Produced by Heather Clark, paksenarrion and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned images of public domain material from the Google Print project.) FOUR AMERICAN NAVAL HEROES PAUL JONES OLIVER H. PERRY ADMIRAL FARRAGUT ADMIRAL DEWEY A BOOK FOR YOUNG AMERICANS BY MABEL BORTON BEEBE WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY JAMES BALDWIN [Illustration] WERNER SCHOOL BOOK COMPANY NEW YORK CHICAGO BOSTON INTRODUCTION. Four times in the history of our country has the American navy achieved renown and won the gratitude of the nation. These four times correspond, of course, to the four great wars that we have had; and with the mention of each the name of a famous hero of the sea is at once brought to mind. What would the Revolution have been without its Paul Jones; or the War of 1812, without its Perry? How differently might the Civil War have ended but for its Farragut; and the Spanish War, but for its Dewey! The story of the achievements of these four men covers a large part of our naval history. [Illustration: SEAL OF THE U.S. NAVY.] Six months after the battle of Lexington the Continental Congress decided to raise and equip a fleet to help carry on the war against England. Before the end of the year (1775) seventeen vessels were ready for service, and it was then that Paul Jones began his public career. Many other ships were soon added. [Illustration: EZEK HOPKINS.] The building and equipping of this first navy was largely intrusted to Ezek Hopkins, whom Congress had appointed Commander-in-Chief, but it does not seem that he did all that was expected of him, for within less than two years he was dismissed. He was the only person who ever held the title of Commander-in-Chief of the navy. During the war several other vessels were added to the fleet, and over 800 prizes were captured from the British. But before peace was declared twenty-four of our ships had been taken by the enemy, others had been wrecked in storms, and nearly all the rest were disabled. There was no effort to build other vessels, and so, for many years, our country had no navy. [Illustration: THE FRIGATE CONSTITUTION.]