The Colonial Navy

The colonists did not only fight on land. They also fought battles at sea. The American Revolution was the beginning of the United States Navy. Think how much it has grown since then.

The Navy was started in October of 1775. This was before the Declaration of Independence was written. There were 620 men in the Navy when it was started. This meant that the leaders in America had to find more clothes and food for these men. It wasn't easy. One year later, more than 3,000 people were in the Navy. This number went down to around 1,500 men. This was the average for most of the war.

At the beginning of the war, Britain had a better Navy. They had almost 100 ships. At first, the ships were used to take soldiers to America to fight in the war. The American Navy was not used to fighting at first. The boats would attack single British ships carrying supplies. This made it more difficult to get guns and food to the British Army.

The British Navy faced a bigger challenge when France entered the war. France also had a very good Navy. They would help the Americans win many battles at sea.

This was the beginning of the United States Navy. There were not many early jobs on the ships. Also many of the men had never been on a ship. Going to war was the first time they had ever sailed.