Richard Dale

Richard Dale was born in Portsmouth parish, Norfolk County, Virginia, the eldest son of Winfield Dale, shipwright and merchant, and Ann Sutherland. His father died when Dale was ten years old. Two years later, Dale signed on with a merchant vessel owned by an uncle that took him to Liverpool, England.[1] Upon his return to Virginia, Dale became apprenticed to a ship-owner, through whom he made several journeys to the West Indies. Within five years, he achieved the rank of chief mate on a valuable brig. He remained in the merchant service until the spring of 1776.[2][3]

Dale's record during the Revolutionary War proved eclectic. After departing the merchant service in 1776 he signed on as a lieutenant in the navy of the colony of Virginia. His tenure proved brief, since he was captured shortly thereafter by a tender of the frigate HMS Liverpool.[4] He knew many of the men in the ship's crew from his time as a merchant, and they persuaded Dale to sign up for the British cause. He served for Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of Virginia. While fighting for the British, Dale received his first battle wounds when he was caught in a confrontation with American pilot boats. During his convalescence in Norfolk, Virginia, he determined that he would return to the patriot cause at his first opportunity. En route to Jamaica, the British vessel upon which Dale traveled was captured by the American Captain John Barry on his ship USS Lexington. Dale volunteered to serve on the American ship, and entered their service with the rank of Midshipman.[5] He continued on with Lexington after Barry was replaced as captain by William Hallock, who promoted Dale to Master's Mate. Unfortunately for Dale, the ship was captured by the British frigate HMS Pearl. Select officers from Lexington were taken onto Pearl as prisoners, Dale included, although a sudden gale permitted the rest of the America crew to escape. In January 1777, Dale was released in a prisoner exchange and returned to Lexington, now under yet another captain, Henry Johnston. Lexington joined a squadron that caused some destruction on the coast of Ireland, which compelled the British to chase and, eventually, capture the brig and its crew. They were taken to Plymouth, England and the crew imprisoned in Mill Prison in September 1777.

Dale got involved in the China Trade after the war, both as an investor and as a seaman. He became a successful captain and merchant during his commercial ventures between the United States and seaports in the Far East, in both China and India. When he was stateside, he often found himself in Philadelphia, the capital of the new country during the years 1790 through 1800. He used this time to visit his former commander and lifelong friend, John Barry. On one visit, Dale met the cousin of Barry's wife Sarah, Dorethea Crathorne. Richard and Dorethea were married on September 15, 1791, at Christ Church in Philadelphia. Their first child was born the next year, while they lived at their first home together at 49 Pine Street. Seven more children were to follow. During their lives together in Philadelphia, the Dales also lived at 69 Pine, 271 Chestnut, 69 Spruce, and 296 Walnut Streets. The first ten years of their marriage often found Dale at sea as the captain of different vessels, either commanding merchant ships or in the newly established United States Navy.

Portrait of Richard Dale by Jacob Eichholtz

In 1794, President George Washington established the United States Navy through order of Congress, ostensibly to protect American merchant vessels from the threat of privateers from the Barbary Nations, who took advantage of the new country's lack of a strong military presence in the Mediterranean Sea. Secretary of War Henry Knox selected six men, the elite of the country's naval command, to become the first commanders in the new branch of the American military. Richard Dale was selected as one of those six. Dale accepted the appointment and traveled to Norfolk, Virginia, for his first assignment: to supervise construction on the frigate USS Chesapeake. Due to the signing of a peace treaty with Algiers, one of the Barbary nations, which created some stability in the Mediterranean, construction on the frigate was halted. Dale requested and received a temporary furlough from the Navy and resumed business in the China trade. He was called back into the Navy in 1796 because of tensions that had developed between the United States and France, in what was known as the Quasi-War. As captain of the modified merchant ship USS Ganges, which was hastily equipped for military service, Dale gained the distinction of being the first man to command a ship at sea on behalf of the United States Navy. Ganges was used to protect the American coastline during the conflict and did not see any fighting.

A conflict of another kind caused Dale to request a second furlough after hostilities with France were redressed. Dale and some of the other five naval leaders became engaged in a dispute over their proper ranks. While government officials considered their concerns, Dale resumed the Far East trade. Upon his return to Philadelphia, the issue had been settled to his satisfaction, and Dale accepted his orders. He was to command a small fleet assigned to protect American merchant ships in the Mediterranean Sea. American ships were no longer safe against the privateers of the North African nation-states.

Dale pictured in his older years

Dale had done well for himself as a merchant seaman. Upon his return to Philadelphia, he changed the focus of his career and became a director of the Insurance Company of North America. Six months later, he shifted allegiance to the Union Insurance Company, and remained there as one of its directors for over twenty years. He served as its president from September 1824 to July 1825.

Back in 1785, George Washington signed a certificate that admitted Dale into the Society of the Cincinnati, which honored officer veterans of the Revolutionary War. Dale remained an active member for the rest of his life, and became involved in the effort to construct a monument dedicated to George Washington in Philadelphia, which ultimately never materialized. He was also active in the Society for the Relief of Poor and Distressed Masters of Ships, Their Wives and Children (est. 1765), and served in the Washington Benevolent Society of Pennsylvania. During the War of 1812, he was a member of the General Committee, formed to protect Philadelphia from potential attack by the British military.

Richard Dale tombstone in Laurel Hill Cemetery

A Protestant Episcopalian, he devoted himself to the religious affairs of the church in Philadelphia. In 1816, he served as president of the Marine Bible Association of the City of Philadelphia, founded by the Philadelphia Bible Society with the intention to further the spiritual welfare of American merchant seamen. He was a co-founder of the Mariner's Church, a non-denominational church located right off the docks of the city port to cater to traveling seamen. Designed by William Strickland, it was one of the largest churches in the city at the time. He also served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Diocese, a Trustee of the Episcopate Fund, and participated in various conventions dedicated to the perpetuation of the Episcopalian message. He closely followed the construction and affairs of the St. Stephens Church in Philadelphia during its construction and until his death. Dale was sixty-nine when he died in Philadelphia. Originally laid to rest in the Christ Church Burial Ground, and followed by Dorethea with her death four years later, they were both reinterred in the Laurel Hill Cemetery[7] in 1888.

• Mary Dale – September 6, 1792 to August 7, 1793
• Richard Dale, Jr. – January 2, 1795 to 1815. Dale, Sr. used his not insubstantial influence within the United States Department of the Navy to get both Dale Jr. and his brother John Montgomery positions within the Navy, with the caveat that they serve on different ships. Dale Jr. served aboard his father's former command, President, during the War of 1812, when he was involved in a battle with a squadron of Royal Navy ships off the coast of Bermuda. Struck by a cannonball that severed his leg, he later died as a prisoner on the island.
• John Montgomery Dale – January 4, 1797 to December 15, 1852. Served as a captain within the United States Navy, and eventually dedicated the sloop-of-war USS Dale, which was named in honor of his father.
• Samuel Sutherland Dale – 1799 (died an infant)
• Edward Crathorne Dale – February 21, 1801 to December 18, 1868.
• Sarah Barry Dale – January 14, 1804 to March 6, 1839
• Ann Dale – 1806 (died an infant)
• Elizabeth Dale – September 21, 1807 to ???

During the course of his career, Dale served on many different ships under a variety of national flags and in various capacities. His final mission, in the capacity of Commodore of the United States Navy, found him serving at the head of a small fleet of ships. Many of the ships upon which Dale served are as follows:

• Unidentified vessel commanded by an uncle – 1768. During his preliminary career on merchant vessels, Dale began as an apprentice and rose to the rank of chief mate, working largely in the West Indies trade.
• Unidentified light cruiser in the service of Virginia – 1776 (captured by the British)
• Lady Susan – 1776. A British vessel on which he served during the Revolution
• Lexington – 1776, 1777. Served as a midshipman under John Barry, Master's Mate under William Hallock, 1776, again after capture and release in 1777, under a new captain, Henry Johnston
• Bonhomme Richard – 1779. Served as First Lieutenant under John Paul Jones in this French privateer
• Alliance – 1779. First Lieutenant under Jones
• Ariel – 1780–1781. First Lieutenant under Jones
• Trumbull – July to November, 1781. First Lieutenant under Captain Nicholson
• Queen of France – Late 1781 or early 1782 – February, 1783. Served as first lieutenant initially, then as captain in this

privateer endorsed by the Continental Congress. Final vessel served on during the conflict with England. After this, he was discharged from the Continental Navy

• Chesapeake – 1784. As captain in the United States Navy, he was responsible for the ship's construction, although he did not sail in it.
• Canton – 1785–1787. The first merchant vessel out of the United States used for the China trade
• Alliance – 1787–1788. Modified since the war to become a merchant vessel, again for the China trade
• Pigou – 1796. As captain, a merchant vessel used for the East India trade
• Ganges – pre-1798 – 1798 – Dale commanded first as a modified merchant vessel, and again once she was converted into a war ship. Sailed in the latter capacity during the quasi-war with France.
• 1801 – 1802 – Commanded a squadron including the President, (flagship), the Philadelphia, the Essex, and the Enterprise within the Mediterranean Sea, protecting American merchant vessels against Tripolitan and other Barbary privateers.

See USS Dale for a list of ships named in his honor.

• Bibliography of early American naval history

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

• Benham, Edith Wallace & Hall, Anne Martin, compiled:(1913)
  Ships of the United States Navy and Their Sponsors, 1797 – 1913 (Privately Printed, ___), pp. 227 Url
• Cooper, James Fenimore (1846). Lives of distinguished American naval officers:
  Bainbridge. Somers. Shaw. Shubrick. Preble.
  Carey and Hart, Philadelphia. p. 436. OCLC 620356. Url1
• —— (1842). Richard Dale. Published by author. p. 297. Url
• —— (1856). History of the navy of the United States of America.
  Stringer & Townsend, New York. p. 508. OCLC 197401914. Url
• Dorwart, Jeffrey M., The Philadelphia Navy Yard,
  (University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, PA, 2001), pp. 71.
• Hannon, Bryan, (1936) Three American Commodores,
  Spinner Press, NYC, NY, pp. 42–54.
• Homans, B., ed. (1839) The Army and Navy Chronicle, Volume VIII,
  B. Homans, Washington City, 1839, pp. 249.
• James, Hartwell, (1899) Heroes of the United States Navy,
  Henry Altemus Company; Philadelphia, PA, pp. 30–36.
• Keen, Gregory B.,(1913) The Descendants of Joran Kyn of New Sweden,
  Swedish Colonial Society; Philadelphia, PA,
• Longacre, James B. & James Herring, The National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans, Vol. 3 (James Kay, Jun. & Brother, Philadelphia, PA, 1833), pp. 178–190.
• London, Joshua E. (2005). Victory in Tripoli: How America's War with the Barbary Pirates Established the U.S. Navy and Shaped a Nation. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 0-471-44415-4.
• McGrath, Tim, (2010), John Barry, An American Hero in the Age of Sail,
  Westholme Publishing; Yardley, PA, May 2010, pp. 410
• Paul Jones, John, "Varieties," The London Magazine, (Taylor and Hessey; London, England, 1824) p. 269
• Peterson, Charles Jacob, The American Navy, Being an Authentic History of the United States Navy, (Jas. B. Smith & Co., Philadelphia, PA, 1857), pp. 137–146.
• Sears, Robert (1855). The remarkable adventures of celebrated persons: ..., etc., eminent in the history of Europe and America. Robert Sears, New York. p. 410. Url
• Seawell, Molly Elliot, "Richard Dale - One of the Bravest Men Who Ever Sailed," The Sunday Oregonian, June 2, 1895, p. 14.
• —— (1898). Twelve naval captains: being a record of certain Americans who made themselves immortal. Kegan, Paul, Trench, Trubner, & Co. Ltd, Ltd., London. p. 233. Url
• Simpson, Henry (1859). The Lives of Eminent Philadelphians, Now Deceased.
  W. Brotherhead, Philadelphia. p. 993. Url
• Toll, Ian W., Six Frigates – The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy, (WW Norton & Co.; NYC, NY 2006), pp. 128, 169–171.
• Vizetelly, Frank H., "Sleeps in Alien Soil," The Washington Post, July 9, 1905, p. B7.
• _____, "Commodore Richard Dale," Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, October 13, 1866, p. 61.
• _____, "New Ship Given the Name of a Hero," The Washington Post, September 15, 1933, p. F5.
• _____, "The Norfolk Navy Yard," The New York Times, June 16, 1895, p. 25.

• Independence Seaport Museum Dale collection contains many family heirlooms [1969.067.016, .023]; [1988.029.001 through .025] and the original Henry Knox letter to John Barry announcing the six original captains in the U.S. Navy [1984.096.001]
• American Philosophical Society Richard Dale Collection on one reel of microfilm (Film 334) is in their collection.
• Historical Society of Pennsylvania Dale collection includes a number of original, handwritten letters and accounts written by and to Dale, as well as copies of promotion Certificates. Original publications dedicated to biographies of early American heroes are in their collections.
• Richard Dale Letterbook, 1802 MS 45 and Dale Family Papers, 1749–1937 MS 246 held by Special Collection & Archives, Nimitz Library at the United States Naval Academy
• American Revolution Institute