USS Lee ( 1775 ) The first USS " Lee " was a schooner under the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War . She was named for General Charles Lee . Service history . 1775 . In October 1775 , Colonel John Glover , acting for General George Washington , chartered the schooner " Two Brothers " from Thomas Stevens of Marblehead , Massachusetts , as a replacement for . Her complement complete , 28 October , Captain John Manley dropped her down with the tide , lay to off Tuck Point , and headed out to sea the next morning . On 27 November , the vessel , now known as " Lee " , took her first prize , the 80 ton sloop " Polly " carrying turnips and Spanish - milled dollars from Halifax , Nova Scotia , to the British troops at Boston , Massachusetts . After sending " Polly " into Beverly under a prize crew , " Lee " sailed off Boston , and at dusk the next day gave chase to the 250 - ton brig " Nancy " , then beating her way into Boston . Mistaking " Lee " for a pilot boat , " Nancy " laid her sails aback and sent up a string of signal flags . Captain Manley dispatched a boat with carefully picked men , ordering them to conceal their weapons as they rowed to and boarded " Nancy " . Taken by surprise , the brig surrendered without resistance , providing the Americans with a precious cargo of ordnance and gunpowder . Manley placed a prize crew in " Nancy " and accompanied her to Beverly . Early in December , " Lee " was again giving chase intercepting the 200 - ton ship " Concord " laden with drygoods and coal . After capture , " Concord " was escorted into Marblehead Harbor . The next month Capt . Daniel Waters relieved Captain Manley . 1776 . On 29 January 1776 , while operating with , " Lee " took the 60 - ton sloop " Rainbow " , carrying wood , potatoes , spruce beer , and meat . The next day the American schooners and their prize were sighted by the British frigate . After a fast chase , the Americans eluded the frigate and , with their prize , reached safety in Cape Ann Harbor . " Lee " and " Franklin " soon slipped out to sea again , taking the 300 - ton , Boston - bound brigantine " Henry " and " Esther " , carrying military cargo , northeast of Cape Ann on 1 February . Early in March , and joined " Lee " and " Franklin " off Cape Ann . On the night of the 4th , the schooners drove off British brig " Hope " in a spirited engagement . The next day they took " Susannah " , a 300 - ton British merchantman laden with coal , cheeses , and porter for General William Howe ' s beleaguered army in Boston . After escorting their prize to Portsmouth , New Hampshire , the squadron , commanded by Captain Manley in " Lee " , returned to Cape Ann , where on the 10th they captured another ship , the 300 - ton transport " Stokesby " , bound for Boston with porter , cheese , vinegar , and hops . En route to Gloucester , the prize ran aground . After much of her cargo had been removed , British brig " Hope " arrived and put the torch to the hulk . While Manley ' s squadron was at Gloucester , General Howe evacuated Boston and General Washington ordered his ships to dog the British Fleet , pouncing on any stragglers . The patriot schooners departed Gloucester , 21 March , and sighted a merchant brig off Boston Light that afternoon . They chased their prey and by evening were close enough to open fire . Their quarry then hove to , but two British men - of - war , " Savage " and " Diligent " , arrived to compel the American schooners to abandon their prize . Soon afterwards , Manley divided his squadron , keeping " Lynch " and " Lee " with " Hancock " . On the afternoon of 2 April , they sighted the brig " Elizabeth " . This prize , an American vessel captured by the British the previous October , was filled with loot plundered from the warehouses of patriot Bostonian merchants and carried a number of Tory refugees . Many of the Tories were transferred to " Lee " , while their leaders were taken on board " Hancock " , and the captive crew imprisoned in " Lynch " , which accompanied " Hancock " into Portsmouth . On 13 May , " Lee " , operating with off Cape Ann , was joined by " Lynch " . A fortnight later pursued the schooners , but they escaped in fog . On 7 June , they captured the British transport " Anne " , carrying a light infantry company of the 71st Regiment and some forty sailors sent out as fleet replacements . Sixty of the Highlanders were transferred to " Lynch " and taken to Plymouth , the remainder and the sailors were divided between " Lee " and " Warren " , which then escorted " Anne " toward Marblehead , outrunning the British frigate " Milford " to safety . " Lee " next cruised alone off Nova Scotia without success until recapturing " Betsy " , after that sloop had fallen prey to " Milford " in Massachusetts Bay . " Lee " scored again in early November by taking the brig " Elizabeth " , escorting her into Boston on the 7th . While " Lee " was in port , Captain Waters left the ship to journey to Philadelphia , Pennsylvania as a Member of Congress . He was succeeded by Capt . John Skinner . 1777 . Early in the spring of 1777 , " Lee " was again underway from Boston . She took the schooner " Hawke " , 13 April , captured the fishing sloop " Betsy " , 3 May , and , a week later , caught the Irish brigantine " Charles " . The latter , laden with fish , was recaptured en route to Boston under a prize crew . Soon the brigantines " Capelin " and " Industry " were added to the list of prizes and escorted to Casco Bay to be libeled . " Lee " then continued on to Boston , arriving 25 June . Meanwhile , the ranks of General Washington ' s Navy were being thinned by captures . When " Lynch " struck her colors on 19 May 1777 , " Lee " was the only schooner of the little fleet left in operation . She pushed out into the Atlantic , 24 July . On 29 August she caught the brig " Industrious Bee " and sent her into Boston . The next day , she took the snow " Lively " , but that prize was recaptured by the frigate " Diamond " , 23 September . " Lee " next turned south and took her final prize , the brigantine " Dolphin " , before returning to Marblehead , 26 October 1777 . A few days later , she was returned to her owner .