On this day 15 June

[Cmmdre]

The Rhode Island General Assembly appointed Abraham Whipple commodore of two ships fitted out for the defense of the colony's trade. On the day the sea captain received his commission, June 15, 1775, the newly appointed commodore wasted no time in taking measures to protect the trade of the colony. In a report subsequently addressed to Congress, Whipple stated that he received his appointment on the 15th day of June (1775); that it was made his duty to clear the bay of the tenders belonging to the British frigate Rose then off Newport; and that on the first day of his appointment he discharged this duty by making prize of one of these tenders (the armed sloop Diana) after touching off at her the first cannon fired at any part of His Majesty’s Navy in the Revolutionary struggle. The Katy’s fire power was vastly greater in the match so after half an hour the British abandoned the Diana on the rocks off Conanicut Island (Jamestown) and escaped with no casualties, while Whipple calmly towed the Diana back to Providence. When the British frigate Rose, commanded by Sir James Wallace, sailed up the bay to investigate, Newport citizens were able to recapture five out of the six Newport merchant ships that Wallace had previously confiscated. So ended the first naval battle of the Revolution.

As a result of this action, relations between the Katy and the Rose were both prolonged and acrimonious. Though Whipple was ill-equipped to come to grips with the Rose, his courage and spirit were equal to any continency. Another incident further provoked Wallace’s ire. While the Rose was absent on one of her many foraging expeditions, this time to Fisher’s Island, Commodore Whipple boldly sailed into Newport Harbor and loaded all the remaining cannon from Fort George, Goat Island, aboard the Katy and transported them to Providence for the use of the Continental forces. Finally the exasperated Englishman wrote a note to the perverse American reminding him of his share in burning the Gaspee several years before. The celebrated correspondence is as follows:

From Captain Sir James Wallace of the Rose:

You, Abraham Whipple, on the 10th of June, 1772, burned His Majesty’s vessel, the Gaspee, and I will hang you at the yard-arm. --James Wallace

To which note, more curt than courteous, Whipple replied with equal brevity, dispatch and touch of dashing humor:

To Sir James Wallace, Sir:

Always catch a man before you hang him. --Abraham Whipple



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Whipple
http://www.gaspee.org/AbrahamWhipple.html
Also see.
http://www.sailsofglory.org/showthre...4524#post14524

[csadn]

Abraham Whipple was also an ancestor of H. P. Lovecraft -- he makes a "cameo appearance" in _The Case of Charles Dexter Ward_ as leader of the "prominent Providence citizens" who burned out Joseph Curwen.