USS Lee (1775)
| History | |
|---|---|
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| Name: | USS Lee |
| Namesake: | Charles Lee |
| Acquired: | October 1775 |
| Homeport: | Marblehead, Massachusetts |
| Fate: | Returned to owner, November 1777 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Schooner |
| Displacement: | 74 long tons (75 t) |
| Propulsion: | Sails |
| Armament: |
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| Service record | |
| Part of: | Continental Navy |
| Commanders: |
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The first USS Lee was a schooner under the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. She was named for General Charles Lee.
In October 1775, Colonel John Glover, acting for General George Washington, chartered the schooner Two Brothers from Thomas Stevens of Marblehead, Massachusetts, as a replacement for Hannah. Her complement complete, 28 October, Captain John Manley dropped her down with the tide, lay to off Tuck Point, and headed out to sea the next morning.
On 27 November, the vessel, now known as Lee, took her first prize, the 80 ton sloop Polly carrying turnips and Spanish-milled dollars from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to the British troops at Boston, Massachusetts. After sending Polly into Beverly under a prize crew, Lee sailed off Boston, and at dusk the next day gave chase to the 250-ton brig Nancy, then beating her way into Boston. Mistaking Lee for a pilot boat, Nancy laid her sails aback and sent up a string of signal flags. Captain Manley dispatched a boat with carefully picked men, ordering them to conceal their weapons as they rowed to and boarded Nancy. Taken by surprise, the brig surrendered without resistance, providing the Americans with a precious cargo of ordnance and gunpowder. Manley placed a prize crew in Nancy and accompanied her to Beverly.
Early in December, Lee was again giving chase intercepting the 200-ton ship Concord laden with drygoods and coal. After capture, Concord was escorted into Marblehead Harbor. The next month Capt. Daniel Waters relieved Captain Manley.
On 29 January 1776, while operating with Franklin, Lee took the 60-ton sloop Rainbow, carrying wood, potatoes, spruce beer, and meat. The next day the American schooners and their prize were sighted by the British frigate HMS Fowey. After a fast chase, the Americans eluded the frigate and, with their prize, reached safety in Cape Ann Harbor. Lee and Franklin soon slipped out to sea again, taking the 300-ton, Boston-bound brigantine Henry and Esther, carrying military cargo, northeast of Cape Ann on 1 February.
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