Hence, following the signing of a treaty with the Barbary States, the navy was mothballed until the Quasi War with France reenergized the refitting of ships to harry French shipping, and ultimately the construction of six frigates: President, Congress, United States, Constitution, Constellation and Chesapeake. Thus, this led to the building of a new class of warship which gave the new navy an unforeseen edge that had been missed by Britain and France. Navy and the final realization that 44-gun frigates posed tactical advantages over lesser armed British brigs/frigates of 28-guns and more heavily armed British battleships with 74-guns. The Naval Act of 1794 saw the birth of the U.S.

With American shipping preyed upon by the Algerian states, President Washington persuaded congress to authorize the building of a navy, originally 4 frigates of 44-guns and two of 28-guns. From the end of the American Revolution through the Tripolitan War against the Barbary pirates, the Quasi War and events leading up to the War of 1812, the fledgling US Navy went through a tumultuous period, one of political and diplomatic tugs of war that saw the navy dismantled (1785) mainly because of costs. The book is well documented, fully researched and grounded in the economic and diplomatic history of the early decades of the new republic and its quarrels with France and England. Navy’Ī masterful piece in the vein of McGrath’s ‘John Barry’ (2010) and ‘Give Me a Fast Ship’ (2014) provides a sweeping scope of war at sea in the era of sail. Review of Ian Toll-‘Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S.

Ian toll six frigates