USS Warren (1775)

The USS Warren was one of the first warships commissioned by the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. Authorized by the Continental Congress on December 13, 1775, she was built at Providence, Rhode Island, by Marine Committee agents John Brown, Joseph Lawrence, and Captain Esek Hopkins, under the supervision of Naval Constructor Joseph Brown.

The Warren was a 32-gun frigate, named in honor of General Joseph Warren, a hero of the Battle of Bunker Hill. Her construction was slow, and she was not ready for sea until late 1777. She joined the small Continental Navy fleet based in Narragansett Bay.

Her active service was brief and ultimately unsuccessful. In May 1778, under the command of Captain John Burroughs Hopkins (son of Esek Hopkins), the Warren participated in a sortie to sea, which also included the frigates Providence and Queen of France, and several smaller vessels. The squadron captured several minor prizes but was shadowed and ultimately blockaded by a larger British squadron upon their return to the American coast.

On April 25, 1779, the Warren was captured by the British off the coast of Maine, along with the Queen of France. The Warren was subsequently taken into the Royal Navy as HMS Warren. Her eventual fate is not entirely clear but it is believed she was decommissioned and broken up sometime after 1783. Despite her short service life, the Warren represents an early and important attempt by the fledgling United States to challenge British naval dominance.