Lexington (CV 16) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 7 text:

as 53 QE 1. ,. 5, 5 5 , 1? i F gl T I , Av 1. 2 g. ii la 5 s II 'Q i s E E I

Page 6 text:

, ., . .. ..- 1 1. fu--,-:----+::-f-- -- -- ..a,+f-v-.- A --:.,-.-1-.---------- 1-1-- 11 H 1 11 11 1 1 I 1 I1 1 1 11 11 ll 11 11 11 1 1 1 I 1 11 41 1 l 1 1 ll 11 1 l1 1 1 1 1 11 l 1 1 11 i 11 1 1 -1 l I I i 1 ri I 1 5 1 E P l. 1 11 1 11 1 1 Il ,1 1 A Proud Shzlo Today Boosts cz Proud H eritoge It was March, 1776, and another crisis faced the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. The Marine Committee was called into hurried Ses- sion to consider the problem: a British warship was reported cruising in the Delaware Capes area, posing a threat to several vessels which were headed north from St. Eustatia, West Indies with loads of powder for the Continental Army. Robert Morris, Pennsylvania's representative on the Committee stated that 'ca Maryland armed brig now is in Philadelphia and urged the Members to consider buying her immediately and Hsend her to fightn the British warship. The vessel in question was employed by the Maryland Committee of Safety and was current- ly at the docks on the Schuylkill River, unload- ing a cargo of powder she herself had just brought up from St. Eustatia. On March 13, 1776, the Marine Committee notified the Mary- land Committee of Safety they would purchase the ship, under the Act of October 13, 1775, for use by the Continental Navy. The acquisition was a black-hulled, yellow trimmed brig christened Wild Duck, measuring 86 feet in length and having a breadth of 24'6 . She was armed with fourteen 4-pounders, a pair of 6-pounders, and twelve swivels. The ship was immediately turned over to the Philadelphia ship- builders, Wharton and Humphrey for recondi- tioning, and re-named Lexington in honor of the famous battle at that Massachusetts town April 19th of the previous year. Captain John Barry was appointed to her command. On March 24 she was loaded with powder- much of it the same cargo she had brought north - and the following day small arms and cutlas- ses were dispensed to the crew. Early in the morning of March 26 the final crewmembers signed the shipping articles and Lexington got underway with a complement of 109 officers and enlisted men. The initial combat engagement was not long in coming. On April 17, while' cruising off Chesapeake Bay, she encountered the British sloop Edward, a tender to a ship which had been ravaging the, eastern shores of Maryland. The British vessel fought for approximately an hour, killing two American seamen and wound-

Page 8 text:

. ,- ,.,. ...... ,-.-- ..1!!l...,,,,..... ,.,....:.,., , -mn: . A-N-mu-1-rv-avnummsvna-es-ui.-g..-wx mama-an-rr v sr-e.1.e..-mfg' in-enfniviu. A isa: ur?-flf-'lTTfiffT1fl'5'7g Eff 'TF ' Z' flT1I3zELi51 fZ ITT '?'1 ' f 'ZP ing two more, before surrendering. Captain Barry placed a prize crew aboard his victim, who sailed her back to Philadelphia, while he re- ported that very afternoon to the Marine Com- mittee: HI have the pleasure to acquaint you that at one P.M. this day I fell in with the sloop Edward fof eight gunsj, belonging to the Lz'ver- pool frigate. She engaged us near two glasses. They killed two of our men and wounded two more. We shattered her in a terrible manner, as you will see. We killed and wounded several of her crew .... I have the happiness to acquaint you that all our people behaved with much couragef, Continuing to operate off the coast, Lexington encountered no other enemy ships, and, when provisions ran low on May 5, she slipped past British frigates Roebuck and Liverpool and their tenders to moor again at the Wharton and Humphrey Shipyards for refitting. Three days later the ship's crew was hastily mustered and taken in small boats down the Delaware River to a floating battery. Rumors had reached Phila- delphia that two British frigates in the roadstead were about to force their way up the river to bombard the city, when the assault didn't ma- terialize, however, the crew returned to their ship. On May 20 the ship sailed down the river to Chester, where she joined the 16-gun Continental Brig Reprisal. A week later these two were off Cape May with the sloop Hornet when they spotted the 74-gun British frigate Liverpool in the early morning haze. The British captain was amazed when the American ships hove to, rather than fleeing his mighty warship at first glance. He immediately seized the opportunity to challenge the lighter vessels, ordering his topsails shaken out and his steering sails rigged. However, when Liverpool had closed to about one mile, the Americans ran up all the canvas they could find and headed to- wards the shallower waters off Cape May. Their strategy was to lure their opponent into shallow water where she would run aground, becoming helpless. The frigate's Captain was too wise in his nautical ways to fall for the ruse, however, and he gave up the pursuit when his soundings showed a depth of only four fathoms. 6 With both sides thus frustrated, the American ships sailed on to Cape May and 8.I1ChOICd- Lexington remained 'there until june 6, when she slipped through the blockading British forces and sped southward to warn powder and am- munition ships coming from.Cape Francois of the existence of the blockade. June 29 the armed brig Nancy, enroute to Philadelphia with a cargo of ammunition and stores from the West Indies, was sighted and pursued off the Delaware Capes by half a dozen British warships and their tenders. Lexington and Reprisal came to her assistance and were able to take aboard the most valuable part of Nancy it cargo, including 270 barrels of powder. Nancy was run ashore and grounded, under cover of fog, near Cape May, there her Captain and crew set afire and abandoned her. Several British boats were dispatched in an attempt to seize what was left of the burning prize, but the powder still aboard exploded just as the hapless boarding party took possession of her with three cheersf' ending any hope of salvage. Lexington, meanwhile, not wishing to risk her newly-acquired cargo in a battle, fled to Cape May. In july she sailed for the waters off Ber- muda, but it proved an uneventful cruise during which no enemy vessels were encountered, and she returned to Philadelphia in October. There her original commanding officer, Captain Barry, was relieved by Captain William Hallock. That month the ship was placed at the disposal of the Secret Committee of Congress to carry im- portant dispatches in addition to her other duties. Lexington? initial assignment in this connection came almost immediately, when she departed for Cape Francois on October 23. Misfortune overtook the ship on her return voyage in December, when she encountered the British frigate Pearl and was captured. Officers and some of the crew were removed, and a prize crew from Pearl took command. Their conquest was short-lived, however, for the captive sailors overpowered their guards that very night. Upon assuming control they hauled down the Union jack, hoisted the colors of the Continental Navy, and sailed to Baltimore, Maryland. There she was refitted and placed under the command of