John Barry (naval officer)

John Barry, statue in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia

John Barry (born March 25, 1745 in County Wexford , Ireland , † September 13, 1803 in Philadelphia ) was an Irish-American Navy officer in the Continental Army and later the United States Navy . He is often referred to as the father of the American Navy for his role as First Commander in Chief of the United States Navy.

Adolescent years

Barry was born in Ballysampson on Our Lady's Island in the southernmost part of Ireland. His parents were poor farmers who were driven away by the English landowners and settled in Rosslare . Barry's anti-British sentiment was fueled in his youth when he learned of the English massacre in County Wexford in 1649 that killed three thousand Irish people.

First years of seafaring

Already in his youth, Barry went to sea with his uncle Nicholas Barry on a fishing boat. Later he worked his way up in merchant shipping from cabin boy to sailor. Barry had his first command on the schooner Barbadoes , which sailed on a route between Philadelphia and the West Indies . Philadelphia was an emerging port city at the time. The religious freedom of Pennsylvania allowed Berry to live his Roman Catholic faith. Barry was a reliable captain who was soon entrusted with larger ships. The last ship Barry carried for the merchant navy before the Revolution was the 200-ton Black Prince owned by Robert Morris , a partner in Willing, Morris and Cadwalader , the main trading house in Philadelphia at the time.

War of Independence

With the outbreak of the Revolutionary War , Barry was commissioned to oversee the equipment of the first ships of the Continental Navy in Philadelphia. After completing this work, Barry was promoted to naval captain on March 14, 1776 and used on the brigantine USS Lexington , with which he won his first naval battle against the British sloop Edward .

At the end of 1776, Barry switched to the 32-gun boat USS Effingham . He resisted attempts by British-minded forces to lure him from the continental navy in exchange for bribes. In the British attack on Philadelphia, Barry was forced to sink the USS Effingham . Barry continued to fight with small ships, destroying all the hay stores in the Delaware Estuary area to keep them from falling into the hands of the British cavalry .

In 1778 Barry took command of the 32-gun frigate USS Raleigh . With her he was involved in a British naval battle in September of the same year shortly after leaving Philadelphia. Barry managed to escape north, but could not moor safely anywhere in the unfamiliar cliffs near Maine . On the Wooden Ball Island he managed to leave the ship with two thirds of the crew. The destruction of the ship was prevented by a deserting midshipman of English descent.

In 1781 Barry was involved with the 36-gun frigate USS Alliance in a naval battle with British ships off Newfoundland , in which he was wounded, but which he won anyway.

The last naval battle of the continental navy in the War of Independence was led by Barry on the USS Alliance off Cape Canaveral . He managed to defend the escorted USS Duc de Lauzun against the British frigate HMS Sybil , so that she could escape with the cargo of 72,000 Spanish silver dollars.

Years after the War of Independence

After the War of Independence, the Continental Navy was disbanded. From 1787 to 1789 Barry drove for the merchant navy with the merchant ship Asia to the Orient and China, from where he brought back porcelain and ivory that sold well to the luxury-hungry population of Philadelphia in the post-war years.

Due to increasing tensions with France in the 1790s, George Washington rebuilt the navy. Barry was promoted to first Commander-in-Chief of the US Navy on June 4, 1794 by the US Congress . He oversaw the construction of the first ships for the US Navy, including his flagship , the USS United States . Barry led the Navy fleet in the American-French quasi-war . The conclusion of the career was the position as head of the naval base on Guadeloupe from 1798 to 1801. During this time he also suggested the creation of a United States Department of the Navy independent of the United States Secretary of War , as well as the creation of state naval shipyards .

Private life

Barry was married twice. His first wife, Mary Clary (or Cleary), died in 1774 while Barry was at sea. He married his second wife, Sally Austin, in 1777. Barry had no children of his own, but raised the sons of his late sister Eleanor. Barry died of asthma in 1803.

Web links

Commons : John Barry  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Commodore Barry- Father of the American Navy on ushistory.org
• Navy Historical Center biography
• Portraits by John Barry
• Barry-Hayes Collection in the Independence Seaport Museum , Philadelphia
• John Barry on Find A Grave