John Barry was born on March 25, 1745, in Ireland to a Catholic tenant farmer. His family was evicted from its farm by a British landlord. They moved to the coast and John fell in love with the sea. At 15-years-old, he became a cabin boy. Soon after, he moved to America and by age 21 he was captaining his own ship. He supported the Revolution and participated right after Lexington and Concord. He found out in London after sailing there to trade in an extremely fast ship called the Black Prince. On the voyage he set a record by sailing 237 miles in 24 hours. He immediately sailed back to Philadelphia and offered himself and his ship to the Continental Congress. The mostly New Englanders said thank you and then gave the ship New Englander! However, soon after he was given command of the Lexington which was a 16-gun ship. He set sail on March 28, 1776. He captured the British tender HMS Edward after a two-hour battle. He returned to Philadelphia to cheering crowds. On June 29, He led colonial forces in the Battle of Turtle Gut Inlet (surely the best named battle of the war). The Nancy was carrying 386 barrels of gunpowder and other supplies. It was chased by the HMS Kingfisher and ran aground. Barry organized a nighttime effort to save most of the barrels by rowboat to shore. Before dawn, he had a delayed fuse set up to blow up the remaining 100 barrels. When the Kingfisher sent a boarding crew to take the abandoned ship, a massive explosion killed all the British, some 40-50 sailors. For the Battle of Trenton, Barry had created a unit of Continental Marines which he led in the battle. When the British captured Philadelphia they offered Barry £15,000 in gold to switch sides. Barry sneered at the offer from a country that was continuing to mistreat Ireland and had ruined his family. “I have devoted myself to the cause of this country and not the value or command of the whole British fleet could seduce me from it.”
His next ship was the Lexington. He sailed from Philadelphia and evaded several larger British ships. He captured several Loyalist privateers. During the winter of Valley Forge, Washington sent Mad Anthony Wayne on a raid to capture supplies like cattle. Barry led two boats, each with only a 4-pounder, in a diversion. He burned a bunch of haystacks to distract the British. In two days, he destroyed 400 tons of forage. Wayne returned with 400 head of cattle.
On March 7, 1778, he attacked two armed transports with a warship escort. He commanded five rowboats with 27 men. He captured one without a fight and boarded the other. He then sailed one of the captured ships toward the HMS Alert and demanded it surrender. Shockingly, the British captain gave up. “Barry sent the captured supplies, intelligence materials (including a map of British positions in New York), cheeses, and pickled oysters to General Washington.”
Later that year, he sailed from Boston in the 32-gun Raleigh. He was chased by the 50-gun Experiment and 28-gun Unicorn. He turned on the Unicorn and they exchanged 6 hours of broadsides. When the Experiment came up, Barry sailed into shallow water and ran aground. He abandoned ship and saved his crew.
His last ship was the recently constructed Alliance, a magnificent 36-gun frigate. He captured the Alert again without a fight. (I don’t know if it was the same captain.) He captured two privateers. The Alliance was badly damaged by lightning in a storm. The bolt split the mainmast. Barry was limping back with a partial crew because of his prize crews on the captured ships. On May 19, 1779, he was chased by the Atalanta and the Trepassy. Unfortunately, the Alliance was becalmed and was raked by a British ship (which maneuvered via oars) off its bow and stern. Barry was wounded by grapeshot, but stayed on deck to command until he had to go below to be bandaged. He returned and so did the wind. He hit both British with broadsides and they both surrendered. He had won the last naval battle of the Revolutionary War. On a subsequent voyage, he captured nine prizes worth $2.5 million, a record for a single cruise. On March 10, 1783, he battered the HMS Sybil for 45 minutes before the Brit turned tail. This last naval action of the Revolutionary War was fought after the Treaty of Paris. Barry continued to serve his nation after the war and was the Navy’s first commodore. Some historians feel he is the “Father of the American Navy”, not John Paul Jones. Even if you disagree, you have to admit he is an unsung hero of American independence.
https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/us-people/b/barry-john.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Barry_(naval_officer)
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