American colonial marines

[1][2] On 9 May 1775, sailors and mariner-militiamen aboard a flotilla under the command of Colonel Benedict Arnold captured a British sloop-of-war on Lake Champlain.

It was vital for General Washington's army to seize Boston to help interdict the Royal Navy's flow of supplies and reinforcement of troops to the British.

Captain Nicholas Broughton sailed Hannah off the coast of Massachusetts on 7 September and captured the British sloop HMS Unity.

[1] On 10 October, the sailors and Marines of the Marblehead Regiment participated in the battle between Hannah and the British sloop HMS Nautilus in the harbor of Beverly, Massachusetts.

By 5 November 1775, Washington's regiment of Marines aboard Harrison participated in the capture of the British supply vessels Polly and Industry off the coast of Boston, Massachusetts.

[1] Washington's Marblehead Regiment aboard Hancock and Franklin made an unopposed landing at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, on 17 November 1775.

[1] A company of Washington's Fleet (along with his "Marblehead" Regiment) aboard Franklin, commanded by Captain James Mugford (of Commodore John Manly's Continental Navy squadron), captured the British transport ship Hope on 17 May 1775.

[1] On 15 April 1778, Marines participated in the actions in which Connecticut's Navy ships Oliver Cromwell and Defense captured the British privateers Admiral Keppel and Cyrus.

Washington, Lee, Bulloch, and other some boats, with marines onboard, captured the 12-gun sloop HMS Hinchinbrook and the Loyalist privateer Rebeccas off St. Simons Island.

The barges also supported General Anthony Wayne's brigade as it searched New Jersey for provisions for Washington's army at Valley Forge.

Momentarily, Whipple's sloop, Katy, was taken over by the Continental Congress, whose sought a 'national naval force'; it was later renamed and reclassified as the sloop-of-war, Providence.

On 11 November 1775, militiamen and mariners of the South Carolina Navy aboard Defense participated in the action against the British ships Tamar and Cherokee at Charleston.