THE INDOMITABLE LEXINGTON

Many of the original thirteen colonies organized their own navies during the Revolutionary War.  For example, in February of 1776 the Maryland Committee for Safety sent Abraham Van Bibber to St. Eustatius in the Dutch West Indies to secure a ship.  He purchased a brigantine Wild Duck and filled her with precious gunpowder for the Maryland militia.  But within a week of reaching Philadelphia on the 9^th of March, Wild Duck was purchased by the Marine Committee of the Continental Congress and fitted out as the Continental Navy’s 14-gun sloop-of-war LEXINGTON.  CAPT John Barry commanded her, but before he could get to sea, the British slapped a blockade on their rebellious colonies.  Barry eluded that blockade, however, and on April 7^th, off the Virginia Capes, he met the sloop/tender HMS EDWARD, 6.  A fiery one-hour battle resulted in EDWARD’s defeat and transfer to Philadelphia.  LEXINGTON next raced south to meet ADM Sir Peter Parker’s attack on Charleston, where Barry barely escaped capture.

LEXINGTON marked that summer with her sisters; REPRISAL, 18; HORNET, 10; and WASP, 8, at Cape May behind the blockade of HMS LIVERPOOL, 32.  When the Pennsylvania Navy brig NANCY grounded while sneaking into that harbor on June 28^th, boats from the four Yankee ships lightered all but 100 of the 386 barrels of gunpowder she carried.  Barry rigged those remaining 100 barrels to detonate just as a British party boarded the next morning.  LEXINGTON slipped to sea again in July and captured the Tory privateer, LADY SUSAN.  Seven of the privateer’s crew signed on with Barry, one of these was Richard Dale, who quickly became Master’s Mate of LEXINGTON.

Under a new commander, CAPT William Hallock, the brigantine eluded the British blockade again in the autumn of 1776–this time bound for Cap Francois, Hispaniola, to secure a cargo of military provisions.  When LEXINGTON returned to the Delaware Capes on this day, a sail belonging to the British frigate HMS PEARL, 32, appeared on the horizon.  Shortly the frigate overhauled LEXINGTON.  The enemy prevailed in the duel that followed, and the brigantine’s hold was used to imprison the American officers and 70 crewmen.  But as the British prize crew secured the ship for the night, the captive Colonials began baiting them with promises of rum.  Their story seemed all the more believable to the British, who knew the ship had just returned from the Caribbean.  When the thirsty captors opened the hatches to investigate, the Continentals sprang forth and retook the ship.  Led by Master’s Mate Dale (who later served as mate to John Paul Jones on BONHOMME RICHARD) they resumed their mission to deliver LEXINGTON’s invaluable cargo to Baltimore.

Watch for more “Today in Naval History”  25 DEC 24

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

Department of the Navy, Naval History Division.  Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 4 “L-M”.  Washington, DC: GPO, 1969, p. 100.

Fischer, David Hackett.  Washington’s Crossing.  New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2004, 156-57.

Fowler, William M., Jr.  Rebels Under Sail:  The American Navy during the Revolution.  New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1976, p. 252.

Miller, Nathan.  Sea of Glory:  A Naval History of the American Revolution.  Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 1974, p. 118.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:  We are so used to thinking of the United States as a whole that it may seem strange that many of the original 13 colonies commissioned their own navies.  But each colony had been founded independently, each was governed independently, and the idea that all 13 would unite under one government seemed just as strange in that day.

Despite her successes above, LEXINGTON did not finish the war in American hands.  She ultimately fell to the enemy in a controversial battle with a weaker British sloop.  She nevertheless became the inspiration for five subsequent US warships named in her honor, including the WWII carrier CV-2 and her replacement CV-16.  The latter served as our training carrier, AT-16, in the 1990s.

African-Americans are widely believed to have served aboard many Continental Navy warships, however LEXINGTON, PROVIDENCE, and RANGER are the only three documented to have had black crewmembers.

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                                  BATTLE OF TURTLE GUT INLET

The six-gun civilian brig Nancy headed north from St. Thomas and St. Croix.  Her Master, Hugh Montgomery, had shipped a cargo that would bring a handsome profit in his homeport of Philadelphia.  Nancy carried 386 barrels of gunpowder, sorely needed in anticipation of the declaration of American independence, 50 fire-locks, 101 hogsheads of rum and 62 hogsheads of sugar.  But as Nancy approached the mouth of the Delaware River on Friday evening June 28^th, the British warships, HMS ORPHEUS, 32, LIVERPOOL, 28, and KINGFISHER, 16, gave chase.

American lookouts at Cape May watched the chase unfold, Nancy being forced toward a small bay north of Cape May, Turtle Gut.  Word was sent to CAPT John Barry in the Continental Navy brig LEXINGTON, 14, who was standing by to assist vessels attempting to bring run past the British into Philadelphia.  He, along with CAPT Lambert Wickes in REPRISAL, 18, and CAPT John Bauldwin in WASP, 8, hurriedly met at nightfall to assess the situation.   Meanwhile, near the inlet to Turtle Gut, Nancy ran aground in the pitch-black night, unseen by the British.  LT Richard Wickes, REPRISAL’s 3^rd LT and brother of skipper Lambert Wickes, insisted upon commanding a longboat for Nancy’s aid.  But he could not find the subject brig in the darkness that night.  Not until dawn did LT Wickes reach Nancy, about the same time the shallow-drafted sloop HMS KINGFISHER anchored within 300 yards.  Just as Barry and more American longboats arrived, the British launched their own boat party!

LT Wickes quickly set his men to two tasks, one lightering Nancy’s cargo and the other to serve Nancy’s guns.  KINGFISHER opened fire while American patriots fought off the British boarding party.  KINGFISHER’s longboat was beaten back, and in response the sloop quickened her fire.  KINGFISHER pummeled Nancy for half an hour, cutting her alow and aloft.  Then five more boats were launched from KINGFISHER, this time intent on boarding at all costs.

By now Wickes’ men had off-loaded the muskets, much of the dry goods, and 265 barrels of gunpowder.  The enemy bombardment took its toll; it was soon clear the merchant brig could not be saved.  Barry now staged an ingenious booby-trap, wrapping the remaining barrels of gunpowder in a sail which he ignited as a sort of fuse.  The last man off Nancy climbed the rigging to lower our flag, and at that very moment, LT Wickes was sliced through the arm and chest with an enemy shot.  The approaching British interpreted the flag lowering as surrender, and just as they clamored aboard, the gunpowder exploded in a blast felt miles away.  Seven Royal Navy tars died, and several of their longboats were destroyed.

Watch for more “Today in Naval History”  6 JUL 24

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

Captain Lambert Wickes to Samuel Wickes, dtd. 2 July 1776.  IN: Morgan, William James, (ed.), Department of the Navy, Naval History Division.  Naval Documents of the American Revolution Vol 5  1776.  Washington, DC: GPO, 1970, pp. 882-84.

Department of the Navy, Naval History Division.  Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 4 “L-M”. Washington, DC: GPO, 1969, p. 100.

Department of the Navy, Naval History Division.  Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 6 “R-S”.  Washington, DC: GPO, 1976, p. 78.

Department of the Navy, Naval History Division.  Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 8 “W-Z”.  Washington, DC: GPO, 1981, p. 293.

“Journal of the H.M. Sloop Kingfisher, Captain Alexander Graeme.” IN:  Morgan, William James, (ed.), Department of the Navy, Naval History Division.  Naval Documents of the American Revolution Vol 5  1776.  Washington, DC: GPO, 1970, pp. 817-18.

“Journal of the H.M.S. Orpheus, Captain Charles Hudson.”  IN:  Morgan, William James, (ed.), Department of the Navy, Naval History Division.  Naval Documents of the American Revolution Vol 5  1776.  Washington, DC: GPO, 1970, p. 818.

Site visit.  Sunset Lake Park, Cape May, New Jersey, 23 May 2001.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:  This engagement transpired only a week before our independence was declared and is taken by historians as the first government-sponsored naval battle of our Revolutionary War.  Regardless, it has largely been forgotten.  This may be due in part to the fact that Turtle Gut has since been backfilled by Cape May County authorities.  A park now occupies the site bearing a marker commemorating the battle that took place this day.

CAPT Lambert Wickes is remembered today with the lead ship in a class of WWI destroyers, WICKES (DD-73), and with the Fletcher-class WWII destroyer DD-578.

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