Proctor Brock News Today

seamen. they went where the money was. so the u.s. navy was competing not only with private ears and the u.s. army. certainly didnt have an opportunity to pick the best seamen. most of our crews were british subjects. that was not true. there had been a fair number serves in the navy, but after the chesapeake affair in 1807, the navy department ordered that no more british suggests be employed and most once war was declared, left the us navy any way because they knew if they were captu...

was, and about 5% were seamen. they went where the money was. so the u.s. navy was competing not only with privateers, but also with the u.s. army. and certainly didnt have an opportunity to pick the best seamen. the british also argued that most of our crews were british subjects. that was simply not true. there had at one time been a fair number of british serving chesapeake affair in 1807, the navy department ordered that no more british subjects be employed. and most of them, once ...

likely be hanged. teddy roosevelt, who is the great naval historian of this war, reckoned that no u.s. warship had as many as 10% of its crew as british tars. and i think hes probably right about that. so u.s. frigates were not ships of the line in disguise, they didnt rely on picked crews and they didnt rely on british tars. now, the last part of this myth is the american myth. that because we won a series of duels on the high seas, that we won the war at sea. not so. the british gave...