Nautical Research Journal 309


1. All photographs by the author.


T e Continental Navy frigate Raleigh in a bottle


By Alex Bellinger


As is well known, in December 1775 the Continental Congress, for the defense of the young nation’s interests, authorized the construction of thirteen frigates. Five were to be 32-gun ships, fi ve 28s and three 24s. T ough the number of frigates matched the number of colonies, the contracts for their construction were not evenly divided. Four were to be built in Philadelphia, three in New York, two in Massachusetts, and one each in Maryland, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Hampshire.


T ough the Marine Department had intended that each class of frigate was to be built to plans they


had approved, the delay in getting these plans to yards receiving the contracts led a number of them to turn to local talent for design. In Raleigh’s case, this was James Hackett of Salisbury, Massachusetts. As a result, the Portsmouth frigate had a diff erent hull form from the offi cial design as represented by the surviving draſt of the Philadelphia ship Randolph. Raleigh had higher freeboard and deeper tumblehome and its more modern round bow was a contrast with Randolph’s beakhead bulkhead.


In their ambition to fulfi ll their contract, the Portsmouth builders completed Raleigh’s hull


in


two months, and it was the fi rst of the Continental frigates to be launched. T e frigate did not get to sea for many months because of delays in getting stores and guns. When the ship fi nally got to sea, its career was short and unfortunate. Like most of its sisters


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