fter nearly a decade with no national maritime force, a reluctant Congress in March 1794 authorized the construction of six armed frigates as the nucleus of a new U.S. Navy. Designed under the direction of Joshua Humphries, an (36 guns; built in Norfolk, Va.), (38 guns, built in Portsmouth, N.H.) and (38 guns; built in Baltimore). Humphries’ masterpieces, however, were the three larger frigates— (built in New York), (built in Philadelphia) and (built in Boston). Each displaced 2,200 tons and mounted a formidable 44 guns (often increased to 50), designed to counter the great naval powers with warships that could outrun whatever they couldn’t outgun and outgun anything they could not outrun. Laid down in Edmund Hartt’s shipyard on Nov. 1, 1794, was launched on Oct. 21, 1797, and logged its maiden voyage on July 22, 1798.
