On this day in 1776, Navy Captain John Barry makes the first American naval capture of a British vessel when he takes command of the British warship HMS Edward.
The capture elevated Captain Barry into a national hero.
Barry received his first captain’s commission in the Continental Navy on March 14, 1776. John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, signed it.
After the war, he became America’s first commissioned naval officer, at the rank of commodore, receiving his commission from President George Washington in 1797.
He is widely known as “The Father of the American Navy,” sharing that designation with John Paul Jones.
Memorialized
Barry is memorialized on both sides of the Atlantic:
• A bridge bearing his name crosses the Delaware River
• Brooklyn, New York, is home to a park named for him
• Statues in his honor stand in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia (Independence Hall) and his birthplace, Wexford, Ireland.
• Four U.S. Navy ships carry his name
• A building at Villanova University is named for him. John Barry Hall was built for the NROTC in the spring semester of 1949, and was the only government structure that had a cross carved into the front above the door.
It is important to note that John Barry began each day at sea with a Bible reading to his crew.Now that is a national champion.
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