The torpedo-boat _O’Brien_,[57] for the United States navy, was launched
at Lewis Nixon’s “Crescent shipyard,” Elizabethport, N. J., Sept. 24,
1900. She is named the _O’Brien_, to perpetuate the memory of the five
O’Brien brothers,—Jeremiah, Gideon, William, John, and Joseph,—sons of
Maurice O’Brien of Cork, Ireland, who had settled at Machias, Me. The
boys are believed to have all been born in the latter place.
After the news of the battle of Lexington reached Machias, the
townspeople erected a liberty pole, and the fact having been
communicated to the British authorities, the sloop-of-war _Margaretta_,
under the command of Lieutenant Moore of the English navy, was directed
to proceed from Boston to Machias to investigate the matter.
The _Margaretta_ went, and was captured by the O’Briens, after a sharp
fight, May 11, 1775. Lieutenant Moore’s sword was presented to Joseph
O’Brien, he being the “baby” of the expedition. It has been handed down
from father to son ever since. The sword was exhibited at the launching
and attracted no little attention.
The young lady who “christened” the _O’Brien_, Miss Myra Lincoln
O’Brien, is a descendant of Joseph O’Brien, the “baby” above mentioned.
Her father, Albert H. O’Brien, is a lawyer in Philadelphia. He served in
the Civil War, and subsequently in the United States marines, from which
corps he resigned as a first lieutenant in 1875. Her grandfather was
Dennis W. O’Brien of Philadelphia, who died in 1878, while filling the
office of judge of the Orphans’ court of Philadelphia county, and her
great-grandfather was Dennis O’Brien, a merchant of Reading, Pa.
The day was a pleasant one for the launching, and despite the early hour
set for the ceremony, Miss O’Brien, several of her relatives and
friends, Lewis Nixon, Superintendent Ackerman, and the heads of the
various departments were on hand. When the christening party were placed
on the vessel the workmen released the huge hull and the _O’Brien_
gracefully slid from the ways. The launching of the _O’Brien_ marks
another step in the consummation of the government plan of perpetuating
the names of the more prominent figures in the American Revolution. The
O’Briens were a family who possessed indomitable courage and spirit and
played a conspicuous part in this country’s battle for freedom.
It is stated that on the arrival of the _Margaretta_ off Machias, her
commanding officer, Lieutenant Moore, notified the town officials that
the Liberty pole must come down or the vessel would open fire on the
town.
On Sunday morning, May 11, a lumber sloop commanded by Jeremiah O’Brien,
with about fifty men armed with muskets and pitchforks, left the town
and sailed down the bay in the direction of the _Margaretta_. There was
a hand-to-hand fight on the decks, and though the English fought well
with their small arms, the _Margaretta_ was a prize within twenty
minutes. Lieutenant Moore and ten of his men were killed and others
severely wounded, the attacking party losing six men killed, while five
were wounded.
This capture was the first naval engagement of the American
Revolution,[58] but Jeremiah O’Brien and his brothers, William and John,
subsequently received provincial commissions and participated in other
engagements as commanding officers.
The _O’Brien_ is a magnificent boat and looks the fighter, every inch of
her. She is 175 feet long on her water line, 17 feet beam, and of 14
feet, 6 inches draught. Her displacement is about 165 tons. Steel has
been used whenever possible, and when wood has been used it has been
electrically treated so as to be fireproof. In every part unnecessary
weight has been eliminated. The piston rods, shafts, connecting rods and
working parts generally are of nickel steel.
There are four cylinder, triple expansion engines, one high power
cylinder, 18 inches in diameter, one intermediate power cylinder, 27
inches in diameter, and two low power cylinders, 27½ inches in diameter,
each with an 18‒inch stroke. The indicated horse power is 3,500, which
will give 350 revolutions to the screws per minute. There are twin
screws instead of a single screw. The propelling engines are located in
a water-tight compartment.
On board, there is every appliance known to modern naval engineering.
The two condensers each have a cooling surface of 1,500 feet. A
distilling plant for distilling salt water into fresh water is also
supplied in the boat, as well as an air compressing and an electric
lighting plant. Three boilers of the Mosher water-tube design give the
needed power. They are powerfully constructed and will give a working
pressure of 250 pounds to the square inch, with a heating surface of
8,325 square feet. Each boiler is to be supplied with a smoke-pipe
standing about ten feet above the deck.
The _O’Brien_ is low in the water and exceedingly hard to locate at
night, even by the use of searchlights. She is a type of the advanced
fighting machine, and her entire appearance denotes the fighter. Her
armament is as follows: Three torpedo tubes, two forward, one aft, and
three three-pound rapid-fire guns, located as are the torpedo tubes.
When in commission she will carry a Whitehead torpedo in each tube, and
additional ones on the racks near the tubes. The boat will carry sixty
officers and men.
* * * * *
Speaking of the capture of the _Margaretta_, Capt. Edward O’Meagher
Condon, a member of the American-Irish Historical Society, says in his
excellent work:[59] “This was the _first naval fight_ of the Revolution,
and Jeremiah O’Brien was the victorious commander. Two British cruisers,
the _Diligence_ and _Tapnaguish_, were at once despatched to lay Machias
in ashes, but they also were met and captured by O’Brien, his brothers
and comrades. The young hero immediately sailed, with his prizes and
prisoners, for Watertown, Mass., where the Provincial Congress was in
session, and received the thanks of that body and a captain’s
commission. But the British were not yet satisfied. They sent from
Halifax a squadron, including a frigate, a twenty-gun corvette, a brig
of sixteen guns, and several armed schooners, to crush the weak American
fleet; but O’Brien, aided by Colonel Foster, was once more triumphant,
and beat them off after a hard struggle.
“They then sent a strong body of land forces against Machias, but after
the second day’s march from Passamaquoddy the British troops returned to
Halifax, despairing of effecting a passage through the woods, or,
perhaps, hopeless of accomplishing their purpose when confronted by
those who had already conquered their fellow-mercenaries three times at
sea. We are told that Maurice O’Brien, old as he was, could hardly be
restrained from joining his gallant sons in their daring enterprise
against the British.
“Three of the O’Briens, Jeremiah, John and William, continued in the
naval service of the republic until the close of the war. Jeremiah was
appointed to the command of _The Liberty_, and his brother William
served under him as lieutenant. ‘For two years this vessel and another
did good service on the northern coast, affording protection to American
navigation, after which they were laid up.’ Jeremiah, with others, then
fitted out a twenty-gun letter-of-marque, called the _Hannibal_, manned
by one hundred and thirty men.
“She took several prizes; but at length falling in with two British
frigates, she was overhauled after a chase of forty-eight hours and
captured. O’Brien was first confined in the _Jersey_ prison-ship,
otherwise known as the _Hell_, at the Wallabout, where the Brooklyn navy
yard now is. At the end of about six months he was sent to Mill prison,
England, whence he succeeded in effecting his escape about a year later.
He retired after the war to Brunswick, Me., where, at the age of over
fourscore, he furnished the details of his brave achievements to a
generation which had shamefully forgotten him and them.
“John O’Brien was more fortunate than his gallant brother. From a
journal kept by him the following extracts are taken: On June 9, 1779,
he sailed in the armed schooner _Hibernia_. On June 21, he took an
English brig and sent her in. On June 25, he had an engagement with a
ship of seventeen guns, from three till five o’clock p. m., when a
frigate came up and the _Hibernia_ was compelled to leave her
anticipated prize and was pursued by the frigate till midnight. O’Brien
had three men killed and several wounded in this fight. On July 7 he
took a schooner, and sent her to Newburyport. On the day following, in
company with Captain Leach of Salem, he took a ship carrying thirteen
four-pounders; a few hours after, a brig; and then a schooner laden with
molasses. On July 11, he took a brig in ballast, and then chased and
captured another. He adds that if he and Captain Leach had not parted in
a fog they could have taken the whole fleet. Capt. John O’Brien was
never captured by the enemy. No trace is found after the capture of the
_Hannibal_, of Lieut. William O’Brien. He was most probably among the
11,000 victims of British cruelty, whose corpses were buried, or flung
on the shores of the Wallabout.”
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