The Penobscot Expedition was a 44-ship American naval armada during the Revolutionary War assembled by the Provincial Congress of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The flotilla of 19 warships and 25 support vessels sailed from Boston on July 19, 1779, for the upper Penobscot Bay in the District of Maine carrying an expeditionary force of more than 1,000 American colonial marines and militiamen. Also included was a 100-man artillery detachment under the command of Lt. Colonel Paul Revere.
Destruction of the American Fleet at Penobscot Bay, 14 August 1779, Dominic Serres
Francis McLean Plaque, St. Paul's Church (Halifax), Nova Scotia
The Penobscot Bay seen from Dyce's Head, the site of the Americans' pre-dawn landing on July 28, 1779
Sir John Moore served under Francis McLean as a Lt. in the 82nd Regiment.
The Continental Navy was the navy of the Thirteen Colonies during the American Revolutionary War. Founded on October 13, 1775, the fleet developed into a relatively substantial force throughout the Revolutionary War, owing partially to the substantial efforts of the Continental Navy's patrons within the Continental Congress. These Congressional Patrons included the likes of John Adams, who served as the Chairman of the Naval Committee until 1776, when Commodore Esek Hopkins received instruction from the Continental Congress to assume command of the force.
John Adams took an active role in the formation of the navy and the drafting of suitable operational regulations. Painting by John Trumbull, c. 1792–93.
Continental ship Columbus with captured British brig Lord Lifford, 1776
Abraham Whipple painting by Edward Savage
Continental frigates Hancock and Boston capturing British frigate Fox, June 7, 1777