Happy 232rd B-Day to our U.S. Navy !!

Hannah   In April 1775, with few field guns and scant gunpowder, Washington appealed to the Continental Congress for supplies.  The new nation, however, did not have the means to resupply Washington's army.  Therefore, he chartered the fishing schooner Hannah to raid British shipping of military supplies. The Hannah became the first of eleven vessels chartered to aid the revolutionary cause.  Over the six months of the American siege of Boston, "Washington's Navy" captured some fifty-five prizes, provided much-needed supplies to the troops, and boosted the efforts of naval-minded members of Congress who sought to create a national naval force.  

I love old sailing ships and currently play a very expensive (ive spent over $1,500) old sailing battle ship simulation / strategy game hosted at sony online entertainment. I have built wooden boat models since I was 10 years old. I think the first one I built was a plastic model (ugh platic yukey) of the U.S.S. Constitution (awesome boat). After that I built only wooden models which are very detailed and are built one plank at a time and every little rope, and piece of the ship including canvas sails, those take months to build and thats at a fast pace with lots of effort.     History of the U.S. Naval Forces of the Revolution  When fighting broke out in 1775 the American colonists had no large gunboats, no naval cannon or shot, no warship construction experience, and no captains and crews with experience in multi-ship naval battles. In contrast the British navy had hundreds of large gunships, hundreds of experienced officers, excellent maps, could attack anywhere along the thousands of miles of America's ocean coastline and could deliver troops and firepower well inland via the hundreds of navigable rivers on the eastern seaboard. The U.S. responded to this challenge with an active program of building warships, retro-fitting merchant vessels for military duty, capturing British supply ships and warships, borrowing warships from France, and making an alliance with France (and through France drawing in Spain) that would secure cooperative use of naval power that was larger than Great Britain's. On 1775 Sep 02: General George Washington commissioned Nicholson Broughton of Marblehead MA as captain of the Hannah, to lead eight schooners based in Massachusetts in what became known as "George Washington's Navy" The original schooners included the . . . Hannah -- 78 tons and a crew of 43 (sailed Sept 5, ruined by grounding Oct 10) . . . Harrison -- 64-tons, 4 guns (under Capt. William Coit of Norwich CT) . . . Washington -- 160-tons, 10 guns, and a crew of 74 Their first mission was to intercept British cargo vessels supplying the British garrison in Boston, and during the 26 months in which this fleet was part of the Continental Army they captured 55 enemy ships. Ships of the Continental Army provided one of America’s greatest naval successes at the battle of Valcour Island in 1776, when a fleet commanded by Brigadier General Benedict Arnold delayed a British invasion from Canada so that they had to withdraw for the winter. This gave time for American strength to grow so that it could overwhelm the next invasion force in 1777 at Saratoga. 1775 Oct 13 is considered to be the birthday of the United States Navy, since this was the day that the Continental Congress ordered that two large vessels be fitted out with 10 cannon each. Note: From 1922 to 1946 Oct 27 was widely observed as Navy Day. Further facts on Navy Day [U.S. Dept. of Defense] On 1775 December 13 the Continental Congress authorized the construction of three 74-gun ships-of-the-line and thirteen frigates for the Continental Navy. All thirteen frigates were constructed, but only one ship-of-the-line was completed. The Continental Navy later included the world's first military submarine. See Other Ships below. On 1775 Dec 22 Congress commissioned Esek Hopkins as commander-in-chief, four captains: Dudley Saltonstall for the 24-gun frigate Alfred Abraham Whipple for the 24-gun frigate Columbus Nicholas Biddle for the 14-gun brig Andrew Doria John Burrows Hopkins for the 14-gun brig Cabot five first lieutenants (one of whom, John Paul Jones, later became very famous), five second lieutenants three third lieutenants Several States created state navies, and many American merchant ships added cannon and obtained letters of marque so that they could serve as privateers -- sailing the world's oceans and capturing British merchant ships, harrassing the smaller ships of the Royal Navy, and threatening British military supply lines. See State Navies and Privateers below. here is a Link I found that has some great info and history and a TON of links.