Existing comment:
Statue of John Barry. A contemporary of John Paul Jones, his star was overshadowed by Jones although Barry is considered "The Father of the American Navy". Born as the son of the poor Irish farmer, he was an excellent naval commander. He was the first to capture a British war vessel on the high seas and ended up capturing over 20 ships. He learned how the British had massacred 3,000 men from his home county during an invasion by Oliver Cromwell in 1649 and that helped to cement his hatred of the British.
Barry came to Philadelphia and took that as his home. He commanded his first ship in 1766. When war was declared, he was assigned the task of outfitting the first Continental Navy ships which were put to sea from Philadelphia. In 1776, he was put in charge of his first warship, the brig Lexington. Later that same year, he was put in charge of the 32-gun Effingham, but had to have the boat scuttled in 1777 when the British were about to attack Philadelphia. He then volunteered to fight in the Continental Army and served with the Marines as an aide-de-camp to Philadelphia militia commander General John Cadwalader. He fought at Trenton and Princeton.
In 1778, he was back on the sea. He commanded the 32-gun frigate Raleigh which was lost to the British in Maine's Penobscot Bay. He came back with gusto though and was involved in the last sea battle of the American Revolution.
After the war, he reentered the maritime trade, helping to open commerce with China and the Orient. He was brought back into the service, however, to take on the Barbary Pirates. He remained head of the Navy until his death on September 12, 1803, from the complications of asthma. |