The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1902-10-29
FIRST NAVAL SHIP
FOR UNITED STATES
STORY OF HER BUILDING AND
HER FATE - THE ORIGINAL
THIRTEEN WAR VESSELS.

our first warship furnish an inter-
estng and glorious chapter" said one
of the oldest officials of the Navy De-
partment. 80 much has been printed
about our new war vessels that the frail
crafts built by the United Colonies in
1775 have been entirely overlooked. The
very first provision for a truly national
navy was made in October. 1915, when
Congress authorized the purchase and
fitting out of four small vessels for the
defense of the Delaware. 1t is true
however, that at the commencement of
the war of the revolution each colony,
acting Independently, fitted out a num-
Der of small armed vessels to prey up
on British commerce, and history says
that they did good service throughout
the war as privateers but were never
part of the national forces, were
never commanded by naval officers, nor
did they fly the national ensign After
the first provision was made by Con-
gress for a national naval force it did
not long to have the four vessels ready,
nor was it long before it was shown
that the vessels We're entirely made
quate, and Congress passed a bill au-
thOrizing the construction of thirteen
vessels carrying from twenty-four to
thirty-four guns. Such was the au-
thority for the first battle ships Of the
country. They were to be named the
Washington, Raleigh, Hancock, Ran
dolph, Warren, Virginia, Trumbull, Eff
tngham, Congress, Providence, Boston
Delaware and Montgomery. Congress
further stipulated that they were to be
laid down in the colonies of New Eng
land, New York, Pennsylvania and
Maryland
Building a ship was by no means the
task that it is today, and in three
months after the passage of the act, in
the spring of 1916, the Randolph the
first of the thirteen, was launched from
the banks of the Delaware somewhere
near the site of Gensington.
Delays in the armament and equip
ment of the Randolph caused a hold up
until early in the year 1771, when she
finally sailed from the Capes of the De-
laware under the command of Captain
Nicholas Bddle of Philadelphia, who
had previously been in the service of
the colony navy of Pennsylvania, where
he had rendered such efficient service
that he had been among the original
five captains named by Congress for the
regular navy by act of December 1875.
Captain Biddle headed the Randolph
southwark in search of the enemy's
vessels. He made several prizes, car
rying them safely into Charleston, S. G.
by his audacity, courage and success
that they promptly fitted out a squa-
dron of small vessels to act against the
enemy in that vicinity and placed them
at Captain Biddle's disposal With the
Randolph as flagship he made several
cruises along the coast and to the Ba-
hama banks, sending in prize after
prize of transports, merchant vessels
and smaller cruisers of the enemy. On
the night Of tho 9Th Of Ma,1b 1879 nic
little squadron, being then twenty days
out from Charleston, and some 200 miles
off the coast, fell in with the enemy-s
siXty-four-gun frigate Yarmouth. The
Randolph received the full force of the
enemy's fire and after a hard engage
ment of more than a half hour she
caught fire and blew up. Biddle refus-
ed to, surrender and though severely
wounded early in the action, fought to
the last and went down with his ship.
Such was the end of our first vessel and
such was the fate of her brave COM
mander. He was only twentyNeight
years old at the time of his death, but
he made in his brief span of life a name
for enterprise, courage, audacity and
perseverance that has been handed
down in the annals of our naval history
as one of the bravest of the brave, and
it will last through all time. The Ran
dolph, though one of the largest vessels
authorized by the act of 1915 was rated
only as thirty two-gun frigate. She
was probably of about 500 tons burden
100 to 120 feet long, % to 80 feet beam
and drew about II feet of water Her
armament was of nine and siX-pounders
mounted on single uncovered deck,
and with poop and topgallant forecastle
and crew of $50 men. She was of the
type of battle ship of the day, but
small and Insignificant when compared
with the siXtyfour seVenty-four and
ninety-gun line-of- battle ships she was
liable to meet as her fate so signally
attests. No record can be found of the
other officers of the Randolph. Only six
of the thirteen vessels got to sea at all,
and all We're sooner of later destroyed.
AT the close of the war, in 1888, an act
of Congress abolished the navy, but
there We're none of the thirteen vessels
to be disposed Washington Star.