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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

Continental Navy Sloop Ranger (I)


Ship sloop:
  • Laid down as Hampshire by James K. Hackett, Portsmouth, N.H. in 1776-77
  • Commissioned as the Continental Navy ship sloop Ranger CAPT. John Paul Jones in command
  • Ranger was the first U.S. vessel to hoist the new Stars & Stripes, they first flew from her mast on 4 July 1777
  • Ranger sailed for France 1 November 1777, carrying dispatches telling of General Burgoyne's surrender to the Commissioners in Paris, where Jones delivered the news of the victory at Saratoga to Dr. Franklin
  • Ranger received the first official salute to the new American flag, the "Stars and Stripes," given by the French fleet at Quiberon Bay, 14 February 1778. This was actually coercion by John Paul Jones. He had told the French officers that he would not salute them if they did not first salute his ship
  • Ranger sailed from Brest, 10 April 1778, for the Irish Sea, taking several prizes, raiding ports and burning ships in British harbors
  • Ranger defeated HMS Drake in late April and arrived at Brest with her prizes
  • Captain Jones was detached to command Bonhomme Richard, leaving LT. Simpson, his first officer, in command.
  • Ranger departed Brest 21 August, reaching Portsmouth, N.H., 15 October
  • The sloop departed Portsmouth 24 February 1779 joining with the other ships of the Continental Navy to prey on British shipping in the North Atlantic
  • Ranger departed for Charleston arriving their 23 December 1779, to support the garrison there under siege by the British
  • Ranger was captured on the Cooper River, 11 May 1780
  • The ship was taken into the Royal Navy and commissioned HMS Halifax
  • Final Disposition, Sold 13 October, 1781
    Specifications:
    Displacement 308 t.
    Length 116'
    Beam 28'
    Depth 13' 4"
    Draft unknown
    Speed unknown
    Complement 140
    Armament
    designed for twenty 6-pdrs only eighteen installed, John Paul Jones felt that she was too heavy in the bow and had the forward 2 guns struck below as ballast
    Propulsion sail

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    CV-4 Ranger
    NS020457a
    369k

    "Engagement off Carrickfergus, Ireland, 24 April 1778. ('USS Ranger versus HMS Drake,' Arthur N. Disney, Sr., Navy Art Collection)."

    From U.S. Navy: A Complete History, Naval Historical Foundation, 2003.

    John Slaughter, Webmaster USS Ranger History & Memorial site
    CV-4 Ranger
    NS020457b
    476k

    "Mural depicting the continental sloop Ranger receiving the salute of the French fleet at Quiberon Bay. ('First Foreign Salute to the Stars and Stripes, 14 February 1778.' Howard B. French, U.S. Naval Academy)."

    From U.S. Navy: A Complete History, Naval Historical Foundation, 2003.

    Ranger 79k US naval legend John Paul Jones raised the Star Spangled Banner above the Ranger on July 4, 1777. Painting of the USS Ranger by Edward Moran. Tommy Trampp
    Ranger 187k Ranger and HMS Drake ©Helen Tilton, 1905. Arnold Putnam
    Ranger 546k Ship model of Ranger. Arnold Putnam
    Ranger 495k John Paul Jones recruiting poster for crewing Ranger was the first recruiting poster for what would become the United States Navy. It is understood that the promised payments were not as readily forthcoming as was to be expected. John Slaughter

    Ranger (I)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    Last Updated 16 January 2024