![]() ![]() The USS Lexington was the first of five warships Barry would command over his naval career (Image: F Muller/Public Domain) The Irishman was reported as being very religious and having high regard for his crew and their welfare. He commanded four warships (including Lexington) over the war, capturing 20 enemy ships. ![]() He was made captain of the Brigantine Lexington, on which he made the first capture of the revolutionary war: Britain's HMS Edward. Upon the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775, Barry offered his merchant ship to the cause and joined the newly-formed American Continental Navy. He became a highly-successful sea captain within the trade industry, particularly on the route between Philadelphia and the West Indies. At the age of 15, he arrived at the port city of Philadelphia in the American colony, where he found work in the merchant industry.īy 21 Barry had earned command of his own ship, the first of many. He began his career as a cabin boy on a merchant ship, developing navigational and repair skills. John Barry is often regarded as the "father of the US Navy" (Image: Gilbert Stuart/Public Domain) ![]() There, he was inspired by his merchant uncle and was drawn to a life at sea. Barry's father was one such tenant farmer, and the family was evicted by their landlord sometime in Barry's youth.įollowing their eviction, the family moved to the seaside village of Rosslare. The ascendancy class was mostly comprised of English and Anglo-Irish Protestants, with Irish Catholic tenants renting and working the land they owned. Read more: Hercules Mulligan: The Irish tailor and spy who stole secrets from New York's elite and saved America Read more: 'Faugh a ballagh': remembering the Union Army's Irish Brigade of the American Civil War Born in March 1745, Barry grew up in an Ireland where settlers from the ascendancy class owned most of the land. ![]() Yet the sailor came from humble beginnings on the east coast of Ireland, then under British rule. His service in the American Revolution earned him his position as the first American naval officer, commissioned by George Washington himself in 1797. Wexford-born John Barry is considered a legend in US naval history. The so-called "father of the US Navy" was an Irishman drawn to America's fight for freedom. ![]()
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