Richard Dale - United States Navy

United States Navy

In 1794, President George Washington established the United States Navy through order of Congress, ostensibly to protect American merchant vessels from the threat of privateers from the Barbary Nations, who took advantage of the new country's lack of a strong military presence in the Mediterranean Sea. Secretary of War Henry Knox selected six men, the elite of the country's naval command, to become the first commanders in the new branch of the American military. Richard Dale was selected as one of those six. Dale accepted the appointment and traveled to Norfolk, Virginia, for his first assignment: to supervise construction on the frigate Chesapeake. Due to the signing of a peace treaty with Algiers, one of the Barbary nations, which created some stability in the Mediterranean, construction on the frigate was halted. Dale requested and received a temporary furlough from the Navy and resumed business in the China trade. He was called back into the Navy in 1796 because of tensions that had developed between the United States and France, in what was known as the Quasi-War. As captain of the modified merchant ship Ganges, which was hastily equipped for military service, Dale gained the distinction of being the first man to command a ship at sea on behalf of the United States Navy. The USSGanges was used to protect the American coastline during the conflict and did not see any fighting.

A conflict of another kind caused Dale to request a second furlough after hostilities with France were redressed. Dale and some of the other five naval leaders became engaged in a dispute over their proper ranks. While government officials considered their concerns, Dale resumed the Far East trade. Upon his return to Philadelphia, the issue had been settled to his satisfaction, and Dale accepted his orders. He was to command a small fleet assigned to protect American merchant ships in the Mediterranean Sea. American ships were no longer safe against the privateers of the North African nation-states.