Provisional Ships on the Delaware River (1776); Chester County, PA

Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Sandra Ferguson <ferg@intelos.net>.

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May of 1776.  The provincials had a fleet of armed boats and other crafts on
the Delaware River.  The following is a list of those ships and the # of men
on each.

The Washington                    50 men
The Franklin                      38
The Congress                      37
The Effingham                     22
The Burke                         24
The Camden                        39
The Chatham                       24
The Experiment                    31
The Bull-dog                      39
The Ranger                        37
The Warren                        22
The Dickenson                     35
The Hancock                       48
Floating Battery                 116
Ship Montgomery                  117

    The Committee of Safety was  well aware of the danger of armed vessels
coming up the Delaware, and there were several British war vessels in the
Bay; The Liverpool with 28 guns and the Roebuck with 44.  The presence of
the provincial fleet, under the command of Capt Reed,  prevented them from
ascending higher up the river than the neighborhood of Wilmington.  ....