PROVIDENCE vs. MILFORD

On 10 May 1776, temporary CAPT John Paul Jones assumed command of the Continental Navy sloop Providence, armed with twelve 4-pounder guns.  Jones received his permanent appointment on August 8^th and departed the Delaware Capes on the 21^st to cruise independently.  As small as was the sloop, and as lightly armed, her employment would be against British merchant shipping.  But when lookouts spotted a sail on the horizon this day, it turned out to be an enemy frigate.  British frigates routinely carried long 24-pounders, with twice the range and weight of broadside of Jones’ sloop.  A fight was out of the question, but gaming was not!

At that moment, Jones’ crew was employed in fishing–a welcomed supplement to a diet of salt pork and hard tack.  But the appearance of the frigate sent all hands to quarters.  Jones stood his positiion as the frigate abandoned her escorted merchantman and turned in his direction.  Indeed, Providence stood fast until the enemy had reached firing range.  Then Jones set a full press of sail and skirted off across the wind.

The Briton followed, firing at extreme range.  Jones criss-crossed in front of the frigate, first to windward, then to leeward.  The sprightly sloop literally danced on the waves compared to the more plodding frigate, who proved to be HMS Milford, 28.  All the while the frigate fired, hoping even at such extreme range that a lucky shot might reach the sloop.  For the next several hours Jones maneuvered.  Much to his delight the frigate expended round after round in an impotent bombardment that never touched the American.  Remaining just out of reach, Jones ducked in, around, and about the frigate, who lumbered in comparison and whose continued bombardment only ruffled the pitching swells.  For eight full hours, the rest of that day’s light, Jones baited the Briton into firing over 100 useless rounds.  So contemptuous was the British firing that when the frigate rounded to loose yet another fruitless broadside, Jones ordered the Lieutenant of this Marines, Edmund Arrowsmith, to fire a single musket in reply to what he called the British “salute!”

Nightfall ended the chase, the frigate having closed no further than during that afternoon.  The next morning found the enemy still in the area, but on a westward heading.  Jones further mused at how her captain would brag in Halifax as to the “sound thrashing” he gave the lucky rebel privateer!  Providence made Canso Harbor, Nova Scotia, the following day, where Jones commandeered a English fishing schooner and scuttled two fishing smacks, but not before his crew had transferred all the fish to the schooner–their own fishing having been interrupted!

Watch the POD for more “Today in Naval History”

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

Rehabilitation Medicine

Department of the Navy, Naval History Division.  Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 5 “N-Q”.  Washington, DC: GPO, 1979, pp. 396-97.

Hannings, Bud.  Chronology of the American Revolution.  Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2008, pp. 130, 131.

letter of Captain John Paul Jones to the Continental Marine Committee, dtd. 30 September 1776.  IN: Morgan, William J.  Naval Documents of the American Revolution, Vol 6.  Washington, DC: GPO, 1972, pp. 1047-50.

The post PROVIDENCE vs. MILFORD appeared first on Today in Naval History.

                      “THE FEW, THE PROUD”

“The Few, the Proud, the Marines” has been an iconic slogan of the US Marine Corps since it was introduced in 1976 by the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency during a critical post-Vietnam recruiting drive.  The end of American involvement in that conflict in 1972 had seen disrespect for returning servicemen and public disdain for the military in general.  Recruiting was at paralyzing levels.  The Thompson advertising agency was attempting to portray the USMC as the elite military force, attractive to those who sought to associate with the best.  It worked.  Since, the slogan has been carried in several forms, revived in 1984 with the plea, “We’re looking for a few good men.”  But few may know that the phrase dates to the Revolutionary War.

By the beginning of 1779 our Continental Navy was on the ropes.  The 28-gun frigate PROVIDENCE lay idle in Boston for want of a crew.  She was the second Continental Navy warship to bear the name, the first having been burned to prevent her capture at Penobscot Bay.  This newer, bigger, and stronger PROVIDENCE had run the blockade from Rhode Island at the end of April 1778, fighting two British frigates in the process.  After shipping arms and supplies in France, she and BOSTON, 24, returned to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in October.  But holding a crew while in port proved difficult, as richer profits and moderate treatment aboard privateers led many of the crew to dessert.  Shortly CAPT Abraham Whipple started working his frigate toward Boston, where the likelihood of securing men was greater.

Meanwhile, on this day in Rhode Island, Whipple’s newly appointed Captain of the Marines, Continental Marine Corps 2^nd LT William Jones, took out an ad in “The Providence Gazette”:

“The Continental Ship Providence, ABRAHAM WHIPPLE, Esq; Commander, now lying at Boston, is bound on a short Cruize, immediately; a few good Men are wanted to make up her Compliment.  All persons, whether Seamen, Marines, or Landsmen, that incline to enter, are desired to repair on board said ship, or to the Subscriber, at PROVIDENCE, within Twelve Days from the Date hereof, and they will receive further Information.”  Wm. JONES, Capt., Marines, PROVIDENCE, March 20, 1779.

It must have worked, for from Boston in June 1779, PROVIDENCE sailed with QUEEN OF FRANCE, 28, and RANGER, 18, on a successful raid of British commercial shipping.  “A few good men” has since described our US Marines across two centuries of service.

Watch for more “Today in Naval History”  26 MAR 22

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

Department of the Navy, Naval History Division.  Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 5 “N-Q”.  Washington, DC: GPO, 1979, p. 307.

Smith, Charles R.  Marines in the Revolution:  A History of the Continental Marines in the American Revolution 1775-1783.  Washington, DC: GPO, 1975, pp. 148-49.

Westermier, Michael, Historian, USMC History Division.  Personal e-mail dated 1 August 2019.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:  USMC 2^nd LT William Jones had formerly been a CPT in the Rhode Island Regiment.  He came to CAPT Whipple highly recommended by the Navy Board:

“He is a man well acquainted with the service having been in it most of the War, and has great interest in raising a Compy. of Marines.  His appearance and Character is such I apprehend as will do honor to the service.”

The post “The Few, The Proud” appeared first on Today in Naval History.