As we come up on the 4th of July, I think it is always good to remember where you came from. An army general purchased the first ship of what would become the Continental Navy. George Washington used his own money for the initial Continental Navy vessel. On April 24, 1775, he purchased a schooner and gave her the name Hannah. She was assigned the mission of capturing Royal Navy supply ships attempting to reach Boston while the city was under siege. On September 7, Hannah was successful in capturing the hostile barge, HMS Hoy.
It is believed that the schooner Hannah was the first American naval vessel to be armed during the American Revolution. Hannah is also considered the vessel that laid the foundation for the United States Navy. Hannah Glover was her owner, and she was given that name in honor of John Glover’s wife. They lived in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Most of her crew was comprised of people from the nearby town of Marblehead. General George Washington was the one who decided to put the schooner into the service of the American Army. On September 2, 1775, Washington gave Nicolson Broughton the commission to command the Hannah and ordered the ship to engage in combat operations against the British. On September 5, 1775, Hannah departed from the harbor of Beverly, Massachusetts. Still, two days later, when she was being pursued by the HMS Lively and another British vessel, she sought refuge in the harbor of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Hannah was successful in capturing the British sloop Unity after leaving Gloucester Harbor. Hannah’s brief naval career ended on October 10, 1775, when the British sloop Nautilus ran her aground under the guns of a small American fort near Beverly. This brought an end to Hannah’s service in the navy. Hannah was saved from destruction and capture following an engagement between the British ship and the townspeople supported by the fort. However, she was soon decommissioned because General Washington had found more suitable vessels for his battles. This historic schooner was said to have called both the city of Beverly and the town of Marblehead its home port at one point. Each claimed the honor of being “the Birthplace of the American Navy” from the time Hannah was in service until an old plaque was discovered in the Philadelphia Navy Yard proclaiming Marblehead to be where the United States Navy was founded. The plaque states that Marblehead was where the US Navy was established.