The 200-ton ship Sally, built at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1774, was purchased by the Continental Congress in November 1775, converted to a 24-gun armed ship, renamed Columbus and placed in commission by the Continental Navy. During the first months of 1776 she was a member of Commodore Esek Hopkins' squadron, taking part in the landing at New Providence, Bahamas, in March and the engagement with HMS Glasgow on 6 April. She operated against British shipping off New England later in the year. Columbus was lost on 27 March 1778 when she went ashore to avoid capture by enemy warships and was burned.
This page features the only views we have related to the Continental Ship Columbus.
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Photo #: NH 85210-KN (color) Continental Ship Columbus (1775-1778) Painting in oils by W. Nowland Van Powell, depicting Columbus, under the command of Captain Abraham Whipple, bringing in the British brig Lord Lifford, while operating off the New England coast in 1776. See Photo # 85210-A-KN for a view of this painting in its decorative frame. Courtesy of the U.S. Navy Art Collection, Washington, D.C. Donation of the Memphis Council, U.S. Navy League, 1976. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 107KB; 740 x 445 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 82609 Captain Abraham Whipple, Continental Navy Commission appointing Whipple as Captain of the Continental Navy Ship Columbus, dated 8 December 1775 and signed by John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Courtesy of the Detroit Public Library, Burton Historical Collection, 1975. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 125KB; 740 x 560 pixels |
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If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 29 June 2003