Confederacy

Type

Frigate

Period

18th Century

Nation

United States

Overview: USS Confederacy was a 36-gun frigate of the Continental Navy, built at Norwich, Connecticut and launched on 8 November 1778. She was one of the largest and most handsomely finished frigates built by the fledgling American navy, but her career was short and troubled, ending in capture by the British in 1781. Specifications: According to Wikipedia's general characteristics table, the ship measured 959 tons burthen, with a length of about 153 ft (US measurement) and beam of 35 ft 6 in, carrying a complement of 260 officers and men. Her armament comprised 28 x 12-pounder guns on the gun deck plus 8 x 6-pounder guns on the quarterdeck and 2 x 6-pounder guns on the forecastle, giving her the nominal 36-gun rating. Service History: After fitting out at New London, she cruised the Atlantic coast under Captain Seth Harding from May to August 1779, and on 6 June 1779, while convoying merchantmen, she and USS Deane captured three prizes and drove off two British frigates, safely escorting the convoy into Philadelphia. In September 1779 she was ordered to carry the French Minister home to France, with John Jay (America's first Minister to Spain) and his family also aboard, but during the crossing on 7 November 1779 she was completely dismasted in a storm and barely survived, limping to Martinique for repairs before returning to Philadelphia. Homeward bound from Cap-Français in the West Indies in 1781 with military stores and escorting 37 merchantmen, she was intercepted off the Delaware Capes on 14 April 1781 by HMS Roebuck (44) and HMS Orpheus (32); vastly outgunned, Captain Harding struck his colors without a fight. Notable Facts: Taken into the Royal Navy as HMS Confederate, she was never actually commissioned for service; a British Admiralty survey found her "Intirely unfit for ... proper service," reportedly due to green, unseasoned timber used in her original construction, which had led to serious hull rot. She was sent to Woolwich and broken up there in March 1782, only about three and a half years after her launch. Contemporary advertisements had praised her as "a very fine vessel and perhaps superior to any ever built in America," and records show Mohegan Native Americans and African Americans were among her original builders at Norwich.