USS Saratoga ( 1780 ) USS " Saratoga " was a sloop in the Continental Navy . She was the first ship to honor the historic Battle of Saratoga . She disappeared in 1781 . Her fate remains a mystery to this day . " Saratoga " was built at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania by Warton and Humphries . She was begun in December 1779 and launched on 10 April 1780 . She weighed 150 tons , was 68 ’ long with a beam of 25 ' 4 " and a depth of hold of 12 ' . Her complement was 86 with an armament of sixteen 9 - pounders and two 4 - pounders . First cruise . Diplomatic escort . Commanded by Captain John Young , " Saratoga " departed Philadelphia on 13 August 1780 escorting the packet , " Mercury " , which was sailing for Europe carrying Henry Laurens . The former President of the Continental Congress was planning to seek money on the European continent to finance the American government . Two days later , the " Saratoga " passed frigate s and in the upper Delaware Bay . Captain Young and Henry Laurens communicated with the frigates and they were to join " Saratoga " in a cruise as a squadron . The frigates , continued on up the Delaware River to replenish at Philadelphia . After waiting in vain for the frigates to return , the " Saratoga " and " Mercury " passed through the Delaware Capes out to sea by themselves . Because of inadequate ballast , the " Saratoga " was unstable under a heavy spread of canvas and was forced to proceed much more slowly than the " Mercury " . Thus , the " Mercury " was forced to heave to each night to allow the " Saratoga " to catch up . This schedule continued until the 23rd of August , when Henry Laurens released the " Saratoga " from her escorting duty with the suggestion that she " . . . make a short cruise and then return to Philadelphia . . . " Afterwards , the unescorted " Mercury " was captured by the British off Newfoundland and Laurens was imprisoned in England . Hunting off Delaware . For more than a fortnight , Captain Young operated east of the shipping lanes while he trained his crew in operating their ship and fighting her guns . On the afternoon of 9 September , a lookout spotted a sail to the northwest . By then , Young had managed to get " Saratoga " into fighting shape . He headed his ship toward the unknown sail and set out in pursuit . By twilight , he was close enough to see that his quarry was a brig flying British colors . Some two hours later , " Saratoga " had closed within hailing distance and learned that the chase was the Royal Navy ' s brig , , and not about to surrender . " Saratoga " opened fire with a broadside and was quickly answered by the " Keppel " , opening an inconclusive , three - hour battle . During the action , due to gale force seas , coinciding with her insufficient ballast , the " Saratoga " s guns were unable to inflict any serious damage to the " Keppel " . After Captain Young ’ s repeated efforts to close to boarding distance of the " Keppel " and the British brig evading those efforts , and midnight approaching , Young ordered the helmsman to end the chase and head for home . Capture of the " Sarah " . Three days later , as " Saratoga " approached Cape Henlopen , she came upon the " Sarah " , a British ship bound for New York laden with rum from the West Indies . The merchantman surrendered without resisting , and the two ships proceeded into the Delaware . They anchored off Chester , Pennsylvania , the following afternoon where the " Sarah " was promptly condemned and sold , along with her cargo , which brought the continental treasury funds desperately needed to refit the frigate , , for sea . Second cruise . The " Saratoga " spent three days at " Chester " , where she replenished her stores and took on additional iron for ballast before heading back down the Delaware toward the open sea and another cruise . She cleared the Delaware Capes on the 18th of September and sailed northward along the New Jersey coast . A week later , off the Jersey highlands , she came upon the " Elizabeth " , which had been taken in Chesapeake Bay several weeks before by British privateer , " Restoration " . The " Saratoga " captured the 60 - ton American brig , and Captain Young sent the brig to Philadelphia under a prize crew . " Saratoga " remained in the vicinity of the Jersey highlands without encountering any further ships . Toward the end of the month , she turned south . The " Saratoga " cruised parallel to the coast . Captain Young constantly exercised her crew at her guns and in her rigging to sharpen their fighting capability . The crew had an opportunity to prove their seamanship when on 10 October they safely brought their ship through a storm with but superficial damage . This same storm decimated the British squadron which Admiral Rodney had sent out of New York to patrol the American coast . Capture of the " Charming Molly " . That night , she turned north again . At dawn the next day , she spotted two sails far off her port bow . The " Saratoga " was due east of Cape Henry when she began the chase . As she closed the distance between herself and her quarry , Captain Young ordered his helmsman to head for the open water between the enemy ships which proved to be the large , 22 - gun letter of marquee ship , " Charming Molly " , and a small schooner , the " Two Brothers " . When the " Saratoga " was between the two English vessels , Captain Young ordered the " Charming Molly " to surrender , but she refused to do so . After the " Saratoga " had fired a broadside into the " Charming Molly " , a boarding party , led by Lt . Joshua Barney , leapt to the merchantman ' s deck and opened a fierce hand to hand fight which soon compelled the British captain to lower his colors . An American prize crew under Lieutenant Barney promptly took the place of " Charming Molly " s British skipper , officers , and tars . Captain Young then set out after the fleeing sloop the " Two Brothers " which , when overtaken , surrendered without resistance . The second prize , " Two Brothers " , promptly headed for the Delaware for libeling in Admiralty court in Philadelphia . Further prizes . From the prisoners captured on the " Charming Molly " , Captain Young learned that she and the " Two Brothers " had been part of a small merchant fleet which had sailed from Jamaica and had been scattered by the recent storm . As soon as his crew had finished temporary repairs to " Charming Molly " s battle - damaged hull , the " Saratoga " began to search for the remaining merchant fleet , a ship and two brigs . About mid - day on the 11th of October , a lookout saw three sails slowly rise above the horizon dead ahead , and another chase began . As the " Saratoga " approached the strangers , Captain Young ordered his helmsman to head between the ships . As she passed between the enemy vessels , she fired both broadsides , her port guns fired at the " Elizabeth " , and her starboard muzzles belched fire and iron at the brig " Nancy " . The enemy ' s shots passed above the " Saratoga " , causing only minor damage to her rigging while the first American salvo knocked the " Nancy " out of action and did substantial damage to the " Elizabeth " , which surrendered after taking another volley . Meanwhile , the other brig raced away ; and Captain Young , being busy with his two new prizes , allowed her to escape free of pursuit . The " Saratoga " ' s crew labored repairing the battered hulls of the prizes before sending them toward the Delaware Capes . About midnight , the " Saratoga " herself got underway northward . At dawn , near Cape Henlopen , a blue jacket sailor aloft reported seeing two unknown sails , one dead ahead and the other several miles off her port quarter . The first was later identified as American brig , " Providence " which was at that time a British prize heading for New York . The second ship was the 74 - gun British ship - of - the - line , . Despite the proximity of the British man - of - war , Captain Young set out after the Providence and recaptured her after about an hour ' s chase . Captain Young quickly put a prize crew on board the " Providence " and then the " Saratoga " got underway for the Delaware . The " Saratoga " was anchored off Chester , Pennsylvania , at dawn on 14 October . Cruise to the Caribbean . On 15 December , after being refitted at Philadelphia , the " Saratoga " got underway for Hispaniola to pick up a load of French military supplies which were awaiting transportation to America . New officers and men had come on board to replace those who had left the ship to man her prizes . A number of merchantmen awaited her just inside the capes hoping to be escorted to a safe offing . On the morning of the 20th of October , favorable weather enabled the " Saratoga " to put to sea escorting her 12 charges . The next afternoon , after one of the merchantmen signaled that an unknown sail had appeared , " Saratoga " set out to investigate . Within two hours , after seeing the British ensign flying from her mast , the " Saratoga " had reached within firing range and sent a warning 4 - pounder shot across the stranger ' s bow . Instead of surrendering , the British privateer , " Resolution " , maneuvered to attack . The ships fired at the same instant , " Resolution " s gunners fired high and only did superficial damage to the " Saratoga " . The " Saratoga " s broadside damaged the " Resolution " s hull and superstructure and forced her to surrender . Captain Young embarked the " Resolution " s crew in " Saratoga " as prisoners ; and placed an American crew on the prize . The two ships then headed toward Cape Henlopen which they reached on New Year ' s Day , 1781 . Captain Young turned his prisoners over to the Continental agent at Lewes , Delaware , and headed the " Saratoga " back toward the Caribbean the same day . On the morning of 9 January 1781 , off the coast of then England ' s loyal province of East Florida , the " Saratoga " captured a 20 - gun letter of marquee the " Tonyn " in a fierce battle . The " Tonyn " had recently sailed from St . Augustine laden with turpentine , indigo , hides , and deerskins intended for Liverpool England . Captain Young spent a day repairing the " Tonyn " and the " Saratoga " s rigging , then the two ships got underway on the morning of the 11th of January for Hispaniola . On the 16th , " Saratoga " captured , without resistance , an armed brig , the " Douglas " , which was carrying wine from Madeira to Charleston , South Carolina , that important Southern port which had fallen into British hands . Captain Young sent this prize to Philadelphia . Escort duty and loss . On 27 January , the " Saratoga " and the " Tonyn " reached Cap - Français where Captain Young turned the " Tonyn " over to the French Admiralty court and arranged to have " Saratoga " docked to have her hull scraped and coated with pitch while awaiting the arrival of military cargo and French frigates to assist in convoying a fleet of Allied merchantmen . The governor of the French colony of Saint Dominique suggested that the " Saratoga " join her sister Continental frigates , the and the " Confederacy " , an American privateer , the " Fair American " , and a French naval brig , " Cat " , in a cruise through the Windward Passage to Jamaica . The little fleet departed Cap - Français on 20 February and returned eight days later with a British ship the " Diamond " , which they had captured as she approached Jamaica laden with plunder taken by the British during Admiral Rodney ' s conquest of the Dutch Island , St . Eustatius . By mid - March , all was ready . The French warships were on hand ; the Continental warships were loaded , and 29 heavily - laden merchant ships were in the harbor awaiting escorts . The convoy left from Cap - Français on the 15th , the ides of March . Three days later on 18 March , a lookout high over the " Saratoga " s deck reported two sails far off to westward , the " Saratoga " left the convoy in pursuit of the strangers . About mid - afternoon , she caught up with one of the fleeing ships which surrendered without a fight . Captain Young placed an American crew on board the prize and got underway after the second ship . Midshipman Penfield , commander of the prize crew , later reported that as he was supervising his men ' s efforts to follow the " Saratoga " , the wind suddenly rose to fearful velocity and almost capsized his ship . When he had managed to get the snow - rigged merchantman back under control , he looked up and was horrified to learn that the " Saratoga " had vanished . After numerous successful victories and prizes , " Saratoga " disappeared , lost at sea . The " Saratoga " s fate remains a mystery to this day .