Whipple went to sea young and became a merchant ship captain at a young age. Whipple was a privateer in the French and Indian War. In six months, he captured 23 French merchant ships. On June 9, 1772, he led 50 Rhode Islanders in the capture and burning of the British revenue cutter Gaspee. This was the first armed opposition to the Crown and the first bloodshed leading to the Revolution. Because of this, Capt. James Wallace of the HMS Rose threatened Whipple. “I will hang you at the yardarm.” Whipple’s brash response was “Always catch a man before you hang him.” In 1775, he was appointed commodore of the Rhode Island navy. Rhode Island was the first colony to have a navy. He was given two sloops with his flagship being the Kary. On June 15, he attacked the tender of the HMS Rose. He fired the first cannon shot at the Royal Navy in the Revolutionary War. In December, 1775, Congress made him captain of the 24 gun Columbus. He took part in an amphibious expedition to the Bahamas. He helped seize military supplies from the British garrison at Nassau. Later, he captured 5 British cargo ships, but he ran aground off Rhode Island and had to abandon the Columbus. He then commanded the 28 gun Providence. He escaped the British blockade and sailed to France with important diplomatic dispatches. He returned with guns and supplies. On the way back, he took three prizes. In July, 1779, his three ship squadron encountered a British convoy in a dense fog. He ran up a British flag and they took 11 ships worth $1 million (equivalent to $26 million today). He did this without firing a shot. He and his crew were captured when Charleston fell. He retired to become a farmer after he was paroled. Later, he was the first to sail a merchant ship down the Ohio River and Mississippi to New Orleans.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Whipple
https://gaspee.org/AbrahamWhipple.html
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