In June and July, 1776, the Provincial Convention ordered the Committee of Safety to build seven row-galleys, and to fit out three small vessels, mounting not more than ten guns each, and a number of armed boats not to exceed six.[589] By the spring of 1777 the Committee of Safety had built, fitted, and officered the galleys “Baltimore,” “Conqueror,” “Independence,” and “Chester,” and the armed boat “Plater;” it had in process of construction, ready to launch, the galleys “Johnson” and “Annapolis,” and it had purchased the tender “Amelia” and the schooner “Dolphin.” During the first years of the war the Committee of Safety hired or purchased several small vessels, which were used chiefly as merchantmen.[590] It is not always easy to distinguish these craft from the naval vessels, which were now and then sent on trading voyages. Maryland’s most common commercial venture was to ship flour and tobacco to the firm of Harrison and Van Bibber at Martinique, and there laden her vessels for the homeward voyage with munitions of war.[591] As an inducement to recruits, the Provincial Convention, in October, 1776, offered a bounty of $20 to able seamen, and $10 to landsmen. Officers and seamen who received bounties and wages were given one-third of their prizes, the share granted by the Continental Congress; those who did not receive bounties and wages were given the whole of their prizes.[592] Maryland was unable to meet the competition with privateers for seamen, and her vessels were often forced to remain in port for lack of crews. In December, 1776, the naval agent at Baltimore wrote that he could “load twenty vessels rather than man and sail two. The money paid to captains and sailors is wonderful, and no way to shun it.”[593] Maryland established in her navy the rank of commodore. On June 8, 1778, her Governor commissioned Thomas Grason, who had been appointed commodore on April 21 by the General Assembly.[594] In 1782 a “Commodore Whaley” was in the naval service. Her most prominent captains were James Nicholson, who in 1776 became the senior captain in the Continental navy; and George Cook, who had served seven years in the British navy. Lieutenant John Henry Boucher resigned early in 1776 to enter the Virginia naval service, where he soon rose to the highest rank. In May, 1776, the Provincial Convention, pursuant to the resolves of the Continental Congress, established a Court of Admiralty, consisting of a judge, marshal, and register. The procedure was to be that usual in such courts; trial by jury was made optional; and the judge was permitted to determine the places of sitting.[595] The privateers of Maryland were generally small craft, mounting on the average eight 4-pounders. They plied their trade chiefly in Chesapeake Bay. From April 1, 1777, to March 14, 1783, a period of almost six years, Maryland issued letters of marque and reprisal to 248 privateers, carrying a total of 1,810 guns.[596]