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We are amid the 250th anniversary of the service of one of the most criminally forgotten naval vessels in history, with a family tree that gives it the roots of the U.S. Navy.

The 104-foot 78-ton schooner, Hannah, was the first armed vessel to sail under Continental pay and control.

Acquired on August 24, 1775, she was originally owned by patriot merchant John Glover of Marblehead and named after his wife.

Her first skipper was Nicholson Broughton, a captain in the Army, while her 42-man crew was recruited from Glover’s Marblehead Regiment, which later became the 21st Massachusetts Regiment and the 14th Continental Regiment. These Marblehead men, sailors all, were described as “soldiers who have been bred to the sea.”

Her armament was just four four-pounders, as the Continental Army was cannon-poor in 1775.

She was utilized to aid General Washington in his siege of Boston by capturing British provision ships making for the harbor from British ports.

The incentive, in Washington’s orders to Broughton, was prize pay:

For your own Encouragement & that of the other Officers & Men to Activity & Courage in this Service, over & above your Pay in the continental Army you shall be entitled to one third Part of the Cargo of every Vessel by you taken & sent into Port (military & naval Stores only excepted, which with Vessels & apparel are reserved for the publick Service)—which sd third Part is to be divided among the Officers & Men in the followg Proportions:

• Captain 6 Shares
• 1st Lieutt 5 Do
• 2d Lieutt 4 Do1
• Ship’s master 3 Do
• Steward 2 Do
• Mate 1½
• Gunner 1½
• Boatswain 1½
• Gunner’s Mate & Sergt 1½
• Privates 1 Share each

Schooner Hannah. Caption: Painting by John F. Leavitt. The original painting was donated by Mr. Reynolds Girdler to USS Glover (AGDE 1). John Glover of Marblehead, Massachusetts, was the owner of Hannah, and she was “the first armed vessel fitted out in the service of the United States, 5-7 September 1775.” NH 51097-KN

Model of the schooner Hannah, the first ship commissioned by the authority of the Continental Congress, September 1775. NH 51098

She outran two British ships in a short action on 5 September, the chief of which was the 20-gun post ship HMS Lively.

“Continental Navy Schooner Hannah Evades British Ships” Caption: Depicting action off Cape Ann, Massachusetts on 5 September 1775, in which the Continental Navy schooner Hannah evaded two British ships of war. The Hannah, under the command of Captain Nicholson Broughton, was one of the three schooners built by General George Washington for the purpose of intercepting ships with British supplies headed for Boston. Published in Origin of the American Navy by Henry E. White. NH 56403

Her sole success was on 7 September, when Hannah captured the hoy (sail-powered barge) HMS Unity with a cargo of naval stores and provisions.

“Capture of British Supply Ship Unity” depicts the action off Cape Ann, Massachusetts, on 7 September 1775, in which the Continental Navy schooner Hannah, under the command of Captain Nicholson Broughton, captured the British supply ship Unity. It was the first capture made by a Continental Navy vessel. NH 56405

While sailing on a similar mission, she ran ashore on 10 October by the sloop HMS Nautilus near Beverly. Her charter rate had been $1.00 per ton per month, and she was in service for two months and 21 days, at a total cost of $208.06.

Saved from destruction and capture, Hannah was “soon decommissioned as Washington found more suitable ships for his cruisers,” notes DANFS.

Washington’s fleet would grow to six cruisers, and fly the famous, Appeal to Heaven “pine tree flag. Beverly would prove the site for outfitting the second, third, fourth, sixth, and eighth vessels in Washington’s fleet, several of which were outfitted by Glover.

Meanwhile, Capt. Broughton later became regarded as the first commodore of the United States Navy when he led two armed schooners, Hancock (sometimes seen incorrectly as Lynch) and Franklin, on a not very successful raid along the Nova Scotia coast in October 1775.

And of course, all this before the recognized birthday of the Navy, which is 13 October 1775, with the authorization by Congress of the Continental Navy.