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The Continental Marines as well as the Old Navy passed out of existence shortly after the Revolutionary War. The War Department was established and in 1789 placed in charge of the naval forces which, however, did not actually come into existence until several years later. There were, however, a few vessels in the Revenue Cutter Service, which attempted to perform, though quite ineffectively, some of the functions of a navy. A few of the vessels of that service carried as part of their crews a group of men armed similar to and performing the functions of Marines, and were as a rule called Marines. There is record of at least one Marine officer serving in the Revenue Cutter Service prior to the year 1798, when the Navy Department and the Marine Corps were formally established. The struggling new republic having soon discovered that its rights were seriously being infringed upon, many of our leading statesmen began to be of the opinion that the best interests of the United States demanded a naval force of at least sufficient strength to protect our own shores and to offer some resistance against pirates.
The need of a navy was further brought home to Congress by the capture of two American ships off the coast of Portugal by Algerine cruisers who took them back to Algiers and imprisoned their crews. Nothing was done, however, until matters became more serious in 1793, when eleven vessels were similarly captured and their crews made prisoners. Congress then determined to begin the construction of a navy. It authorized the building of six frigates and provided for a crude naval establishment. Six captains of the Navy who had served in the Revolution were appointed and each was assigned to supervise the construction of a ship. The act of Congress of March 27, 1794, authorizing the Navy further provided that each of the ships carry a detachment of Marines consisting of one lieutenant and from forty-five to fifty-four enlisted men. The construction of the frigates was begun under the direction of the leading American ship builder who designed them to outsail the ships of the line of European navies which as he said was "the only safe way of commencing a navy." There had...