounded with a tremendous crash on the so-called Middle Ground between the capes, opposite the city of Hampton, Virginia. With a strong wind blowing astern, the surf pounded the frigate and forced her over. Her rudder snapped before she could be cleared and was soon lost. Once in the channel, Virginia was anchored and repairs begun.

At dawn, lookouts spotted Emerald and her fellow frigate Conqueror approaching from seaward though Virginia's guns remained undamaged, Capt. Nicholson ordered his barge broken out and went ashore with the ship's papers. Later that morning, the American frigate surrendered to Capt. Caldwell of Emerald. A Congressional court of inquiry into the fiasco cleared Capt. Nicholson of blame, and all the officers of the unlucky frigate saw action later during the Revolution.

Virginia herself was soon repaired and eventually purchased by the Royal Navy for use as the 32-gun frigate HMS Virginia. She was placed in service along the American coast and participated in the Penobscot Expedition of 1779, capturing, with HMS Blonde, the privateer "Hampden". [1] Later participated in the capture of Charles Town, South Carolina in 1780. At the end of the war she was condemned and sold.

Related Research Articles

USS <i>Brandywine</i> A sailing frigate of the United States Navy

USS Brandywine was a wooden-hulled, three-masted frigate of the United States Navy bearing 44 guns which had the initial task of conveying the Marquis de Lafayette back to France. She was later recommissioned a number of times for service in various theaters, such as in the Mediterranean, in China and in the South Atlantic Ocean.

USS <i>Adams</i> (1799) American warship

USS Adams was a 28-gun (rated) sailing frigate of the United States Navy. She was laid down in 1797 at New York City by John Jackson and William Sheffield and launched on 8 June 1799. Captain Richard Valentine Morris took command of the ship.

USS <i>Alliance</i> (1778)

The first Alliance of the United States Navy was a 36-gun sailing frigate of the American Revolutionary War.

USS <i>Lexington</i> (1776) 1776 US Navy brigantine

The first USS Lexington of the Thirteen Colonies was a brig purchased in 1776. The Lexington was an 86-foot (26 m) two-mast wartime sailing ship for the fledgling Continental Navy of the Colonists during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Continental Navy</span> American navy of the Revolutionary War (1775–1785)

The Continental Navy was the navy of the Thirteen Colonies during the American Revolutionary War. Founded on October 13, 1775, the fleet developed into a substantial force throughout the Revolutionary War, owing partially to the efforts of naval patrons within the Continental Congress. These congressional patrons included the likes of John Adams, who served as the chairman of the Naval Committee until 1776, when Commodore Esek Hopkins received instruction from the Continental Congress to assume command of the force.

HMS <i>Bellona</i> (1760) Ship of the line of the Royal Navy

HMS Bellona was a 74-gun Bellona-class third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. Designed by Sir Thomas Slade, she was a prototype for the iconic 74-gun ships of the latter part of the 18th century. "The design of the Bellona class was never repeated precisely, but Slade experimented slightly with the lines, and the Arrogant, Ramillies, Egmont, and Elizabeth classes were almost identical in size, layout, and structure, and had only slight variations in the shape of the underwater hull. The Culloden-class ship of the line was also similar, but slightly larger. Thus over forty ships were near-sisters of the Bellona." Bellona was built at Chatham, starting on 10 May 1758, launched on 19 February 1760, and commissioned three days later. She was the second ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name, and saw service in the Seven Years' War, American Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars.

USS <i>Providence</i> (1775) Sloop-of-war of the United States Navy

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joshua Barney</span> United States Navy officer (1759–1818)

Joshua Barney was an American Navy officer who served in the Continental Navy during the Revolutionary War and as a captain in the French Navy during the French Revolutionary Wars. He later achieved the rank of commodore in the United States Navy and also served in the War of 1812.

USS Queen of France was a frigate in the Continental Navy. She was named for Marie Antoinette.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chesapeake Bay Flotilla</span> Military unit

The Chesapeake Bay Flotilla was a motley collection of barges and gunboats that the United States assembled under the command of Joshua Barney, an 1812 privateer captain, to stall British attacks in the Chesapeake Bay which came to be known as the "Chesapeake campaign" during the War of 1812. The Flotilla engaged the Royal Navy in several inconclusive battles before Barney was forced to scuttle the vessels themselves on August 22, 1814. The men of the Flotilla then served onshore in the defense of Washington, DC and Baltimore. It was disbanded on February 15, 1815, after the end of the war.

<i>Chasseur</i> (1812 clipper)

Chasseur was a Baltimore Clipper commanded by Captains Pearl Durkee, William Wade (1813) and Thomas Boyle (1814-1815). She was one of the best equipped and crewed American privateers during the War of 1812.

USS Amanda was a bark acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.

USS Warren was one of the 13 frigates authorized by the Continental Congress on 13 December 1775. With half her main armament being 18-pounders, Warren was more heavily armed than a typical 32-gun frigate of the period. She was named for Joseph Warren on 6 June 1776. Warren was burned to prevent capture in the ill-fated Penobscot Expedition in 1779.

HMS Highflyer was originally an American privateer schooner built in 1811. As a privateer she took several British vessels as prizes. The Royal Navy captured her in 1813. She then participated in several raids on the Chesapeake and coastal Virginia before the Americans recaptured her later in 1813.

HMS <i>Mosquidobit</i> (1813)

HMS Mosquidobit was the Chesapeake-built six-gun schooner Lynx that the British Royal Navy captured and took into service in 1813. She was sold into commercial service in 1820 and nothing is known of her subsequent fate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Delaware Bay</span>

The Battle of Delaware Bay, or the Battle of Cape May, was a naval engagement fought between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United States during the American Revolutionary War. A British squadron of three vessels attacked three American privateers that were escorting a fleet of merchantmen. The ensuing combat in Delaware Bay near Cape May ended with an American victory over a superior British force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Rappahannock River</span>

The Battle of Rappahannock River was fought in 1813 during the War of 1812. A British Royal Navy force blockading the Rappahannock River in Virginia sent several hundred men in boats to attack four American privateers. Ultimately the British were victorious and the American ships were captured.

HMS <i>Emerald</i> (1795) Frigate of the Royal Navy, in service 1795-1836

HMSEmerald was a 36-gun Amazon-class fifth rate frigate that Sir William Rule designed in 1794 for the Royal Navy. The Admiralty ordered her construction towards the end of May 1794 and work began the following month at Northfleet dockyard. She was completed on 12 October 1795 and joined Admiral John Jervis's fleet in the Mediterranean.

HMS Diligent was a brig the Royal Navy purchased in 1777. The Continental Navy captured her in May 1779 and took her into service as the USS Diligent. She then participated in the disastrous Penobscot Expedition where her crew had to scuttle her in August to prevent her capture.

HMS <i>Doterel</i> (1808) Brig-sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Doterel, was an 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop of the British Royal Navy. Launched on 6 October 1808, she saw action in the Napoleonic Wars and in the War of 1812. In February 1809 she took part in the Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne, then in April the Battle of Basque Roads. She was laid up in 1827 at Bermuda, but not broken up until 1855.

References

  1. "The Penobscot Expedition: A Terrible Day for the Patriots". warfarehistorynetwork.com. 7 April 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2021.

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .