USS Alliance ( 1778 ) The first " Alliance " of the United States Navy was a 36 - gun sailing frigate of the American Revolutionary War . Originally named " Hancock " , she was laid down in 1777 on the Merrimack River at Amesbury , Massachusetts , by the partners and cousins , William and James K . Hackett , launched on 28 April 1778 , and renamed " Alliance " on 29 May 1778 by resolution of the Continental Congress . Her first commanding officer was Capt . Pierre Landais , a former officer of the French Navy who had come to the New World hoping to become a naval counterpart of Lafayette . The frigate ' s first captain was widely accepted as such in America . Massachusetts made him an honorary citizen and the Continental Congress gave him command of " Alliance " , thought to be the finest warship built to that date on the western side of the Atlantic . 1779 . The new frigate ' s first assignment was to carry Lafayette back to France to petition the French Court for increased support in the American struggle for independence . Manned by a crew composed largely of British and Irish sailors , " Alliance " departed Boston on 14 January 1779 bound for : Brest , France . During the crossing , a plot to seize the ship , involving 38 members of the crew , was uncovered on 2 February before the mutiny could begin . The disloyal sailors were put in irons , and the remainder of the voyage , in which the frigate captured two prizes , was peaceful . The ship reached Brest safely on the 6th . After the marquis and his suite had disembarked , Benjamin Franklin , one of the American commissioners in Paris , ordered her to remain in France despite the fact that Landais ' original instructions had called for him to load the frigate with munitions and then to sail promptly for America . Instead , Franklin assigned the frigate to a squadron to be commanded by Captain John Paul Jones . The squadron departed Groix Roads , near Lorient , France on 19 June to escort a convoy of merchantmen to Bordeaux and other French ports . During a storm that night , " Alliance " collided with Jones ' flagship , , damaging the rigging of both vessels . Nevertheless , each was able to continue , and the squadron successfully completed its mission before returning to L ' Orient where the two damaged warships were repaired . The French planned an invasion of southern England that summer , and asked Jones to carry out a diversionary raid in the northern British Isles . His flotilla sortied from Groix Roads on 14 August and headed for the southwestern corner of Ireland to begin a clockwise circumnavigation of the British Isles . Not many days passed before Landais – who in Jones ' opinion had been the real culprit in the collision two months before – began to show his disinclination toward obeying orders . On the 23rd , he was enraged when the commodore refused to allow him to chase a ship into shallow and unknown waters " . . . when there was not sufficient wind to govern a ship . " The next day , Jones later reported , " Alliance ' s " unruly captain came on board the flagship and addressed the commodore " . . . in the most gross and insulting terms . " From that point on , Landais seemed to ignore orders entirely and operated " Alliance " according to his own whims . Thus , the only really American warship in Jones ' squadron belied her name by refusing to cooperate with the French vessels . She left her consorts during a squall on the night of 26 and 27 August and did not rejoin the squadron until 1 September . " Betsy " , a letter - of - marque ship she had just taken then accompanied the frigate . About this time , " Bonhomme Richard " captured a similar ship named " Union " off Cape Wrath at the northwestern corner of Scotland , and Jones allowed Landais to man both vessels . The latter again showed his complete contempt for the commodore by sending the captured ships ( which would become known as the Bergen Prizes ) to Bergen , Norway , where the Danish Government turned the ships over to the British consul , depriving their captors of the satisfaction of having hurt the enemy and of any hope of being rewarded for their efforts . In the next few days , " Alliance " took two more small ships prompting Jones to signal Landais to board " Bonhomme Richard " for a conference . The American frigate ' s commander refused to obey , but instead again sailed off on his own . For more than two weeks thereafter , " Alliance " worked her way south independently along the eastern shore of Great Britain while the remainder of the squadron followed a similar course from out of sight . A bit before midnight on 22 September , a lookout in " Bonhomme Richard " reported seeing two ships . Jones hoisted recognition signals which were unanswered . Landais was continuing to ignore the flagship ' s efforts to communicate . Nevertheless , at dawn , Jones was able to recognize " Alliance " and " Pallas " , a frigate of his squadron which had recently parted from the flagship with the commodore ' s permission to hunt prizes . About mid - afternoon on 23 September , the squadron , off Bridlington , sighted ships rounding Flamborough Head to the north . The oncoming vessels were part of a convoy of over 40 British merchantmen which had sailed from the Baltic Sea under the escort of the 44 - gun frigate and the 22 - gun hired ship " Countess of Scarborough " . The convoy had been warned about the American squadron , and turned back northward towards Scarborough , the two escort vessels placing themselves between the merchant ships and the approaching threat . As the gap closed , Jones signaled his ships to form a line of battle , but Landais ignored the order and sailed off to one side , forcing " Countess of Scarborough " to do likewise . In the ensuing four - hour Battle of Flamborough Head off England ' s Yorkshire coast , Landais , after briefly engaging the " Countess " took little part in the action . On the way to check up on the duel which developed between the " Countess " and the " Pallas " , Landais fired a broadside at " Serapis " , which was by then immobile , and lashed firmly alongside " Bonhomme Richard " - as a result both ships were damaged . Some time later , with " Bonhomme Richard " losing its duel , " Alliance " returned to the main battle , and Jones happily " . . . thought the battle was at an end . . . " But , to his " . . . utter astonishment " , Landais ' ship " . . . discharged a broadside full into the stern of the " Bonhomme Richard " . " Jones and his crew " . . . called to him [ Landais ] for God ' s sake to forbear firing into the " Bonhomme Richard " , yet he passed along off the side of the ship and continued firing . " This , however , was just more collateral damage , resulting from Landais ' policy of keeping well out of the line of the guns on the free side of " Serapis " . Unable to move his ship ( either to escape or to aim a broadside at " Alliance " ) Captain Pearson of " Serapis " surrendered within a short time . Following the surrender , " Alliance " stood by during a desperate struggle to save the shattered , burning , leaking hulks . On the evening of the day after the battle , Jones realized that , while his flagship was doomed , her conquered opponent would probably survive . He , therefore , transferred his crew from " Bonhomme Richard " to " Serapis " and , the next morning , sadly watched the former sink . All this time , the squadron was simply drifting away from the British coast , but by 29 September , untiring labor had enabled " Serapis " to get underway , and , following French orders which were somewhat contrary to Jones ' s wishes , they headed for the coast of the Netherlands . " Alliance " sighted land on the evening of 2 October and , the following morning , she anchored in Texel Roads , Amsterdam ' s deep - water harbor , with the rest of the squadron . When word of the battle reached London , the Admiralty ordered its nearby men - of - war to search for Jones ' flotilla ; the Royal Navy proceeded to look in all of the wrong places . By the time a merchantman informed London that Jones was at Texel Roads , the victorious allies and their prizes had been safe at anchor there for a week . The Royal Navy then set up a tight blockade off the Dutch port to check any seaward movement that the American squadron might attempt . Meanwhile , the British ambassador – hoping to win for his country by diplomacy the victory and vindication it had been denied in ordeal by combat pressed the Government of the Dutch Republic to return both " Serapis " and " Countess of Scarborough " to England . Failing that he demanded that Jones ' squadron be expelled from Texel and thus forced into the jaws of the Royal Navy ' s blockading squadron . Indeed , on 12 November , the Netherlands Navy had moved a squadron of ships of the line to Texel , and its commanding officer had ordered Jones to sail with the first favorable wind . Nevertheless , the adroit commodore managed to stall his departure for over six weeks . By that time , he had managed to restore " Alliance " to top trim and to ready her for sea . Since the other ships in his squadron had by this time , for complex diplomatic and legalistic reasons , shifted to flying French colors Jones decided to leave them behind when he left Holland in " Alliance " . He had long since relieved Landais in command of that frigate , pending an official inquiry into his conduct during the cruise . On the morning of 27 December , after foul weather had forced the British blockaders off their stations , an easterly wind sprang up and enabled " Alliance " to stand out to sea . She dropped the pilot an hour before noon and headed southwest along the Netherlands coast . Less than a day later the frigate transited Dover Strait and entered the English Channel . On the night of 31 December , she was off Ushant , an island off the westernmost tip of Brittany , when 1779 gave way to 1780 . 1780 . For just over a fortnight thereafter , she cruised to the south looking for British shipping ; but , with the exception of one small English brig which she took , the ship encountered only friendly or neutral vessels . On 16 January 1780 , Jones decided to visit Corunna , Spain , for provisions and maintenance which entailed shortening the frigate ' s main yard and scraping her bottom . On the 27th , she got underway in company with the French frigate " Le Sensible " . Want of winter clothing then prevented Jones from beginning an extended cruise in quest of prizes ; and , instead , the ship struggled across the Bay of Biscay against head winds along a roughly northeasterly course toward L ' Orient . En route , she recaptured a wine - laden French barque – a prize which had been taken by an English privateer – and saved the foundering vessel ' s cargo before the barque sank . She also chanced upon " Livingston " and escorted that tobacco - laden American merchantman to the French coast . " Alliance " anchored in Groix Roads on 10 February and moved into L ' Orient harbor on the 19th . That day , Benjamin Franklin suggested that Jones take on a cargo of arms and uniform cloth for the American Army and promptly get underway for home . Jones agreed with Franklin ' s suggestion , but was kept in France for many months thereafter , attending to military , diplomatic , and social matters which he felt to be important to his country , to his crew , and to himself . Most of this time , he was away from his ship in Paris . Meanwhile , the deposed Landais had arrived at L ' Orient seeking passage to America where he hoped to be vindicated in a trial by court - martial . There , he met Arthur Lee , a disaffected fellow commissioner of Franklin , who also wanted to return home . Lee – who also hated Jones – persuaded " Alliance ' s " former captain that neither Jones nor Franklin had had the authority to relieve him of command since Landais had held a Continental commission . Convinced that he had been wronged , Landais went on board the frigate and assumed command on 12 or 13 June . Jones arrived at L ' Orient , where he heard of this coup . He journeyed to Paris and obtained support from Franklin and Antoine de Sartine , the French Minister of Marine . When Jones returned to L ' Orient on 20 June , he found that " Alliance " had already weighed anchor and moved to Port - Louis , Morbihan , where a recently emplaced boom blocked her path . The batteries that guarded the port , as well as three French warships , had received orders to fire on the frigate if she attempted to stand out to sea . Surprisingly , Jones then interceded with the French authorities asking them to allow the ship to pass . He justified this action as springing from a desire to avoid wasting lives , losing the fine frigate , and straining Franco - American friendship by having French forces attack an American warship . The hero of Flamborough may have been rationalizing to conceal less lofty motives . Samuel Eliot Morison strongly endorsed this hypothesis : " The conclusion is inescapable , that Jones was not particularly eager to regain command of " Alliance " . He had to pretend that he was , of course , but actually he felt well rid of her , and of Landais too " . " Alliance " was allowed to leave France unmolested . Her homeward voyage proved to be anything but routine . Landais quarreled with his officers , abused his men , and made life miserable for his passengers . The ship had hardly lost sight of land when he locked up Capt . Matthew Parke because the commanding officer of the embarked Marine Corps contingent refused to swear unconditional obedience under all possible circumstances . Any seamen who had joined the frigate after " Bonhomme Richard " had sunk were suspected of disloyalty , many were shackled and imprisoned in the ship ' s rat - infested hold . Even Arthur Lee , who had urged the Frenchman to take command , came close to being stabbed with a carving knife for taking the first slice of roast pig at dinner . In operating and navigating the ship Landais gave orders which violated the rules of safe and sensible seamanship . The fearful and exasperated officers and passengers finally agreed that the commanding officer must be insane , and they forcibly relieved him of command on 11 August . " Alliance " continued on to America in a happier and more orderly fashion under the command of Lt . James A . Degge . She arrived at Boston on 19 August 1780 . The Navy Board at that port promptly gathered information on the events of the voyage and sent a hasty report to Philadelphia where the Board of Admiralty immediately ordered a thorough investigation of the whole affair . At the same time it appointed Capt . John Barry to take command of the ship and make her ready for sea with great dispatch . Barry arrived at Boston on 19 September with orders stripping Landais of all claim to command of the frigate . By that point the recalcitrant Landais had shut himself up in the captain ' s cabin and refused to leave , and he was now forcibly carried off the ship by a party of marines led by his first adversary of the voyage , Capt . Parke . Trials of Landais and Degge resulted in the ousting of both men from the service . 1781 . Meanwhile , efforts to restore " Alliance " to fighting trim progressed slowly – when they moved at all – because of a dearth of both men and money . Funds for the necessary yard work and for provisioning and manning the ship were slow in reaching Boston until Col . John Laurens – a former aide - de - camp to General George Washington , a successful battlefield commander , and an exchanged prisoner of war – appeared there on 25 January 1781 . Congress had appointed Laurens as its envoy extraordinary to France because his military experience seemed to fit him to become a convincing spokesman for Washington ' s needy army . It had also selected " Alliance " as the speediest and safest ship to carry the dashing young officer to Europe . The urgency of " Alliance ' s " new mission made the funds and crew available so that the ship was ready to sail by the end of the first week of February . A favorable wind came up on the 11th enabling her to depart Nantasket Roads and stand out to sea . Five days later , she entered crowded ice fields and suffered " considerable damage " as she forced her way through . Her crew contained many British sailors , a group of whom plotted to take over the frigate and to kill all her officers but one who would be spared to navigate the vessel to an English port . However , Barry took careful precautions to prevent the mutiny from erupting . While she sailed eastward Barry , followed the orders of the Naval Committee to not pursue any shipping which would delay his progress . Yet , on 4 March , the frigate encountered a ship and a British cruiser . . One shot brought both vessels to . The cruiser proved to be the English privateer " Alert " and her consort was " Buono Campagnia " , a prize which the Britisher had recently taken . Barry took " Alert " as a prize , but released the merchantman . Five days later , on 9 March , the frigate anchored in Groix Roads and disembarked her important passenger and his three companions : Thomas Paine , whose writings had exerted great influence in persuading the colonies to seek independence , Major William Jackson , a Continental Army officer from South Carolina , and the vicomte de Noailles , a cousin of Lafayette . After almost three weeks in port , " Alliance " headed home on the afternoon of 29 March , escorting " Marquis De Lafayette " , an old , French East Indiaman which an American agent had chartered to carry a valuable cargo of arms and uniforms for the Continental Army . Before the month was out , Barry discovered and investigated a mutiny plot and punished the conspirators . At dawn on 2 April a lookout sighted two ships to the northwest , Barry headed toward the strangers and ordered the Indiaman to follow . Undaunted , the distant vessels – which proved to be two British brigs – continued to approach the little American convoy and fired a broadside at the frigate as they passed abreast . Two answering salvoes from " Alliance " robbed the larger of the two English vessels of her rigging and forced her to strike her colors . Barry ordered " Marquis De Lafayette " to attend to the captured foe while he pursued and took the second brig . The first prize , a new and fast privateer from Guernsey named " Mars " though badly damaged , was repaired and sent to Philadelphia under an American crew . " Marquis De Lafayette " provided the prize crew for the smaller vessel , a Jersey privateer named " Minerva " . Barry ordered the prizemaster of this vessel to head for Philadelphia but " Marquis De Lafayette ' s " captain had secretly ordered him to head for France if he had a chance to slip away . On the night of 17 April , foul weather separated " Mars " from the convoy . Nevertheless , that prize dutifully continued on toward the Delaware capes . " Minerva " slipped away during the next night and apparently set course for the Bay of Biscay . " Marquis De Lafayette " dropped out of sight during a fierce storm on the night of the 25th . After spending two days looking for her lost charge , " Alliance " continued on toward America alone . On 2 May , she took two sugar - laden Jamaicamen . Off Newfoundland Banks later that day , the frigate sighted , but escaped the attention of a large convoy from Jamaica and its Royal Navy escorts . Ironically , a few days before , the missing " Marquis De Lafayette " and her treacherous master had fallen prey to this same British force . Almost continuous bad weather plagued Barry ' s little force in the days that followed until " Alliance " permanently lost sight of her two prizes on 12 May . During a tempest on the 17th , lightning shattered the frigate ' s main topmast and carried away her main yard while damaging her foremast and injuring almost a score of men . Jury - rigged repairs had been completed when Barry observed two vessels approaching him from windward 10 days later but his ship was still far from her best fighting trim . The two strangers kept pace with " Alliance " roughly a league off her starboard beam . At first dawn , the unknown ships hoisted British colors and prepared for battle . Although all three ships were almost completely becalmed , the American drifted within hailing distance of largest British vessel about an hour before noon ; Barry learned that it was the sloop of war . Her smaller consort proved to be the " Trepassey " , also a sloop of war . The American captain then identified his own vessel and invited " Atalanta ' s " commanding officer to surrender . A few moments later , Barry opened the inevitable battle with a broadside . The sloops immediately pulled out of field of fire of the frigate ' s broadsides and took positions aft of their foe where their guns could pound her with near impunity In the motionless air , " Alliance " – too large to be propelled by sweep s – was powerless to maneuver . A grapeshot hit Barry ' s left shoulder , seriously wounding him , but he continued to direct the fighting until loss of blood almost robbed him of consciousness . Capt . Hoystead Hacker , the frigate ' s executive officer , took command as Barry was carried to the cockpit for treatment . Hacker fought the ship with valor and determination until her inability to maneuver out of her relatively defenseless position prompted him to seek Barry ' s permission to surrender . Indignantly , the wounded captain refused to allow this and asked to be brought back on deck to resume command . Inspired by Barry ' s zeal , Hacker returned to the fray . Then a wind sprang up and restored the battered frigate ' s steerage way , enabling her to bring her battery back into action . Two devastating broadsides knocked " Trepassey " out of the fight . Another broadside forced " Atalanta " to strike , ending the bloody affair . The next day , while carpenters labored to repair all three ships , Barry transferred all of his prisoners to " Trepassey " which – as a cartel ship – would carry them to St . John ' s , Newfoundland , to be exchanged for American prisoners . HMS " Charlestown " recaptured " Atalanta " in June and sent her into Halifax . Temporary repairs to " Atalanta " ended on the last day of May , and the prize got underway for Boston . After more patching her battered hull and rigging , " Alliance " set out the next day and reached Boston on 6 June . While Barry recuperated , her repairs were again delayed by want of funds . Lord Cornwallis surrendered his army at Yorktown , ending the war ' s last major action on land , but not the war , well before she was ready for sea . As had happened before , her restoration to service was hastened by decision to use the frigate to carry an important person to France . Lafayette – who had completed his work in America with a major role in the Yorktown campaign – arrived in Boston on 10 December 1781 , wanting to return home . Even with the aid of the Marquis ' great influence , a full fortnight passed before she could put to sea on Christmas Eve 1781 . 1782 . The ship arrived off L ' Orient on 17 January 1782 and disembarked Lafayette and his party . Barry wanted to make a cruise in European waters to capture British shipping which would yield crewmen to be used in freeing American prisoners by exchange . " Alliance " got underway in February and headed for the Bay of Biscay . Accompanying her out was the American letter - of - marque brig " Antonio " which was bound for home . Three days later , she chased and overhauled an American brigantine which jettisoned her guns in an effort to escape . " Antonio ' s " commander offered to escort the unfortunate , and now defenseless , merchantman to Philadelphia and they parted from Barry the next day . " Alliance " encountered only friendly and neutral shipping before putting in at L ' Orient on February . Barry remained in port more than two weeks awaiting dispatches from Paris containing Franklin ' s observations on the diplomatic scene and on prospects for England ' s recognition of American independence and negotiations for peace . The messages arrived on 15 March , and the following day " Alliance " headed home . Wretched weather and contrary winds plagued the ship for much of the voyage . The almost incessant northerly blasts forced her south into hot , unhealthful climes . Eight men died before the end of April when she managed to turn north with the trade winds and head for the Delaware River . The frigate reached Cape Henlopen on 10 May , but found it guarded by a Royal Navy ship of the line which – in company with a tender – gave chase . Fleeing south and eluding her pursuers , " Alliance " turned north around Montauk Point and across Long Island Sound to New London , Connecticut , where she arrived on 13 May . Although hopeful of soon beginning another cruise , Barry again was frustrated by the inevitable shortages of men , money , and material . Almost three months passed before " Alliance " was finally ready for sea . She reentered Long Island Sound on 4 August and almost immediately took " Adventure " , a Rhode Island brigantine which had fallen prey to an English privateer . Barry sent the prize back to New London and unsuccessfully sought her captor . On the 10th , while sailing toward Bermuda , the frigate captured the schooner " Polly " and sent her to Boston . On the 25th , she retook " Fortune " , a Connecticut sloop which the British privateer " Hawk " had seized on the 16th . At the end of August , Barry headed north in quest of stragglers from a convoy which had sailed from Jamaica a bit over a month before . A week later he made a prize of " Somerset " , a Nantucket whaler that had been sailing under a British pass . On 18 September " Alliance " captured a damaged British brig and learned that a storm had scattered the Jamaica convoy sinking or crippling both escorts and merchantmen . Making temporary repairs to this prize , Barry sent her to Boston and then began looking for the Jamaicamen . On the 24th he captured " Britannia " and " Anna " , carrying coffee , logwood , sugar , and rum . On the 27th the snow " Commerce " became his prize . The next day he captured the dismasted " Kingston " . Though he would have preferred to take his prizes home Barry was now closer to Europe . Prevailing westerly winds clinched the matter , prompting him to head for France . The eastward passage was slow and stormy , but the convoy reached Groix Roads on 17 October . " Alliance " got underway again on 9 December 1782 for the West Indies . 1783 . At the end of a largely uneventful passage , she anchored off Saint - Pierre , Martinique , on 8 January 1783 . There Barry found orders to sail to Havana to pick up a large quantity of gold and to deliver it to Congress at Philadelphia . After brief repairs , " Alliance " resumed her voyage on the 13th , touched at St . Eustatius and Cape Francois , and reached Havana on the last day of January . However , another American warship , , was already in port on the same mission . The specie had already been loaded on that ship , and Barry decided to escort her home . The inevitable delays kept both ships in port until 6 March . The next day , they encountered two Royal Navy frigates which gave chase . Barry chose not to fight these warships rather than risk losing the funds his consort carried , and the American vessels successfully eluded their pursuers . Three days later they encountered the same pair – and – in company with sloop - of - war . Still striving to avoid risk to the desperately needed money he was carrying to Congress , Barry again headed southwest to escape from these unidentified strangers and ordered her consort to follow . Far off in that direction , the rigging of another ship appeared over the horizon , sailing away from the others . Soon " Alliance " was noticeably pulling away from the pursuers but " Duc de Lauzun " – second in line – was losing ground to " Alarm " . In the distance , the newcomer was seen to change course and head toward " Alliance " . " Alarm " evidently gave up the chase and headed away . " Sybil " pressed on and soon began firing at " Duc de Lauzun " . Confident in both " Alliance ' s " speed and her fighting ability , Barry maneuvered her between " Sybil " and " Duc De Lauzun " to demand the full attention of the former so that the latter might slip away to safety . " Sybil " then turned her fire toward " Alliance " and managed to send one shot from her bow chaser into the American frigate ' s cabin , mortally wounding a junior officer and scattering many splinters . Yet Barry held " Alliance ' s " fire until she was within a " pistol ' s shot " of her opponent . At that point , a broadside from the American warship opened some 40 minutes of close - in fighting which finally forced " Sybil " to flee in the wake of " Alarm " and " Tobago " . Ship ' s logs indicate that this battle was fought off the coast of Cape Canaveral . Captain Vashon , commander HMS Sybil , is recorded as saying “ he had never seen a ship so ably fought as the Alliance . ” Captain Vashon is further quoted as saying of Barry , “ every quality of a great commander was brought out with extraordinary brilliancy ” . Meanwhile , the Treaty of Paris which ended the war and recognized the independence of the United States had been ratified on 3 February 1783 , some five weeks before the battle . The two American ships again headed home on the day following their brush with the British , 11 March , but separated off Cape Hatteras a week later . On the 19th , " Alliance " met a British ship of the line as she headed in toward the Delaware capes . She gave chase and forced " Alliance " back out to sea . This created a diversion which allowed " Duc De Lauzun " to slip into the Delaware unmolested and ascend the river to Philadelphia . " Alliance " continued on northward and arrived at Newport , Rhode Island , at midafternoon on 20 March 1783 . Since that port could easily be raided by British men - of - war , she soon proceeded up Narragansett Bay and anchored just below Providence . There , her crew was reduced to peacetime needs , and she was thoroughly overhauled . Ordered to proceed to Chesapeake Bay to take on a cargo of tobacco for shipment to Europe , the frigate got underway on 20 June , but , headed for sea , she struck a rock and was stranded until high tide . Upon floating free , " Alliance " still seemed to be tight and resumed her voyage via the Virginia Capes and the lower Chesapeake Bay to the Rappahannock River . She then moved up that river where she began taking on tobacco . When completely loaded , she headed downstream on 21 August and sailed into the Atlantic three days later . Soon after the ship entered the open sea , water rose rapidly in her hold . A hasty investigation revealed that a leak had developed where she had struck the rock weeks before . The crew ' s attempts to stem the influx failed , forcing Barry to head for the Delaware . Further examination of the ship at Philadelphia ruled out any quick remedy and caused Congress to cancel the voyage . Her tobacco was transferred to other ships and her crew was further reduced to the bare minimum necessary to keep her in reasonably satisfactory condition . When the survey board reported that the necessary repairs would be quite expensive , no funds were available for the task . 1785 – 1788 . It seems that the work was never done before " Alliance " – the last ship left in the Continental Navy – was sold in Philadelphia on 1 August 1785 to John Coburn and a partner named Whitehead . These gentlemen subsequently sold her to Robert Morris who converted the vessel to an East Indiaman . Her new owner – who , as the guiding spirit on naval matters in the Continental Congress and that body ' s Agent of Marine in the later years of the American struggle for independence , had directed her operations – selected Thomas Read as her master during her first merchant service . That former captain in the Continental Navy took her to China by a new route through the Dutch East Indies and the Solomon Islands . She departed Philadelphia in June 1787 and arrived at Canton on 22 December of that year . While passing through the Carolines on the outward voyage Read found two islands which were not on his chart and named the first – probably Ponape – Morris , and the second , Alliance . At Canton he loaded the ship with tea which he delivered back at Philadelphia on 17 September 1788 , ending a record voyage . After 1788 . Apparently , no details of " Alliance ' s " subsequent career have survived . However , when she was no longer seaworthy , the former frigate was abandoned on the shore of Petty Island across the Delaware from Philadelphia . At low tide , some of her timbers could be seen in the sands there until her remaining hulk was destroyed during dredging operations in 1901 .