The first USS ''Hancock'' was an armed
schooner under the
Continental Army 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 ...
. She was named for patriot and
Continental Congress member
John Hancock
John Hancock ( – October 8, 1793) was an American Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of t ...
. Congress returned her to her owner in 1777.
Career
''Hancock'', was the former schooner ''Speedwell'', hired from Mr. Thomas Grant of
Marblehead, Massachusetts
Marblehead is a coastal New England town in Essex County, Massachusetts, along the North Shore. Its population was 20,441 at the 2020 census. The town lies on a small peninsula that extends into the northern part of Massachusetts Bay. Attache ...
, in October 1775 as one of a small fleet fitting out to prey upon British supply ships and support General
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
's siege of
Boston, Massachusetts. This fleet, the first under Continental pay and control, came to be called "
George Washington's Navy."
In October 1775, ''Hancock'' (not the Lynch ), under the command of
Nicholson Broughton
Captain Nicholson Broughton (1724-1798) of Marblehead, Massachusetts was the first commodore of the American Navy and, as part of the Marblehead Regiment, commanded George Washington’s first naval vessel . Broughton set sail from Beverly, ...
, and were ordered to intercept two
brigs as they arrived in the
St. Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...
from England. But the two schooners instead sought easier quarry off
Cape Canso
Cape Canso is a headland located at the eastern extremity of the Nova Scotia peninsula in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime ...
where five prizes of dubious legality were taken. They also
raided Charlottetown settlement without regard to orders to respect
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
property. The story of their illegal actions reached General Washington who dismissed both ship commanders and returned their prizes to Nova Scotian owners with apologies.
On 1 January 1776, Captain
John Manley
John Paul Manley (born January 5, 1950) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the eighth deputy prime minister of Canada from 2002 to 2003. He served as Liberal Member of Parliament for Ottawa South from 1988 to ...
,
Continental Army, was appointed
Commodore
Commodore may refer to:
Ranks
* Commodore (rank), a naval rank
** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom
** Commodore (United States)
** Commodore (Canada)
** Commodore (Finland)
** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore''
* Air commodore ...
of the Fleet and hoisted his flag in ''Hancock''. She captured two enemy transports on 25 January 1776, fending off an eight-gun British schooner in a brisk engagement while prize crews took the captured ships into
Plymouth Harbor
Plymouth Harbor is a harbor located in Plymouth, a town in the South Shore region of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is part of the larger Plymouth Bay. Historically, Plymouth Harbor was the site of anchorage of the ''Mayflower'' where the ...
.
On 30 January 1776 the 14-gun British Brig ''Hope'', which had sailed from Boston for the express purpose of capturing ''Hancock'', intercepted her off Plymouth. Manley ran ''Hancock'' ashore where it became impossible for ''Hope'', with her deeper draft, to draw close aboard. The Americans later refloated ''Hancock'' and she later captured several more prizes in joint operations with the squadron by April 1776, when Captain
Samuel Tucker relieved Commodore
John Manley
John Paul Manley (born January 5, 1950) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the eighth deputy prime minister of Canada from 2002 to 2003. He served as Liberal Member of Parliament for Ottawa South from 1988 to ...
in command of ''Hancock''. Manley was taken into the
Continental Navy to command the Continental frigate
''Hancock''.
The schooner ''Hancock'' captured two brigs off Boston 7 May 1776. She continued to cruise under Tucker until declared unfit for service late in 1776. She returned to her owner early the following year.
See also
*
List of historical schooners
Citations
References
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hancock (1775)
Schooners of the United States Navy
1770s ships