Randolph (CVS 15) - Naval Cruise Book

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,fy 1. '- 'Q ti' X V -f if N. H .Xa xy Q Wlt't5f 1 4 Yvlll' 1n'1g1'r111f Randolph, U32-gZt7If1'ZgIllC l'11I'7jI'ICllALf I1 3.511-1111111 l,'?'lfIl,', was n1mz1f1l In lmzzor ofl'1j1'l1n1 Rllllflflwll, 11 member of flu' l'1'1'.s'f I ,'1n1f1'111f11Z11f C1mgr1:.s',s'. Crm- .vf1'111'f1'1l 111'11r P!l1'flll1l'0Ifl1'Il in 1776, she f1111f Il f1ri1jf'bz1I 1'Ifz1.s'Zrz'0us crzreerin the A m1'1'1'1'1111 RC'Z'UfIlfl'0H b1f0r1: being sunk fini' N11' 64-gzuz 13rii1'.s'f2 m1m-ofwar Yar- mouth in fl-l112'1'lz, 1778. The original RlllIflOgJh was named for Peyton Randolph. an important legisla- tor of his time. A Virginia attorney, he presided over the Provincial Convention in August, 1774, was a member of the first Continental Congress and assisted in the framing of the Constitution. Following his death at fifty-four in 1775, a frig- ate was christened in his honor. The original Rcmdofjalz, a thirty-two gun frig- ate manned by a crew of 350, had a short but illustrious career in the Revolution. One of thir- teen of her class built for the Continental Navy in 1776 along the Delaware River near Philadel- phia. she was captained initially by a man from that city, Nicholas Biddle. Departing Philadel- phia in 1777, she sailed forth in search of British blockade ships in the Atlantic and roamed as far south as the Caribbean. One of her more signifi- cant prizes was a twenty-gun warship, Briton. In March of the following year she encountered the mighty English ship-of-the-line, Yarmouth, boasting sixty-four guns. Obviously out-gunned, she battled gamely. smashing the topmast and bowsprit ofher heavier foe before succumbing to a direct hit in the magazine. Captain Biddle had been wounded early in the battle, but heroically refused to go below, he requested a chair be brought to the bridge, and from that vantage point commanded his vessel is desperate fight un- til the sinking. Only a little more than a year in service. the original IfIUlI10!f1ll had established a heritage of which later ships to bear the name could bejustly proud. 13