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Commodore John Barry
(1745-1803)
"Father of the American Navy"
Statue of Commodore Barry
standing in Independence Square, on the south side of Independence Hall
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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Commodore John Barry
(Born
1745 - Died 1803)
"Father of the American Navy"
Not many people know Commodore John Barry's story. He lived
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, not too far across the Delaware River from
Trenton, New
Jersey. Barry was born in Ireland, an island close to England in the
Atlantic Ocean on the continent of Europe. He is famous for putting
together the
first American Navy. For this, he was given the title "Father of the American Navy."
When the American colonies were fighting against England during the
Revolutionary War, they had very few ships to help protect themselves.
John Barry was responsible for building up an American fleet. There was
very little time to build ships, and any that were built were taken or destroyed by English
soldiers. So Barry led his men in rowboats and other small boats,
sneaking aboard English ships, capturing the crew, and making these ships part of the new American fleet.
Early Years
Barry's first command came in 1766 aboard the sailing ship,
sailing out of Philadelphia, which Barry made as his home port. Sailing back and
forth between Philadelphia and the West Indies, Barry gained his early skills of
command as captain of several merchant ships. Merchant ships were ships that
carried goods back and forth to different places. The owners of the goods
made money from selling these goods and shared it with the captain and crew of
the ship. In the West Indies trade, Barry became famous for not losing a single
ship from storms or pirates.
War
When Barry arrived back in Philadelphia , the
Colonies and Great Britain were at war. At the beginning of the Revolution,
Barry was given the single important task of putting together the first
Continental Navy. Ships were to be put to sea from Philadelphia. He
gathered together all the ships he could find and set cannons on board trying
his best to make all the fighting warships he could. Upon
completion of his work, Barry was given a Captain's commission in the
Continental Navy. He was also put in command of his first warship, the Lexington.
In his first battle at sea, John Barry's cruiser Lexington
had a
successful one-hour battle with the British ship, Edward. He defeated the
English, took over the ship, and turned it into a U.S. warship. Late in 1776,
Barry was given command of the Effingham, one of three ships not
completely finished being built in Philadelphia. With the English making their way up the Delaware River
toward Philadelphia, Barry was forced to destroy his new ship, plus the other
two, so the English could
not use it for themselves in battle. Having to make do with commanding only
small ships that were able to sail farther up the Delaware River and hide, Barry carried out the boldest adventure of his career. His mission
included the destruction of all British ships in the region, capture of enemy
shipping in the Lower Delaware, and fighting off whatever came his way.
Back to the Sea
On March 8, 1778, Barry attacked a British fleet with a tiny squadron of
boats. Barry took his mix of seven small boats, including rowboats, barges and
longboats, and surprised and captured three armed ships. Barry also succeeded in destroying
three other ships.
In the year 1778, Barry was assigned to the Raleigh.
Unfortunately, shortly after getting out of port in late September of that year
the Raleigh was sighted by the superior British forces. Barry was
chased by the English ships and cornered off the coast of Maine. Barry was
determined to save his crew and burned his ship rather than let the British
capture it. Barry saved two-thirds of his crew and successfully guided 88 of
his men to safety in rowboats to Boston.
A Ferocious Fight
Barry's most famous naval battle happened off the coast of Newfoundland on May
28, 1781. Barry's ship, the Alliance, took on two smaller
British ships. Barry's guns fired first and struck one of the English
ships. Unfortunately, however, his ship couldn't move in the water due to a lack
of wind. A large sailing ship needed a lot of wind to turn and point its cannons
at the enemy. The two smaller British ships were
able to move close to the Alliance. They were able to shoot and badly
damage Barry's ship. His crew fought bravely until Barry was wounded. He
remained on deck for twenty minutes, until, losing
consciousness from loss of blood. He was carried below deck.
As the battle increased, the Alliance's flag was shot away. Barry's
second in command, wanted to surrender. Barry refused and would not give
up. Suddenly the wind started up and the Alliance was able to turn
and fire its cannons at the other ships. The terrible battle had
lasted nearly four hours and had cost the British two ships, 11 dead, including
one of the two captains, and 25 wounded.
After the War
After the Revolutionary War, the Continental Navy was ignored by the new United
States government. So Barry went back into sailing cargo ships. But
in 1790, under George Washington's orders, the Navy was made a permanent
protector of the country in case of future wars, and John Barry had been
selected senior Captain of the Federal Navy by the President.
The Father of the Navy
On February 22, 1797, George Washington called Barry to the President's
Mansion. He was officially given the rank
of commodore. Barry's new job was to supervise the building of the first ships built for the
United States Navy, including his own forty-four gun ship, the USS United
States, which was to serve as his flagship. The USS United States
slid into the water on May 10, 1797.
Commodore Barry
Barry held the title of Commodore and he served as commander
of the United States fleet. He commanded all American ships during the undeclared naval war
with France (1798-1800) and personally captured several French merchant ships.
Champion of the Navy
Barry remained head of the Navy
until his death on September 13, 1803, from the complications of asthma. John Barry received
special honors in a full military
burial in the city of Philadelphia's Old St. Mary's Churchyard.
Commodore John Barry's accomplishments are celebrated each year by the
government of the United States. In 1992, Congress officially
designated every September 13th as ``Commodore John Barry Day.''
After reading the article on John
Barry, answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper.
1. John Barry was born in
_____________ (country) in
_______________. (year)
2. John Barry was given the title
______________________ because he put together the first American Navy.
3. The name of the first warship John Barry
commanded was the _______________________.
4. Instead of destroying a
British ship he captured, Barry turned it into a ____________________________.
5. John Barry _________ three American ships that were being built in
Philadelphia, so the English couldn't use them in war.
6. Commodore John Barry died on
________________________. (month, day, year)
7. Commodore John Barry was buried in
___________________________.(city)