THE CONTINENTAL NAVY
Don't Tread on Me!

A unified naval fleet was nonexistent at the beginning of the Revolution, and so the new government turned to citizen shipowners for privateering (legalized piracy), splitting the cargo from captured British ships.

Due to the weakness of the American forces, naval combat during the Revolution usually took place between the British and the French, and depended upon a ship's position to the wind. An aggressive commander sought the upwind (usually British). The leeward ships could not sail into the wind but had the option to retreat (usually French). The enemy fleets formed parallel lines and bombarded each other with cannon fire.

Eventually the Continental Navy had 52 ships - former merchant vessels converted into wartime frigates - that harassed British shipping lines and captured the cargo of thousands of enemy ships. And one engagement in 1779 transformed a criminal-turned-captain into the "Father of the American Navy."