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Revolutionary Talk - Taking the War to Sea · Plausibly Live - The Dave Bowman Show Podcast

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Live from the banks of the Sheet Tucket River in the heart of
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downtown Norwich. It's revolutionary talk here on
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WREV. 760 AM where Patriots talk.
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The phone and text number is 209565, Dave.
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That's 209-565-3283. Now here's your host, Dave
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Diamond. Well, good afternoon Norwich.
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Welcome to Revolutionary Talk. It is me, Dave.
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You want to join me today? 209565 Dave 209-565-3283
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Telephone and text. e-mail dave@powder2parchment.org.
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powderthe#2parchment.org Well, it appears that Congress may be
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getting their stuff together. The past several months they
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have been debating. I guess some would call it an
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escalation. I don't, but I call it
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reactionary. But we've been facing 2 truths.
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These truths are we're at war and we have no Navy.
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British fleet controls many of our ports patrolling off our
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coasts and they're trying to cut off every line of trade.
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Now, they don't have enough ships.
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Last, the last report I saw said they had 29 serviceable vessels
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in American waters, three of which, by the way, are ships of
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the line, meaning they're essentially useless for patrol
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duty. They're just too big.
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They can't, can't go anywhere. If we had the French Navy
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fighting force, maybe they would be useful.
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But as things stand right now, these, these three ships are
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useless. So that leaves them 26
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essentially functional ships and we have none.
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Well, we had none. And that's the problem that
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we've been facing today. Congress has finally faced that
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problem head on. The proposal, John Adams of
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Massachusetts trying to get him on the show next week.
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We'll see. John Adams has been agitating
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for naval action for months now. He understands that as long as
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Britain controls the sea, we, our our rebellion can't really
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breathe. Ships can carry supplies,
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intercept troop transports, and seize enemy cargoes, he wrote.
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We should turn our eyes to the ocean, for the ocean is our
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shield. What a great, what a great
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metaphor. What a great way to think of the
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Atlantic Ocean as the shield that guards America against all
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enemies. I think that once we establish
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this nation and once we throw off the British crown, that
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could be true for centuries. The Atlantic Ocean could protect
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us from foreigns, foreign invaders.
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It's not easy to cross. You know that.
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The formal motion that presented today was was modest, but I want
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you to listen to these words because they're monumental in
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their reading, in their meaning. Sorry.
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Resolved that swift sailing vessels to carry 10 carriage
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guns and a proportional number of swivels with 80 men be fitted
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out for the protection and defense of the United Colonies
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as soon as possible. And then another vessel to carry
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14 guns and a proportional number of swivels with 100 men
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be likewise fitted out. The mission of these ships is to
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cruise eastward. This is from the from the
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debate. Quote, cruise eastward to
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intercept such transports as may be laden with war whites, war
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like stores and other supplies for our enemies.
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And quote, in essence, today Congress authorized the first
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two armed ships in American history.
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Now let's be clear here. They're not calling this a Navy.
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You really can't call it a Navy per SE yet.
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But the concept is there. And everyone in that room today
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knows what we're doing. We're no longer petitioning the
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king. We're no longer helding out
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olive branches. We're not only we're not.
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We're just trying to get along. We're building a fleet to fight
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him. Now, don't make any mistakes.
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The debate was very intense. John Rutledge of South Carolina,
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I'm told Joseph Hughes of North Carolina were very much against
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this. They, they didn't think it would
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work. They thought it would cost too
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much. And other leaders, Stephen
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Hopkins of well, other leaders thought that the British were,
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would, would, would, would just be made madder and would harden
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their resolve. Like Pharaoh, their hearts would
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be hardened. But Adams was joined by Stephen
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Hawkins of Hopkins of Rhode Island and Richard Henley Lee of
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Virginia. They argued that it's already
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too late for caution. It's it's past time to Patty
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cake with these people. The British, just a reminder,
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have already burned two of our major cities, Charleston and
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Falmouth. We don't need restraint anymore.
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It's not diplomacy. If we practice restraint, we
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might as well just throw up the white flag and surrender.
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Adams was texting me earlier. He said that a lot of the
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delegates were nervous about this, as if we had launched into
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a tempestuous ocean without charts or compass.
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You know, like Columbus. But they voted for it anyway
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because they could see the wisdom of it.
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Resolution passed and our colonies have taken their first
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collective step to take the war to sea.
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They are forming a naval committee.
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Adams, Hopkins and Hughes have been appointed to it.
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They're going to try to find some ships, some fast ones.
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They're going to purchase and convert some merchant ships.
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And they have already looking at I think it's 5 ships, the
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Alfred, the Columbus, the Cabot, the Andrea, Andrew Doria and the
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Providence. The Hanna, by the way, is
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already sailing under Washington's orders off off
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Massachusetts, and she's already been capturing British supply
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ships. So there you go.
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This modest act that Congress has taken today, October 9th,
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1775, is just the beginning, folks.
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And here in that chamber, Philadelphia, our nation is
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first daring to reach beyond its own shores.
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Two ships, 10 guns, a handful of sailors.
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That's our beginning. Not in grandeur, but in, but in
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grit. People who have the courage to
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send their flag to sea, knowing that it may never return are a
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people who have already chosen freedom over fear.
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Last week we were talking about treason and distrust, councils
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drawing lines around liberty. Tonight, those lines stretch to
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the sea. Congress has done more than vote
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for ships. It has voted for destiny.
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Line one, you're up. Go.
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Good evening, Sir. Jonathan Reed here down on the
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waterfront. I'll tell you what this talk of
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a Navy means to me. Contracts cargo and commerce.
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Every cannon needs iron. Every ship needs sailcloth,
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Every crewman needs wages. War may be bloody, but business
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is business, and trade is the blood that keeps it moving.
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You give me a fleet and I'll give you a fortune.
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Let the king keep his taxes. I'll make my profit on liberty
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itself. Sign the bill, build the ships,
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and let the ocean pay us back in gold.
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I think those are good thoughts. I think those are are are kind
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of hitting the nail on the head. This isn't just about our, I
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mean, it is about our liberty. And we would have to do it
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anyway. But think of the advantages
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we're going to have over the King's system right now that
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starves us, that steals our money for taxes.
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Think about when we're investing those riches into our own nation
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and our own ways of doing things.
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Old Ezekiel stuffs kegs, pours shot with hands you can trust,
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need powder that'll go bang when it must.
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He ships by night, charges fair, and keeps the secret in his
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Ledger. Ask for a barrel by the Tavern
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door or leave coin with Jonathan at the Wharf.
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And check out Ezekiel Pritchard's Powder and Lead.
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They're bringing you this segment of revolutionary talk. 4
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ships. 5 ships. 6 ships. Hannah, Alfred, Columbus and
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Cabot, it's not an Armada, I get it, but it is a promise.
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And as Adams has said, we don't, we don't need to, we don't need
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to beat the British in a in a head on battle.
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All we got to do is sting them a little bit.
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All we have to do is make things more difficult for them.
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All we have to do is annoy them to the point where it costs them
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so much to continue to try to do what they're trying to do.
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We can do. They'll give up privateering.
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Hell, we can even blockade them. We could blockade Boston with
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the right number of ships. It's not like we don't know how
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to do it. Privateering letters of marks,
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seizing supply ships. We don't have a lot of
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dockyards. We don't have a lot of cannons.
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We don't have a lot of sailors. I'm kind of expecting to get a
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letter saying, hey, Dave, you've sailed, Are you ready to go
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back? Missus Diamond will object
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strenuously. I can assure you that I, I just
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don't know. I, I'm going to have to decide
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it physically. I, I don't know that I could do
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it. It's a hard life at sea, folks.
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And when you're in a David facing Goliath kind of kind of
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fight and we, we're going to have a slingshot made out of
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pitch and pine. But there you go.
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This is not just a tactical decision that Congress has made.
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It's a spiritual decision, a declaration by America that we
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will meet tyranny on every front.
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The ships involved here, the Hana, is a modest schooner.
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She sails out of Beverly, MA, and General Washington paid for
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the lease himself even before Congress had acted.
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She has four small guns. Her hull is patched and badly
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weathered. She's manned by volunteers who
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are not well trained, but her mission is very simple.
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Intercept British transports, capture their supplies.
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I guess you could call her our first naval vessel.
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And in a lot of ways, that's turning this rebellion into a
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revolution. Adams refers to these four ships
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as our floating fortresses. Look, Adams is no fool.
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He knows that the British Navy, the Royal Navy is unmatched.
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But even small victories at sea carry symbolic weight.
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To seize a single British supply ship will deny them powder arms
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and pride, and each captured cargo will mean survival.
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The sea is a different kind of battlefield.
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There's no front lines, there's no fortifications.
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It's it's vast and it shifts. The wind is both the ally and
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the adversary. The ship's strength depends as
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much on the weather as on the will of her crew.
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Communication is difficult, and a single fog can separate an
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entire fleet. Sudden squaw can turn victory
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into wreckage if we're not careful.
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But privateering is our secret weapon.
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Congress knows it can't build a Navy large enough to challenge
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the Royal Navy directly, but it could turn private citizens into
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authorized Raiders. A letter of Mark will transform
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A merchant ship into a warrior. It gives legal cover to seize
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enemy ships, plunder their goods and then sell them.
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The profits will enrich the captains.
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It will fill Congress's coffers. And the British can call it
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piracy all they want. They've been doing it.
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We call it patriotism, Yes. We don't have any great
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dockyards. We don't have a lot of cannon.
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We don't have a lot of ship rights here.
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But we're going to press on. It is our fight.
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We are David, Britain is Goliath, but our slingshot is
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ready. We may not have the sword of a
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iron, but we have a will to swing it.
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People of Norwich know this life well.
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The Thames River has carried trade for decades, and now it
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carries war. Local shipwrights are excited.
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They begin to They're beginning to talk about opportunity,
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privateering licenses that will soon turn schooners into prizes.
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Merchants who once traded with London are now looking at the
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Caribbean, where British sugar ships might make tempting
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targets. Even fishermen are saying we've
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been taken from the sea all of our lives and now it's time to
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give something back. Line 2 you're up.
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Ah yes, your fishing boat turned warship.
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Raytel. Who taught you seamanship?
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The parish clerk. You set a schooner against His
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Majesty's Fleet and call it courage.
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It is folly dressed as bravery. Mark me, your little Navy will
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be scattered like driftwood When the royal gun speaks.
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You chase glory and leave your families hungry.
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Liberty flounders when led by dreamers.
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Loyalty keeps order and spares ruin.
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Maybe Bob, but remember Sis, the sea does not bow down to crowns
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and fortune will always favor the bold, even in rough weather.
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Norwich ship Chandler and rope works rigging tar and hemp rope
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for men who mean to sail. If your boat needs faster masts,
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quieter keels for midnight runs, these hands will answer the
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bell. Come with your list, pay with
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coin or pledge your share of the prize.
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But get on down now to Norwich Ship Chandler and Rope Works.
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Join the fight. Stay with us.
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We'll be right back. Welcome back.
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It's me, Dave. It is revolutionary talk.
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Look, this is going to be big business for us here in Norwich.
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We are a shipping town. I mean this.
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We've been here for generations, right here on the Thames River,
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in the Tucker River, and this is going to play a role in all of
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our naval heritage. Our local sailors are already in
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the Taverns talking about getting letters of Mark, and
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boy, do they have dreams. Now, look, I I'm a realist.
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It's not going to be easy, but they're dreaming about capturing
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British Briggs, making their fortune.
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We already have nearby shipbuilders.
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We just talked about one of them, Narch ship Chandler and
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rope works right here on the dock to Narch.
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They're already willing to craft fast schooners, merchantmen that
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can be converted from war. And privateering does offer
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economic hope at a time of inflation.
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We'll see. We'll see what happens.
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Navy means cargo contracts, commerce.
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War is business. As a caller said a few minutes
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ago, war means that we're going to do this right.
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We're going to be ready to fight.
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The men who are going to lead this fight are right here in our
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town and up and down the the coastline, throughout all the
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colonies, all the way to Savannah.
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And these men are ready to go to sea.
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Line three, you're up. Captain Elias Thorne, at your
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service off the Norwich shore. Give me a letter of mark and a
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strong wind, and I will bring back more powder than Congress
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can count. I know these coasts.
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I know where their transports slip at dawn, and my crew will
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take prizes and share the spoils with the corps.
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Let the king fancy his fleets. Give me a schooner and I will
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make his convoys our larder. Excellent, Captain.
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Thanks for taking the time to let us to remind us of that.
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If you don't have your letter of Mark by evening tonight, you let
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me know because I got a few contacts.
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I can make that happen. Oh, isn't that great.
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England meantime, has informed us that they officially think
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that this is a joke. They officially are mocking our
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position as loyalist. Bob let you know they're we're
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just Fisher fleet. But I am told that in the powers
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of Westminster, in the halls of Westminster, sorry, that the
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King's ministers are deeply concerned about this idea and
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that the Admiralty is drafting plans right now for tighter
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blockades of colonial ports. I don't know if the King is
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going to work this into his speech later, but I do know that
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British newspapers are calling us pirates masquerading as
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patriots. But I know they're Admiralty is
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very worried and I know this. When a tyrant calls you a
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pirate, we're probably doing something right.
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The ink has hardly dried on this resolution, but history will
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remember today, October 9th, 1775 is the day America found
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its sea legs. We began this rebellion as
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farmers with muskets, but tonight we are sailors with
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purpose. England may laugh at our small
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fleet, but every empire begins somewhere.
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Liberty has hoisted her sail and the wind is with us.
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Let the king send his ships. Let the waves decide.
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This is revolutionary talk on WREV 760 AM, where Liberty
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speaks with a clear voice, even against the roar of the sea.
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I'm Dave Diamond. We'll see you next time for
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revolutionary talk.