U.S. Continental Navy

At the first of the Revolutionary War, the American Navy was tiny and vastly overwhelmed by the Royal British Navy. The British had over 100 ships and a great number of smaller craft and frigates, even though a large percentage of the ships that the British had were old and not in very good condition. The US Navy was not even in existence, the ships that were used were small and not in any organized force.

In 1775 the Continental Congress agreed to authorize a small Navy, and in October 1775 they created the first Navy. The first supporter in Congress who urged the creation of the Navy was John Adams, and he labored very hard for the funds and first ships.

The First goals of the US Navy was to disrupt and intercept British War Shipments, and war material, and overall cause havoc to the British Maritime Commercial Operations. The first fleet was not much to speak of but the US Navy in its earliest form was scrappy, and in its own way fearless. Despite being overwhelmingly outnumbered and outgunned, and without much in the way of funding, resources, or manpower, the first ships were converted merchant ships, with a few custom built warships constructed later on in the Revolutionary Conflict. The overall contribution to the Revolutionary War was small, but in some limited conflicts it was substantial.

As in other conflicts in History, the Revolutionary War mainly consisted of lessons learned in relation to the first US Navy ships and personnel. But there were some bright spots in early Navy history. It provided necessary experience and training for the first US Navy officers and men, and led to the positive showing a number of years later in the War of 1812. The first Navy also launched the career of Captain John Paul Jones, who was the first US Navy hero.

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Captain John Paul Jones was famous for taking a much smaller vessel as a US Navy captain and captured a large British warship, the HMS Serapis. He is also famous for saying during that conflict, to his US Navy First Lieutenant, “I have not yet begun to fight.” Captain Jones was successful in his small Navy time and was laid to rest in Paris France. Years later, he was transferred and laid to rest finally at the United States Naval Academy, which is fitting as the first “Father of the American Navy.”