| The 32-gun frigate Washington -- one of the 13 authorized
by the Continental Congress on 13 December 1775 -- was built above Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, by Manuel, Jehu, and Benjamin Eyre. Launched on 7 August 1776,
the ship lay under construction into the following year. However, the British
occupied Philadelphia on 26 September 1777 forcing the local Continental
forces to strip and sink Washington on 2 November 1777 to prevent
her falling into enemy hands intact. |
| Although the still-incomplete frigate was apparently raised by
the spring of 1778, both Washington and Effingham were destroyed,
by fire, where they lay, below Bordentown, New Jersey. Washington's
remains were later salvaged and sold at Philadelphia. |
| Addendum: |
| Tim Ryan noted that the Effingham was also built in
Philadelphia, but when the British blockaded the bay, the Effingham
and the Washington were sent north for completion and eventual scuttling
at George Washington's command. They were raised only to be sunk by the British
off "White Hill" (Fieldsboro - Bordentown). During that destructive raid
up the Delaware by the British 42 boats in all were sunk/burned, not to mention
the town of Bordentown too. Not many natives of the region know the
history. |
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