John Barry (25 March 1745 – 13 September 1803) was a Commodore of the Continental Navy and US Navy during the American Revolutionary War. He is known as "the Father of the American Navy" (alongside John Paul Jones) for his role in the creation of the modern-day US Navy, being the first man to be a commissioned officer in the US Navy, with George Washington granting him the rank of commodore in 1797.
Biography
John Barry was born on 25 March 1745 in Tacumshane, County Wexford, Ireland to an Irish Catholic family. Barry later immigrated to the Thirteen Colonies, and on 14 March 1776 he was commissioned as a captain of the Continental Navy by John Hancock during the American Revolutionary War. His most famous command was USS Lexington, which he captained in raids against Great Britain, including the Battle of Turtle Gut Inlet off Cape May and Wildwood on 29 June 1776. The Royal Navy saw him as a valuable commander, and they attempted to bribe him into joining their cause; however, Barry told the British that he would not defect to them, even if they gave him their whole treasury. After the war, he would be the first commissioned officer, being promoted to Commodore in 1797 and leading the frigate USS United States during the Quasi-War. He died in 1803 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the age of 58.