South Carolina Navy

A South Carolina Navy has been formed twice by the State of South Carolina. The first time was during the American Revolutionary War, in which the state purchased and outfitted armed vessels independent of the Continental Navy. The second time was during the American Civil War, when its navy was also distinct from the Confederate States Navy.

South Carolina's first naval actions of the American Revolutionary War occurred in July 1775, when the province's Council of Safety hired two captains to assist Georgia in the capture of British ships carrying arms and gunpowder. That month the council also hired a ship, Commerce, for the purpose of acquiring gunpowder that the British had stored at Nassau in the Bahamas. She was outfitted for this purpose, but word of the anticipated arrival of British ships carrying arms and gunpowder at Savannah, Georgia prompted her to be used to capture those ships instead. These activities netted the colonial cause more than 25,000 pounds of gunpowder. In October 1775, the council acquired the schooner Defence, and hired Simon Tufts as her captain. After she had a brief exchange with British ships in Charleston harbor in November, the provincial congress voted to seize Prosper to assist in driving the British ships away, and established a commission to oversee naval affairs.

In December, a third ship, Comet, was added to the fleet, and the council sent Robert Cochran to recruit experienced seamen in Massachusetts. As Boston was at the time under siege by George Washington's newly formed Continental Army, Massachusetts authorized him to recruit up to 300 men, provided he offered moderate wages so as to not compete with local needs.

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