History Short: The First US Navy Ships

At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, America had no navy!

A few colonies had some armed vessels, but the Continental Government had no fighting ships to call their own. So, in 1775 the Continental Congress voted to purchase and equip eight ships of war.

On November 4th, 1775 it acquired a ship called the Black Prince. Congress ordered it to be converted to a warship with 30 cannons, and so it was done. The ship was later renamed Alfred.

USS Alfred

Interestingly, George Washington had previously chartered and armed the schooner, Hannah, with 4 guns on September 2, 1775. The Hannah is considered by some to be the first vessel of the Continental Navy. Others, who have noted that Hannah was only improvised, modestly armed, and specifically assigned to "search" for British cargo ships, defer to the Alfred as being the first "official" US Navy ship.

In any case, Hannah was the first in a fleet of 11 similarly-equipped vessels, which technically preceded the Continental Navy, and later became known as "Washington's Navy." It's not much of a secret that these ships were set up to raid British supply ships, pirate style. Arghhh!