One of America's most famous naval heroes, John Paul Jones, was appointed first lieutenant in the Continental Navy in December 1775.  In August 1976, made up to acting captain, he was ordered to embark on a cruise 'against our enemies' in the vicinity of Bermuda to take prizes and gather intelligence information.  His ship was the sloop Providence which he had commanded since May.  On 1st September Providence was sighted and chased by HBM Frigate Solebay which was escorting a small convoy bound from Jamaica to New York.  After a 10-hr race the powerful frigate had almost overhauled Providence, whereupon Jones, relying on his little ship's greater agility, suddenly cut sharply across Solebay's bows and setting all spare sails before the wind, sped away out of cannon-shot range before the larger vessel could complete the complicated manoeuvre of changing course. 

Originally owned by Providence merchant John Brown, the merchant sloop Katy was one of two sloops chartered by the Rhode Island General Assembly in June 1775 to protect Rhode Island shipping from British warships, in particular HMS Rose. Abraham Whipple, Katy's first captain, captured the sloop Diana during the summer and was then ordered to capture a store of gunpowder at Bermuda, an unsuccessful operation. Purchased by the General Assembly on her return, Katy sailed for Philadelphia and, renamed Providence, entered the Continental Navy under Captain John Hazard.

On February 17, 1776, Providence sailed for the Bahamas, again in search of gunpowder, as part of a squadron commanded by Esek Hopkins in Alfred. The Americans occupied Nassau in early March but failed to capture the gunpowder. Hopkins's ships returned to New London, where Providence became John Paul Jones's first command. After carrying soldiers from New London to New York and escorting a convoy of colliers to Philadelphia, Providence sailed on an independent cruise on August 1. Jones quickly captured a whaleship and a merchant ship and dispatched his prizes to Philadelphia. He then turned for Nova Scotia, where he burned or captured eight fishing schooners and recruited new crew to replace those he had put aboard his captured ships.

In February 1777, Providence ran the British blockade off Narragansett Bay and captured another transport off Cape Breton. Put under Captain John P. Rathbun, Providence made two more coastal cruises before sailing again for the Bahamas in early 1778. Through a series of brilliant stratagems, Rathbun took and held the town for three days (January 27 to 30) during which time he spiked the guns of Fort Nassau, seized 1,600 pounds of gunpowder (at last), took 6 British prizes, and freed 30 American prisoners, all without bloodshed. She returned to Rhode Island unscathed on January 30, 1779.

Providence followed up this action with the capture of HM Brig Diligent (12 guns) off New York on May 7. The latter was taken into the Continental Navy and repaired in time to take part in the disastrous Penobscot expedition under Commodore Dudley Saltonstall in Warren, together with Providence and thirty-seven other ships. On August 13, Providence and all but two of the American ships were run aground and burned to avoid capture by a superior British fleet that had appeared in Penobscot Bay.

This Providence features:

21" long x 14" tall    $490         

    Tell a friend: