The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-07-17

Early one morning IN June, 1772,
hand of Infatuated business men of
Providence, R. l., made pilgrimage to
reef off the nearby shore and there
thew mobbed and burned the English
schooner Gaspe.
Thus was fought the first American
battle afoat.
For infringing on their rights as
American colonists, the men of Provi-
denee, without waiting for "by-your'
leave or "may 1872 from the powers
that were, took their wrongs in their
own hands and righted them.
During many months previous the
Gaspe had been interfering with the
commerce of the colonists, and on the
morning which was her last she had
been in chase of coaster when she
struck the reef.
That was three years before the
Revolutionary war had been declared,
and not until after the battle of Lex
ington was the building of an Ameri-
can navy considered.
The spirit which actuated those At
lantic. shore men of nearly century
and half ago is the spirit which has
built the navy of today.
During the fight for American indie
pendence there were more men war
ring on sea than on land, and yet during
the hottest part of the fighting the
navy only boosted forty-seven vessels,
but hundreds of privateers-smau craft
of every kind known to that day, ear
ried to sea the $1,000 men who chose to
fight upon the water for their liberty
and their country's honor
The first American squadron was COM
posed of two vessels and two briggs
the Alfred and Columbus, and the An
dria Doria and the Cabot.
The Alfred was Acton vessel with
eight 12-pounders, twelve 9-pounders
and eight 6-pounders. Before she be-
came a man-of-war the Alfred had been
used as a. merchantmen and her intro
duction to naval life came on Deem
Der %, 1875.
On that day, which should be mem
orable to every patriot as well as to
every student of naval affairs, John
Paul Jones hoisted the first naval en-
sign. 1t was a rattlesnake burgee bear
ing the significant motto, "Don It
Tread on Me. -
From that day as long as there was
a navy the foes of the American colo.
MES learned the significance of the mot
to. They learned during the Revo1u-
tionary war that Americans, even
though their ships were vastly inferior,
their guns the most primitive and their
knowledge of sea warfare almost non
existent, could uphold that motto and
punish any who ran counter to it.
In the month which followed the |
launching of the first squadron thir- |
teen frigates were built, and these were |
the first ships made for the navy. At |
the end of the war but one of these, |
the Alliance, was left to tell the story |
of her sisters who had gone down, but |
the marks made by those ships on the
pages of history can never be forgot
ten. As long as their guns stood the
men stood behind them. As long as
there was ammunition they fired it.
When the rigging had been shot away
and the boats were sinking they still
fought, and when the ship was ready
to go down they boarded the enemy S
frigates and fought man to man.
Though the vessels were lost, the bat
ties were not, and by the end of the
war one chapter of naval history had
been written to stand as an inspiration
for all the men of all the ships to come.
Such sentiments as ''Come on; we are
waiting for you, from Paul Jones |
when the Ranger met the British fri
gate Drake; 81 have not begun to
fight when the commander of the
British frigate Scraps demanded to
know if the Richard had surrendered;
Now is our time, John, 60 in; - g Re-
Portsea Jail" and hundred
others fire men with patriotism today
as they fired their forefathers who
fought for their freedom.
In the years which followed the
Revolution and preceded the War of
1912, America received a lesson which
should be just as forcible today as it
proved then.
She learned that if a country has not
a naval force large enough to protect
her commerce, that commerce will need
protection.
In his recent message to Congress
april 14} President Roosevelt said: