During the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, the Georgia State Navy consisted of only a few ships, most of which were destroyed in 1778 and 1779.

History

Naval jack of the United States (1777–1795)

Georgia was one of the first of the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of Kingdom of Great Britain, British Colony, colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Fo ...

to engage a ship for its own naval purposes. In June 1775, not long after the

broke out, it commissioned an armed

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

for the purpose of seizing a British transport carrying munitions that was destined for the Georgia port of

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

. Funds were authorized in 1776 for expeditions by Captains

Oliver Bowen Oliver Bowen (December 21, 1942 – January 1, 2000) was a Canadian engineer who managed the design and construction of the first line of Calgary's light rail transit system: the CTrain. The City of Calgary acknowledged his engineering work by na ...

and Job Pray to acquire and arm ships in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

; whether these were actually successful is unknown. In November 1776 the state established an

admiralty court Admiralty courts, also known as maritime courts, are courts exercising jurisdiction over all maritime contracts, torts, injuries, and offences. Admiralty courts in the United Kingdom England and Wales Scotland The Scottish court's earliest ...

for adjudicating the distribution of

prize A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

s captured at sea. The state also authorized the construction of

row galley A row galley was a term used by the early United States Navy for an armed watercraft that used oars rather than sails as a means of propulsion. During the age of sail row galleys had the advantage of propulsion while ships of sail might be stopped ...

s in 1776. A total of four were put into service: ''Washington'', ''Lee'', ''Bulloch'', and ''Congress''. The galleys' crews came from slaves seized when the Patriots confiscated Royalist Governor James Wright's estate. In addition, troops from the Georgia State Militia went on board the galleys to serve as marines. The galleys were unsuited for use on the high seas, but with their shallow drafts and oars were well-suited to serve along the state's coast and on its rivers. They carried troops and supplies for the two unsuccessful invasions of East Florida in 1777 and 1778. During these operations the galleys also secured river crossings, escorted vessels transporting troops, and protected the army's flank. The galleys' greatest success was the Frederica naval action on 19 April 1778. ''Washington'', ''Lee'', ''Bulloch'', and some boats captured the 12-gun sloop HMS ''Hinchinbrook'' and the Loyalist

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

''Rebecca''s off

St. Simons Island St. Simons Island (or simply St. Simons) is a barrier island and census-designated place (CDP) located on St. Simons Island in Glynn County, Georgia, United States. The names of the community and the island are interchangeable, known simply as ...

, after the British vessels had grounded and their crews had escaped ashore. The Georgia State galleys took their prizes to Sunbury.Crawford ''et al.'' (2013), p.178. The four galleys served during the 1779

Siege of Savannah The siege of Savannah or the Second Battle of Savannah was an encounter of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) in 1779. The year before, the city of Savannah, Georgia, had been captured by a British expeditionary corps under Lieutenan ...

, a failed Franco-American attempt to retake the city from the British. The continued British occupation of the state (the only state in which the royal governor returned to take control), made the construction of further ships impossible. In the late 20th century, it became a popular practice for the Governor of Georgia to award a certificate to new members of the

Georgia General Assembly The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are directly ...

(and others) bestowing upon them the honorary title of Admiral of the Georgia Navy.

Citations

References

*Crawford, Michael J., Dennis M. Conrad, E. Gordon Bowen-Hassell, & Mark L. Hayes, eds. (2013) ''Naval Documents of the American Revolution''. Vol. 12. (Washington, DC: Naval History & Heritage Command, Department of the Navy). * (This work contains summary information on each of the various state navies.) * {{cite magazine , last=Sayen , first=John J. Jr. , title=Oared Fighting Ships of the South Carolina Navy, 1776-1780 , magazine=South Carolina Historical Magazine , volume=87 , issue=4 , date=October 1986 , pages=213–237

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

Military units and formations of the United States in the American Revolutionary War

Military units and formations established in 1775 Disbanded navies Maritime history of the United States

History

See also

Citations

References