09-05-2003, 08:11 PM
I agree with you in all your points except this one:
The USN couldn't stop the blockade of any single US port. How can you say that they were able to create even localized command of the Sea? The British had hundreds of ships in the American/Carribean theatre. The small number of US frigates were little more than minor irritants to the local British navy and their presence didn't cause any major shift in British strategy or deployments. Also, British navy captains were hardly afraid of US ships as the USS Chesapeake vs HMS Shannon battle shows (the keel of the Chesapeake is now a rafter in a pub in London). While the exploits of the fledgling USN may have provided an important morale boost to a young nation, the new frigates were largely strategically irrelevant and and their victories had little to do with the outcome of the war.
Quote:You need to be able to create localized command of the Sea, which we were able to do as early as 1803, thanks to the frigates.
The USN couldn't stop the blockade of any single US port. How can you say that they were able to create even localized command of the Sea? The British had hundreds of ships in the American/Carribean theatre. The small number of US frigates were little more than minor irritants to the local British navy and their presence didn't cause any major shift in British strategy or deployments. Also, British navy captains were hardly afraid of US ships as the USS Chesapeake vs HMS Shannon battle shows (the keel of the Chesapeake is now a rafter in a pub in London). While the exploits of the fledgling USN may have provided an important morale boost to a young nation, the new frigates were largely strategically irrelevant and and their victories had little to do with the outcome of the war.