Continental Navy (U.S.)

Historical

Last modified: 2002-09-28 by rick wyatt
Keywords: united states | continental navy | grand union | lexington |
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• Lexington Ensign
• Stripes of Other Colors

See also:

• Serapis Flag
• U.S. Historical Flags
• United States of America

Original by Tom Gregg, FOTW standardized by Rick Wyatt

In The Oxford Companion to Ships & the Sea, 1976:

'... The first Lexington was the brigantine Wild Duck purchased by Congress and renamed Lexington in 1776. Under the command of John Barry she avoided the British frigate Roebuck which was just inside the entrance to Delaware Bay and succeeded in reaching the open sea. Off Cape Charles, Va, she captured the sloop Edward, a tender of the British frigate Liverpool, manned by a crew of twenty nine men of the British Navy, the first prize brought into the port of Philadelphia...'

A Grand Union flag with Red and Green stripes is described in the ships chandlers reports for the port of Philadelphia for the winter of 1776-1777. Apparently the different ships in Commodore Hopkins' tiny fleet were identified by using stripes other that red and white. Because others are mentioned as well.
James J. Ferrigan III, 28 December 1998