George Washington (CVN 73) - Naval Cruise Book

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General George JVashingtoA and llie Continental Army cross the Delaware Riwr on December 25. 1776. In later years he would conclude that such failure would spell economic and strategic ruin. Especially in the face of war. In 1753, Washington began service with the Virginia militia. The following year he led an expedition to Fort Duqucsnc (modern day Pittsburgh) against the French during the French and Indian War. He took command of all Virginia forces in 1755 and participated in close combat. After leaving the militia in 1758, he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses. The next year Washington married the wealthy widow Martha Custis. After a period of living the social life of a gentleman farmer, however. Washington revisited his military days to fight against the imperialistic British rule. In 1774, Washington took control of the Virginia militia. In June 1775, two months after the first shots of the American Revolution were fired, the Second Continental Congress unanimously voted Washington to command the Continental Army. When he arrived in Cambridge, Massachusetts in early July, he saw British warships hovering over Boston Harbor. Washington then recognized the power of the British Navy. By September, General Washington, desperate to counter the Royal Navy, began commissioning privately owned ships into action to sever enemy supply lines. Thus, “Washington's Fleet” was born. The earliest of these commissioned vessels, Hannah, was a seventy-ton New England schooner commanded by Nicholas Broughton. Believing reconciliation with Britain possible, many opposed the creation of a Continental Navy. So Washington would pen a letter to Broughton and then other captains, ordering them to disrupt enemy supply lines and to pirate provisions needed by the upstart American military. “Washington’s Fleet” would capture over fifty British ships, exposing weak points of the Royal Navy and the steel will of the independent-minded ship owners who were probably motivated more by profits of booty and self preservation than doing a patriotic chore.

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GFORCtF; WASHINGTON arCo be prepared for QPar is one of the most effective means of preserving the peace - Geoige ‘VasiiAgtQA jt U aai t(idiess cuucug 8. 1790 seafaring experience, it left a deep impression on him. During the endeavor, Washington kept a log of his travels, charting the daily progress of the vessel and noting wind direction, weather conditions and even the Sailors’ diet — dolphin, pilot fish and wormy bread. Though Washington’s possessive mother would not allow him to follow in his half-brother's footsteps to accept a commission with the Royal Navy, he made many important discoveries during his travel to Barbados. including the enlightenment of the value of Caribbean ports. In his eyes, failure to keep enriching waterways open to these profitable trade islands in the West Indies would be a missed opportunity in the future. hough George Washington - was not a Sailor, it is quite plausible that no person did more than America’s first president to establish the United States Navy. George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, in Westmoreland County, Virginia to Augustine and Mary. After his father’s death at age eleven, he moved in with his half- brother Lawrence, who owned the plantation Mount Vernon in Virginia. In 1748, Washington did some surveying for Lord Fairfax, a relative of Lawrence by marriage, meanwhile reading widely in Mount Vernon’s library. In 1751, the 19-year-old accompanied his brother on a sailing venture to Barbados. The ten-week round trip marked his first undertaking on the high seas and though it was Washington’s only

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Finally, in October 1775, Congress appointed a naval committee, giving its members $500,000 to purchase and arm four vessels and begin production on thirteen frigates. . The momentous Navy victory of the Revolution would come in 1779 under the command of the immortal John Paul Jones. When his ship Bonhomme Richard captured the Royal Navy’s Serapis, our first Navy hero was bom. After the Revolution. President Washington adopted for America, the policy of neutrality, avoiding war with such powerful countries as France or England and concentrated on preserving trade in Atlantic waters leading to the Mediterranean and Caribbean. However, by the middle of the 1780s. American merchant ships were General (n'ng, iiinhington being plundered, often by the Barbary States in North Africa who seized and held American Sailors hostage. Ultimately, Washington would avoid war by signing a treaty with the Regency of Algiers. After paying the $1 million ransom, 115 American Sailors were freed. From these events came the important realization that a strong maritime presence would be needed to maintain national interests. During Washington’s eighth and final address to Congress, he said “for an active and external commerce, the protection of a naval force is indispensable.” This led to the Naval Construction Act of 1794, a measure that would produce a stronger Navy and allow for the eventual dominant seafaring country we are today. George Washington marries Martha fktndridge Cams on January ft. 7.5'