November 16, 1776
On this day in US Naval history, the Continental Navy ship Andrew Doria received the first foreign salute to an American flag (the Grand Union flag, representing the newly independent colonies). The salute was presented by the commander of Fort Oranje, a Dutch fort located in St. Eustatius, in the South Atlantic. The Andrew Doria, under the command of Captain Isaiah Robinson, had been sent to St. Eustatius to procure arms and military supplies for the war against Great Britain, and carried with her a copy of the Declaration of Independence. The Andrew Doria, having completed her mission, returned to fight several more battles against the Royal Navy, taking several British ships prize.
Just over a year later, the Andrew Doria was operating in the Delaware River as part of a force charged with defending Philadelphia from Vice Admiral Lord Richard Howe, who entered the river in September, 1777. On November 21, 1777, as the British pressed closer and closer, CPT Robinson ordered the Andrew Doria to be burned to prevent capture.
While France is certainly the most famous example of foreign support for the nascent United States during the American Revolution, the Dutch also provided a great deal of matériel for the American war effort. There are sources that suggest as much as half of the Continental Army’s supplies were imported from the Dutch at St. Eustatius.
There is currently a project to recover the remains of the original Andrew Doria in the Delaware River.
For more, please see:
http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/a8/andrew_doria-i.htm
Barbara Tuchman, The First Salute: A View of the American Revolution. 1988
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- Grand Union Flag
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- The First Salute
Tags: American History
