The First American Navy

Christopher P. Magra

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511576621.013

9 - The First American Navy

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 July 2009

Christopher P. Magra

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Christopher P. Magra: Affiliation:
California State University, Northridge

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Summary

The stagnation of the Fishery furnished us with means for cruising against the enemy's property.

An interventionist British state and the coming of the American Revolutionary War spoiled the lucrative commercial fishing industry in New England. In April 1776, fish merchants in Cape Ann, Massachusetts, estimated that their fleet of “80 fishing Schooners” had declined in value from “£300” to “£150 Each,” because they had been idled as a direct result of the war. The merchants claimed a loss of £12,000 for this redundancy, in addition to £6,000 for “Materials for Curing fish; Lost Wholly” and £8,000 “Loss on the Income of 80 Sail fishing Vessels a[t] £100 Each.” At the same time, Salem merchants reported that their fleet of fifty “Fishing Vessels” was worth half as much as a result of the war, and they claimed a loss of £7,500 for this depreciation. Salemites further claimed losses of £2,500 for “Materials for curing & Drying fish” that were “Totally Destroyed” and £5,000 for “the Loss of the Fishing 1 Year.” For their part, fish merchants in Chatham, Massachusetts, took stock after the war and calculated that they lost twenty-three of their twenty-seven fishing vessels as a direct result of the conflict. The large gaps in fish merchants' ledger books between 1775 and 1783 further attest to the war-induced decline in the production of dried, salted cod.

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Type: Chapter
Information: The Fisherman's Cause
Atlantic Commerce and Maritime Dimensions of the American Revolution
, pp. 177 - 198

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511576621.013 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2009

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