USS Hornet (1775)

There is some degree of discrepancy in dates concerning both the Hornet and the ship USS Wasp, both of which fitted out in Baltimore, Maryland. The biography of Joshua Barney claims that upon his return to Baltimore after a voyage aboard the ship Sydney (which he had taken command of after the death of her captain) he signed onto be first mate aboard the Hornet and was first tasked to recruit a crew. Part of the way he did this was by hoisting an "American Flag" provided from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by Hopkins,^[2] indicating the ships were already accepted into the fleet. The Naval Documents of the American Revolution, volume 2, p. 583 place the date of this return as 23 October 1775. Barney claims that after fitting out, both the Hornet and the Wasp sailed in company to join the fleet at Philadelphia at the end of November.^[3]

However, colonial records show that on 2 December 1775, Colonel Benjamin Harrison was dispatched to Baltimore to acquire 2–3 ships to be armed and augment Esek Hopkins's fleet.^[4] These ships are identified as being the Hornet and the Wasp.^[5] Both vessels are noted by the Baltimore Committee as being fitting out as of 18 December 1775.^[6] Both the Hornet and the Wasp are noted as joining the fleet in Philadelphia on 13 February 1776.^[7] Given the dates from the Colonial sources come from the records of government bodies in the course of their work and that the dates from Mary Barney's account come from family papers and recollections, it is more likely that Barney's dates are in error and that the events in question happened according to the later timeline. Hence, it is probably safer to say that the Hornet along with the Wasp was acquired by the Continental Congress via the efforts of Col. Harrison between 2 and 18 December, fitted out between the date of acquisition along with the Wasp, and then were commissioned into the Continental Navy on 13 February 1776 after joining the fleet in Philadelphia.