The first USS ''Morris'' was a

sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing square-rigged or fore-and-aft sails. Some ships c ...

in the

Continental Navy The Continental Navy was the navy of the United States during the American Revolutionary War and was founded October 13, 1775. The fleet cumulatively became relatively substantial through the efforts of the Continental Navy's patron John Adams ...

in commission from 1778 to 1779. She was named for

Founding Father The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...

, Continential Congressman, and a major financier of the American Revolution, Robert Morris. 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 ...

a party twenty-nine men of the

13th Virginia Regiment The 13th Virginia Regiment was a United States infantry regiment during the American Revolutionary War. Summary The 13th Virginia Regiment was authorized on 16 September 1776 by the Continental Congress for service with the Continental Army d ...

led by

James Willing James Willing (1750–1801) was a representative of the American Continental Congress who led a 1778 military expedition during the American Revolutionary War. Known as the Willing Expedition, the effort involved raiding British forts, plantation ...

departed Fort Pitt and traveled down the Mississippi river where they captured the British ship ''Rebecca'' moored at

Fort Bute Fort Bute (1766-1779) was a colonial fort built by the British in 1766 to protect the confluence of Bayou Manchac with the Mississippi River and was named in honor of the Earl of Bute. Fort Bute was located on Bayou Manchac, about 115 miles (185 ...

Oliver Pollock Oliver Pollock (1737, Bready, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland – December 17, 1823, Pinckneyville, Mississippi) was a merchant and financier of the American Revolutionary War, of which he has long been considered a historically undervalued fig ...

, the American commercial agent at

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

who had charge of naval affairs on the Mississippi during the American Revolution, purchased ''Rebecca'' for the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

.Marshall Sprague.
So Vast, So Beautiful a Land: Louisiana and the Purchase
'. Swallow/Ohio University Press; 1 April 1991. . p. 206. The ship was renamed ''Morris'' and was manned and converted to a

Man-of-war The man-of-war (also man-o'-war, or simply man) was a Royal Navy expression for a powerful warship or frigate from the 16th to the 19th century. Although the term never acquired a specific meaning, it was usually reserved for a ship armed wi ...

under the command of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

William Pickles.Frederick Stephen Ellis.
St. Tammany Parish
'. Pelican Publishing; . p. 51–52. A severe

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

destroyed ''Morris'' on 18 August 1779, causing the loss of 11 of her crew.Paul H. Silverstone.
The Sailing Navy, 1775-1854
'. Taylor & Francis; 2006. . p. 15.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris (1778) American Revolutionary War ships of the United States Age of Sail ships of the United States Ships named for Founding Fathers of the United States