USS America (1782)

History of the American Aircraft Carrier (1782)

On November 9, 1776, the Continental Congress authorized the construction and purchase of three 74 gunboats. The first warships built for the Continental Navy became the USS America.

Her construction began in May 1777 in John Landon's Shipyard, New Hampshire, Maine, between Portsmouth and Kittery, on Rising Castle Island in the Piscataqua River. Langdon's choice of the shipyard's location was no accident.

American shipbuilding companies were established near commercial ports and fishing towns. New Hampshire and Maine have dense old-growth oak forests that provide abundant resources close to rivers. A ship like America's would require two thousand of these trees to build, and once felled, the easiest way to transport these trees is along waterways. At this time in American history, few roads extend beyond the borders of several cities. To save time and effort, the factory was built by the river.

Trees are chopped into planks at the factory and then transported onto barges and eventually to the lumberyard near the shipyard. New wood must be dried and matured over many years before it can be used in boat building.

Merchants shipped planks and masts overseas from New Hampshire and traded along the Atlantic coast.

Their construction was delayed due to the persistent lack of funds of the Continental Congress and the lack of skilled artisans. The main factor, however, is the lack of adequately seasoned wood stocks. American lumber came slowly and became a coveted commodity that was eventually sold as green on world markets. The keel was eventually laid down, but her actual construction took more than two years under the supervision of naval architects Colonel James Hackett and John Langdon. In November 1779, the Maritime Commission (or Admiralty as it is known today) sent Captain John Barry to oversee the progress of the ship's construction.

His order stipulated that he should move forward with the project as soon as his authority would allow to complete the ship. His presence did not make much progress at the shipyard, and months passed without much progress. By March 1780, Barry could not see the end of the mission, and finally applied to the Maritime Commission for a leave of absence - which was eventually approved.

Fortunately, Barry may have been misunderstood at the time, and he was appointed commander of the Continental Navy's finest ship - the 36-gun frigate Soyuz - which had recently returned home from Europe.

Congress was rattled by the pace of construction of U.S. shipyards and paid the bills, forcing Landon to finish quickly. In late June 1781, Captain John Paul Jones was appointed commander of the Unfinished Americas by the Maritime Commission.

When Jones received news of Congress' decision to give the ship to King Louis XVI, he had placed the cannon. Replaced by France the French liner Magnifique, which ran aground while trying to enter Boston Harbor and wrecked in August 1782. It was a political decision to thank the French royal family for their support of the United States in the war of independence against Britain. Jones was deeply disappointed, but he went on to complete the first American liner. Completed on November 5, 1782, she was roped into the Piscataqua River.

Equipped with rigging and sails, French captain M. Ie Chevalier de Macarty Martinge of the lost frigate Magnifique left Portsmouth on 24 June 1783 and arrived in France some 23 days later.

The United States served only a short time under the French flag. Three years later, she was examined by the French Naval Commission, which sadly found her unfit. Inspections revealed that dry rot was beyond the scope of cheap repairs. The rot is likely due to the green, untreated wood from which they were built. Her sails, guns and all usable metal parts were scrapped.

A new French warship was built and named America.

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