Nicholas Biddle

Nicholas Biddle (September 10, 1750 – March 7, 1778) was one of the first five captains of the Continental Navy, which was raised by the Continental Congress during the American Revolutionary War. Biddle was born in Philadelphia in 1750. He began sailing at the age of 13 and joined the Royal Navy when he was 20. In 1773, he sailed the Arctic with Constantine Phipps and Horatio Nelson. When the Revolutionary War began in 1775, Biddle joined the Continental Navy and commanded several ships. In 1778 off the coast of Barbados, Biddle confronted , a 64-gun British warship. After a twenty-minute battle, Biddle's ship suddenly exploded, killing him and most of his men. Four ships of the U.S. Navy have been named in his honor. Early life Nicholas Biddle was born in Philadelphia in 1750, one of nine children to William Biddle (1698–1756) of the Biddle family, and Mary Scull (1709–1789). Biddle went to sea at the age of thirteen, as a ship's boy aboard a merchant vessel trading to the West Indies. In 1770 he joined the Royal Navy and served three years until resigning in 1773 to accompany Captain Constantine Phipps on his expedition to the Arctic Sea. While on this voyage Biddle became acquainted with Horatio Nelson, the future British admiral and fellow member of Phipps' expedition. American Revolutionary War In 1775, Biddle returned to North America to offer his services to the State of Pennsylvania in opposing British rule. With the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, the Pennsylvania Committee of Safety placed Biddle in command of the armed galley . In December 1775, Biddle was commissioned into the newly established Continental Navy and made captain of the 14-gun brig . Biddle participated in the expedition against New Providence and fought in the Continental Navy's action with on April 6, 1776. Biddle was highly critical of the action, noting that the lack of signaling by his superior, Commodore Esek Hopkins, led to a "helter skelter" action. Biddle quickly developed a reputation as an able captain by capturing numerous vessels, including British army transports, on later cruises.