Nicholson Broughton
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Nicholson Broughton | |
|---|---|
 Captain Nicholson Broughton's Home, 6 Lee Street, Marblehead. Massachusetts[1] | |
| Born | 1724 |
| Died | 1798 (aged 73–74) |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  Continental Navy United States Navy |
| Commands | first commodore of the United States Navy |
| Conflicts | American Revolutionary War |
| Signature | _Signature.png){kind=small} |
Captain Nicholson Broughton (1724–1798) of Marblehead, Massachusetts was the first commodore of the American Navy and, as part of the Marblehead Regiment, commanded George Washington’s first naval vessel USS Hannah.[2] Broughton set sail from Beverly, Massachusetts on 5 September 1775 in Hannah. He also led the first American expedition of the war, which went to interrupt shipping British armaments off Nova Scotia.[3][4][page needed] On the expedition, Broughton participated in the Raid on Charlottetown. As a result of Broughton's expedition to Nova Scotia, the Governor of Nova Scotia Francis Legge declared martial law throughout the colony.[5]
Washington needed a navy to supply ships and troop transports, needing their provisions and military stores. At age 50, and having over two decades of seafaring, Captain Broughton enlisted 24 April 1775 in the Marblehead Regiment (along with Captain Robert Wormsted[6][7][8][9][10]).[11] Broughton set sail in Hannah out of the harbor of Beverly, Massachusetts on 5 September 1775. HMS Lively tried to catch Broughton but he found protection in the harbor of Gloucester, Massachusetts. The same day Lively captured the American vessel Unity. Two days later, on 7 September, leaving Gloucester Harbor, Broughton re-captured HMS Unity.[11] The crew of Hannah did not get prize money because it was a re-capture. Broughton's crew mutinied. They were arrested and court martialled in Cambridge on September 22.[12][13][14]
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Hannah was then engaged in the first official naval engagement of the war. On October 10, Admiral Samuel Graves ordered HMS Nautilus (16 guns, 125 men), under the command of Captain John Collins, to hunt down Hannah.[15] Collins pursued Broughton off Marblehead until Broughton escaped by running his ship onto Beverly beach. Nautilus began firing at that ship. The local militia began to return fire. With a receding tide, Nautilus got stuck on the ocean floor for 2.5 hours while under fire. Two men were wounded and the ship suffered severe damage. After 2 months and 21 days, Hannah was also damaged and retired.[16]