Marblehead lays claim to birthplace of U.S. Navy

MARBLEHEAD – Perhaps General George Washington should accept responsibility for any unresolved question about the birthplace of the Navy.In the late summer of 1775, Washington secretly ordered Captain John Glover to outfit a ship and seize “such vessels as may be found on the high seas or elsewhere, bound inward and outward to or from Boston in the service of the ministerial Army.”Washington was results-oriented, a quality that eventually made him the father of his country and also the father of a controversy that had Marblehead and Beverly residents shouting to show support when Beverly native David Ferriero, United States Archivist, presented his research and findings Wednesday at the USS Constitution Museum in Charlestown.Washington did not order Glover, a Marbleheader, to go to Marblehead or Beverly or any other specific colonial seaport. On Sept. 5, 1775, the Hannah, the first U.S. warship, set sail from Beverly Harbor. It was purchased and refitted as a warship under Glover’s supervision in Beverly and manned by a Marblehead crew.The Hannah was immediately sighted by the British ship HMS Lively and quickly took refuge in Gloucester Harbor.There are other contenders for the Navy birthplace: Machias, Maine, where rebels commandeered two British ships and used them to capture another; Whitehall, N.Y., where a small fleet was used by Benedict Arnold to hold off British advances at Lake Champlain; Providence, R.I., where the state legislature voted to formally request the creation of a Navy; Philadelphia, Pa., where the Continental Congress authorized the formation of a U.S. Navy on Oct. 13, 1775. Ferriero chose Oct. 13, the date the Navy uses as its official birthday, as the date of his lecture.Ferriero and archivist Trevor Plante presented evidence favorable to both Beverly and Marblehead. Then Ferriero, who said a year ago that he wanted to establish a definite Navy birthplace, settled for asking for huzzahs (cheers) for each of the six claimants. He noted that Marblehead and Beverly, who had the most supporters in the 100-person audience, got equal amounts of noise and left it a draw.The subject was discussed during Wednesday’s selectmen meeting. Selectman William Woodfin vowed to protest loud and long if Ferriero named Beverly as the birthplace.”Does the board want to send a letter to the Secretary of the Navy?” Town Administrator Tony Sasso asked, evoking laughter.”I still don’t think there’s any question. It was all Marblehead,” Selectman William Conly, who attended the Charlestown event, said Thursday. “You’ve got to walk in the shoes of the sailors, not the politicians. Those guys were just sailors, doing their job – and it had a lot of results.””The reason they went to Beverly was to avoid the British,” he added.