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washington commissions first naval officer
General George Washington commissioned Marblehead resident Nicholson Broughton captain of the Hannah, the first vessel of the American Navy. -
3:00am
Nautilus overtakes and questions a sloop heading from Boston and makes repairs before proceeding northeast. -
12:00pm
Captain Broughton takes the Hannah sailing out of Beverly across the mouth of Salem, still out of sight of the Nautilus. -
1:00pm
The Nautilus sees the Hannah coming out of Beverly and begins to steer directly across Salem Bay. Taking sight of this, Broughton turns to safety in Beverly Harbor, but loses considerable ground in the chase by the faster Nautilus -
3:00pm
Broughton runs the Hannah aground on a sand beach on the Beverly shore to save it from being captured. Beverly townspeople gathered along the shore to assist its repair. Meanwhile, the Nautilus dropped an anchor over the side and drifted into position. -
3:40pm
The Nautilus begins open fire on the tow of Beverly, toward the church and various homes, but townspeople were not fooled of their real objective. Soon, they began firing at the Hannah. -
4:15pm
As armed citizens fought back with cannons, they discovered a way to shoot at the Nautilus from both sides of the ship, while the British fight back with guns upon the ship. -
7:30pm
After a failed attempt to be set free from the mussel bed, the Nautilus and its passengers took cover and waited patiently for the tide to return. They eventually floated away, making sail by 8:00 pm. -
5:30pm
Captain Collins has accepted defeat and attempts to turn the Nautilus away from the mussel bed for thirty minutes. Finally, he changes his tactics and orders a boat to carry an anchor into the open water, hoping to drag the ship out of the bed.