On June 6, 1776, the Committee of Safety appointed Christopher Calvert to superintend the building of two row-galleys for the protection of Virginia and North Carolina, to engage a master workman and as many men as he should need to work expeditiously. The two vessels, _Caswell_ and _Washington_, were built at the South Quay Shipyard on the Blackwater River near the North Carolina line. A North Carolina sloop had been seized in Ocracoke Inlet in April, 1776. Sometime later, a warrant for £100 was issued to Argyle Herbert for the use of Captain Calvert upon account to pay the carpenters employed on his galley. At the convention of delegates held at the Capitol in Williamsburg on May 6, 1776, resolutions were passed dissolving the Government from Great Britain, establishing Virginia as a Commonwealth or State. A Board of Navy Commissioners composed of five members was appointed to superintend and direct all matters relating to the Navy. Their peculiar duties were defined as follows: To superintend and direct the building and repairing of all vessels; provide the necessary outfits, ordnance, provisions and naval stores; control the public rope walks; erect dockyards; contract for and provide all timber necessary for building purposes; and supervise the shipyards. On September 12, 1776, this Commission was requested to engage the proper persons for building "in the most expeditious manner", 30 boats for the transportation of troops on the rivers, each boat to be the proper size for carrying a complete company of 68 men with their arms and baggage. Those were small boats without masts but broad and strong enough to transport troops across rivers and to carry from point to point large quantities of ammunition and provisions as they were required. The small boats had been found indispensable in retreats, in rapid marches, and in concentrating land forces. The Commissioners were authorized in October to provide the necessary plank and timber for the building of four large galleys fit for river and sea service, and to be mounted with proper guns. And for manning these galleys and others being built, the Commissioners were requested to raise the number of men needed, not to exceed 1300 to serve three years. The Continental Congress directed that two frigates of 36 guns and of 500 tons burthen be built in Virginia, and the Navy Board ordered the work done at Gosport Shipyard in Norfolk County. The following excerpts from a letter of Richard Henry Lee of the United States Congress to James Maxwell, Chief Superintendent of Construction on December 1, 1776, give directions for building the frigates: