FIRST - Naval Victory of the American Revolution - Boston, MA
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neoc1
N 42° 21.496 W 071° 03.794
19T E 330086 N 4691617
A tablet in the Massachusetts State House honors Captain Jeremiah O'Brien for winning the first naval engagement of the American Revolution and for being the first regularly commissioned naval officer of the Revolutionary Navy of Massachusetts.
Waymark Code: WMN30H
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 12/16/2014
Views: 5
Jeremiah O'Brien was born in Kittery, Massachusetts Bay Colony (now Maine) in 1744. His family moved to Scarborough, and then Machias. After the start of the American Revolution Jeremiah O’Brien commanded thirty-one Machias townsmen on previously seized merchant ship the Unity. On June 12, 1775, Commanded by Jeremiah O'Brien and armed with guns, swords, axes, and pitch forks, the Unity captured, in an hour long battle, the British ship Margaretta, which had threatened to bombard the town. This battle was the first Naval engagement of the American Revolution. The Unity was renamed the Machias Liberty, Jeremiah O'Brien received the first captain's commission in the Massachusetts State Navy in 1775, and continued to command the ship.
A bronze tablet in Nurses Hall of the Massachusetts State House commemorates Captain Jeremiah O'Brien's service during the American Revolution. The tablet has images ow a pair of anchors and two sailing ships representing the Unity and Margaretta, It is inscribed:
CAPTAIN JEREMIAH O'BRIEN
{Seal of Commonwealth of Massachusetts}
IN COMMEMORATION OF HIS DISTINGUISHED SERVICES
IN WINNING THE FIRST NAVAL ENGAGEMENT
IN THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION
AND HIS SUBSEQUENT EXPLOITS IN SAID WAR
AS THE FIRST REGULARLY COMMISSIONED NAVAL OFFICER
AND COMMANDER OF THE REVOLUTIONARY NAVY OF MASSACHUSETTS
A GRATEFUL COMMONWEALTH
HAS ERECTED THIS TABLET
1937
The Massachusetts State House at 24 Beacon Street in Boston is open to the public Monday through Friday from 10 am to 4 pm. All visitors must enter through the General Hooker entrance.
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