The first USS ''Columbus'' was a ship in the
Continental Navy. Built as a merchant ship at
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
in 1774 as ''Sally'', she was purchased from
Willing,
Morris
Morris may refer to:
Places
Australia
*St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia
Canada
* Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry
* Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba
** Morris, Manitob ...
& Co., for the Continental Navy in November 1775, Captain
Abraham Whipple
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jews ...
was given command.
Between 17 February and 8 April 1776, in company with the other ships of Commodore
Esek Hopkins' squadron, ''Columbus'' took part in the expedition to
New Providence,
Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...
, where the first Navy-
Marine amphibious operation
Amphibious warfare is a type of Offensive (military), offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the opera ...
seized essential military supplies. On the return passage, the squadron captured the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
schooner, ''Hawk'', on 4 April, and
brig ''Bolton'' on the 5th. On 6 April the squadron
engaged
An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...
. After three hours the action was broken off and ''Glasgow'' escaped, leaving her
tender to be captured. Later in 1776 ''Columbus'' cruised off the
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
coast taking five prizes.
Chased ashore on
Point Judith,
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...
, 27 March 1778 by a British squadron, ''Columbus'' was stripped of her
sails, most of her
rigging, and other usable material by her crew before being abandoned. She was burned by the enemy.
Sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Columbus
Ships of the Continental Navy
Ships built in Philadelphia
Maritime incidents in 1778