more at http://quickfound.net/links/military_news_and_links.html "THE STORY OF THE REVOLUTION, THE CAUSES AND A CHRONOLOGICAL SEQUENCE OF EVENTS. THE FOUNDING OF THE NAVY, BATTLE OF VALCOUR ISLAND, JOHN PAUL JONES AND WASHINGTON GRAND STRATEGY AT YORKTOWN." US Navy training film FN-6943a Public domain film from the National Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied. The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original). Split with MKVmerge GUI (part of MKVToolNix), the same software can recombine the downloaded parts (in mp4 format): http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/mkvtoolnix/doc/mkvmerge-gui.html part 1: http://youtu.be/v2BJULSQT2E http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_Navy Continental Navy (1775--1785) On 12 June 1775, the Rhode Island General Assembly, meeting at East Greenwich, passed a resolution creating a navy for the colony of Rhode Island. The same day, Governor Nicholas Cooke signed orders addressed to Captain Abraham Whipple, commander of the sloop Katy, and commodore of the armed vessels employed by the government... In the meantime, George Washington had begun to acquire ships, starting with the schooner Hannah which was paid for out of Washington's own pocket. Hannah was commissioned and launched on 5 September 1775, from the port of Beverly, Massachusetts. The US Navy recognizes 13 October 1775 as the date of its official establishment — the date of the passage of the resolution of the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that created the Continental Navy. On this day, Congress authorized the purchase of two vessels to be armed for a cruise against British merchant ships; these ships became Andrew Doria and Cabot. The first ship in commission was the USS Alfred which was purchased on 4 November and commissioned on 3 December by Captain Dudley Saltonstall. On November 10, 1775, the Continental Congress passed a resolution calling for two battalions of Marines to be raised for service with the fleet. John Adams drafted its first governing regulations, which were adopted by Congress on 28 November 1775 and remained in effect throughout the Revolution. The Rhode Island resolution was reconsidered by the Continental Congress and was passed on 13 December 1775, authorizing the building of thirteen frigates within the next three months, five ships of 32 guns, five with 28 guns and three with 24 guns. On Lake Champlain, Benedict Arnold ordered the construction of 12 Navy vessels to slow down the British fleet that was invading New York from Canada. The British fleet did destroy Arnold's fleet, but the US fleet managed to slow down the British after a two-day battle, known as the Battle of Valcour Island... Privateers had some success... Lloyd's of London estimated that 2,208 British ships were taken by Yankee privateers, amounting to almost $66 million, a significant sum at the time. One particularly notable American naval hero of the Revolution was John Paul Jones, who defeated the British ship Serapis (1779) in the Battle of Flamborough Head. Partway through the battle, with the rigging of the two ships entangled, and several guns of Jones' ship Bonhomme Richard (1765) out of action, the captain of Serapis asked Jones if he had struck his colors, to which Jones has been quoted as replying, "I have not yet begun to fight!" France officially entered the war on June 17th, 1778... In 1780, a fleet with 6,000 troops commanded by Lieutenant General Jean-Baptiste, comte de Rochambeau landed at Newport, Rhode Island, and shortly afterwards the fleet was blockaded by the British. In early 1781, Washington and de Rochambeau planned an attack against the British in the Chesapeake Bay area to coordinate with the arrival of a large fleet commanded by Vice Admiral François, comte de Grasse. Successfully deceiving the British that an attack was planned in New York, Washington and de Rochambeau marched to Virginia, and de Grasse began landing forces near Yorktown, Virginia. On 5 September 1781 a major naval action was fought by de Grasse and the British at the Battle of the Virginia Capes, ending with the French fleet in control of the Chesapeake bay. Protected from the sea by the French fleet, American and French forces surrounded, besieged and forced the surrender of British forces commanded by Lord Corwallis, effectively winning the war and leading to peace two years later...

• published: 23 Apr 2012
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