Virginia State Navy

After the Gunpowder Incident in April 1775 and the news of the war's outbreak with the Battles of Lexington and Concord, Dunmore, fearing for his safety, fled with his family to a Royal Navy ship.

In December 1775, the provisional assembly voted to authorize the Committee of Safety to buy, arm, and man ships to prevent the royal governor from travelling over the waterways.

Virginia had difficulty recruiting enough men for her navy, due to the higher pay on privateers and also shortage of skilled seamen.

[4] After a British fleet landed troops led by turncoat Benedict Arnold in December 1780, Virginia in desperation hired privateers to assist the Navy.

A fleet of over twenty small Virginia ships and privateers pursued him, and in a one-sided engagement in April 1781 (the action at Osborne's), the British captured twelve and the rest were either scuttled or burned.

When Cornwallis was forced to surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, citing financial reasons, discharged most of its seamen.

As a result of a shortage of warships, most of these seamen were employed in the construction and manning of harbor and coastal defense batteries.

Additionally, Virginia purchased several steamers including the Empire, Northampton, Thomas Reaney, Jamestown, and the Yorktown, which was renamed Patrick Henry as the flagship of the James River Squadron.