The Continental Navy ’ s Shakedown Cruise
run Newport ’ s British blockade and thereby protect the New England coast . These factors and the reminder that he had technically disobeyed his initial orders led to Hopkins ’ s censure by the Continental Congress on 16 August 1776 . When delays in refitting and re-manning the squadron persisted for more than six months after , Hopkins was suspended from command on 26 March 1777 . He promptly embarked on a campaign of self-vindication and criticism of Congress , which brought about his dismissal from the Continental Navy on 2 January 1778 . 31
The Continental Navy ’ s expedition from February to April 1776 proved the viability of the infant service . Commodore Hopkins wisely chose not to sail to Virginia and risk a dangerous engagement with a well-organized enemy force that likely would have known the squadron was coming . Instead , Hopkins struck at more lightly defended targets on New Providence . This raid captured cannons , gunpowder , ammunition , and other military stores that Continental forces were in desperate need of at the time . The squadron ’ s capture of small warships such as Hawke and Bolton demonstrated that the Royal Navy was not invincible . While Glasgow did succeed in fending off four ships single-handedly , the fact that she fled for the support of nearby reinforcements was taken by Congress and the American public alike as a moral victory similar in scope to that achieved by Massachusetts soldiers at Bunker Hill .
The squadron also endured its share of mistakes and mishaps . Three of Commodore Hopkins ’ s original eight vessels were separated at different points from the west in stormy weather . The squadron departed Philadelphia with smallpox raging among the crews , which were further ravaged by tropical fevers . Commodore Hopkins ’ s shortcomings in executing the New Providence raid and the battle with HMS Glasgow are now obvious . However , this same expedition gave the Continental Navy valuable shakedown time and experience in single-ship and squadron operations and gave them their first taste of naval combat . They completed the expedition without the loss of a single vessel and relatively few combat casualties .
While his tenure as Commander-in-Chief of the Fleet of the United Colonies was not a lengthy or particularly glorious one , Esek Hopkins successfully demonstrated that America could stand against Great Britain on the sea .
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