Happy Birthday to the U.S. Navy
October 13th, 2008
By 1775, the tenuous relationship between the British and the American colonies was at a breaking point. The colonists were enraged by what they saw as unfair treatment at the hands of the British government. The British boasted the most superior naval force in the world, and the colonists faced the daunting challenge of asserting American independence without a centralized naval fighting force. On October 13, 1775, the Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, voted to outfit two seafaring vessels. The vessels were to be armed with ten carriage guns, swivel guns and a total crew of just fewer than two hundred men; their mission would be to intercept British naval ships carrying supplies and munitions to the British army in America. These two ships would be the first of the United States Navy.
The debate over establishing the United States Navy was long and arduous. Many felt that the endeavor was a fruitless waste of funds; they believed that the British Navy was far too superior for the United States to even compete. Others, including John Adams of Massachusetts, were fervent supporters of the development of an American naval force. It was not until the Congress received intelligence that two British ships were on their way from England to Quebec, unarmed and without a protection convoy that the pro-naval advocates began to gain support. The vulnerability of the two British ships seemed too good an opportunity to allow pass. Within only a few days of receiving the information, the Congress authorized the outfitting of the two American vessels.
