In 1777 the work of the Naval Office at Paris was greater and more varied than during any other year. Naval vessels were both built and purchased. Continental ships, and merchantmen chartered from the French, were laden for America with muskets, cannon, powder, cordage, duck, tents, blankets, and clothing. The naval prisoners in England and the violations of neutral rights committed by Continental ships and by privateers demanded much attention. In the spring the Continental brig “Lexington,” and in the fall the “Raleigh,” “Alfred,” and “Independence,” arrived in France. The “Reprisal,” 16, “Lexington,” 14, “Dolphin,” 10, “Surprise,” 10, and “Revenge,” 14, were fitted and refitted in French ports and sent cruising off the British coasts; and the prizes of these vessels were sold in France. The “Dolphin,” “Surprise,” and “Revenge” were officered and manned in France. The task of conducting all these naval activities in a neutral country the Commissioners found to be a most delicate one. Among the earlier undertakings of the American representatives at Paris were their attempts to obtain the freedom of French ports for American vessels. Nor was their work of this sort confined wholly to the French Court, for in the spring of 1777 Arthur Lee sought at Madrid permission for American vessels to sell their prizes and to refit in Spanish ports; and later in the year he went on a similar errand to Berlin. Both the Spanish and Prussian Courts refused his requests.[348] Prizes were, however, without difficulty secretly disposed of in Spain.