On December 2, 1775, Congress authorized the Naval Committee to employ two additional vessels, and also to “prepare a proper commission for the captains or commanders of the ships of war in the service of the United Colonies.”[25] On the report of the committee on recaptures, Congress on December 5 fixed the compensation of recaptors, which varied from one-eighth to the whole of the value of the vessel and cargo, depending on the time which elapsed between the capture and recapture.[26] On December 9 the following new naval offices were established: midshipman, armorer, sailmaker, yeoman, quarter-master, quarter-gunner, cook, and coxswain.[27] On December 13 the wages of able-bodied seamen were raised to $8 a month; and on the 22nd the salary of the commander-in-chief of the navy was fixed at $125 a month.[28] In accordance with the direction of Congress, the Naval Committee, on January 6, 1776, reported on the division of the captor’s share of prizes, among officers, seamen, and marines; whereupon, Congress divided the captor’s share into twenty parts, and allotted them equitably between the officers and men. The commander-in-chief received one-twentieth, and the captains of the fleet making the capture, two-twentieths. After the officers had been provided for, the remaining eight and one-half parts were allotted to the seamen, “share and share alike.”[29] Meanwhile, the Naval Committee had been busy purchasing, fitting for sea, and officering a fleet. About the first of November John Adams was writing from Philadelphia to James Warren in Massachusetts, inquiring whether naval vessels might be purchased or built in Massachusetts, and whether suitable officers could be procured there; and also at the same time to Samuel Chase in Baltimore, in regard to the purchase of certain vessels in that city.[30] On November 17 the Committee ordered Silas Deane to go to New York and to purchase a 20-gun ship and a 10-gun Bermudan-built sloop.[31] Under the authorizations of Congress of October 13 and October 30, the Naval Committee purchased four vessels, the “Alfred,” “Columbus,” “Cabot,” and “Andrew Doria;” named, respectively, for the founder of the English navy, the discoverer of America, the first English explorer of America, and the great Genoese Admiral.[32] The first vessel to be bought was the “Alfred,” a ship of two hundred tons burden. The “Alfred” was originally the “Black Prince,” and belonged to John Nixon, the well-known Philadelphia merchant of Revolutionary times.[33]