[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 119 (Thursday, September 21, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1796-E1798]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO COMMODORE JOHN BARRY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHRISTOPHER SHAYS

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 21, 2006

  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, on September 16, the Fairfield County Ancient 
Order of Hibernians celebrated the official recognition of Commodore 
John Barry as the First Flag Officer of the United States Navy. In 
2005, the House passed, and the President signed into law, H.J. Res. 
38, which made this recognition official, and I was proud to support 
this legislation. I am happy to submit the text of Master Chief Richard 
Iannucci's informative address

[[Page E1797]]

at this ceremony to be entered into the Record.

       Selectmen, honored guests, veterans, citizens of Fairfield, 
     stalwarts of Gaelic descent, and shipmates
       This is a replica of the First Navy Jack. This flag, more 
     properly this ``jack,'' was flown by Commodore John Barry and 
     at the bow of ships of the Continental Navy.
       This same jack was ordered flown on the jackstaff of every 
     US Navy warship on 9/12/2001. This jack had not be flown by 
     an American warship at war in over two hundred years.
       At sea a flag or jack always signifies something. This 
     jack, the jack of Commodore Barry and the Continental Navy, 
     signifies that the US Navy is today functioning at its 
     grimmest, most deadly earnest level of national survival.
       Barry and the men who fought alongside him, were heroes in 
     the traditional sense of the word. They were not victims as 
     the word ``hero'' seems to be evolving today, but men of 
     courage who voluntarily thrust themselves ``in harm's way'' 
     to use a phrase made famous by another Continental Navy 
     captain, John Paul Jones.
       This flag symbolizes John Barry and the Continental Navy's 
     proud and courageous legacy.


                       Barry: The First Crucible

       John Barry, the father of the United States Navy, was fired 
     in three crucibles. His legacy is a function of those three 
     crucibles and the trials they represented.
       The first crucible was the unsettled nature of the country 
     of his origin, Ireland. John Barry was born in 1745, in a 
     cottage in County Wexford, Ireland, the southeasternmost part 
     of Ireland. Wexford had a strong maritime tradition, but 
     Barry's father was a poor tenant farmer who was eventually 
     evicted from his farm by his British landlord. The family was 
     forced to relocate to the village of Rosslare. It would have 
     been at an early age that Barry learned of the bloody fall of 
     Wexford to an invading British force led by Oliver Cromwell 
     in 1649.
       Barry had to be aware of his countrymen's general fear of 
     British oppression and governmental administration. Today 
     there are people who parrot that thought that ``there is 
     nothing worse than war.'' John Barry knew there was at least 
     one thing worse than war . . . losing a war and he only 
     needed to look around himself in Ireland to draw that 
     conclusion. Today you hear the cant, ``War never accomplishes 
     anything.'' John Barry would have known that to be a 
     wrongheaded conclusion.
       Personally, as a descendant of highlanders and seafarers 
     forced to leave the Isle of Raasey of the Inner Hebrides, on 
     the western coast of Scotland, during the Highland 
     Clearances, I am aware of the strong formative influence of 
     having to leave your home under the cloud of a sense of 
     injustice.
       The plight of his native land had to have left its mark on 
     John Barry.


                       Barry: The Second Crucible

       The second crucible was the demanding, unforgiving nature 
     of the sea. John Barry's uncle was the captain of a fishing 
     skiff, and at an early age he chose to follow his uncle as a 
     seafarer. The sea meant freedom and independence. It was 
     easier to jump ship, if life became unfair or oppressive, 
     than move from one farming tenancy to another. Barry started 
     as a cabin boy, and worked his way up. Going to sea was no 
     easy career choice, but it gave a young man independence, and 
     opportunities tied to merit, for the sea holds little regard 
     for nationality or economic status. Only performance counts. 
     A sea captain sailed one of the technological marvels of the 
     day. A captain had to know sophisticated mathematics, 
     astronomy, meteorology, navigation, carpentry, metal working, 
     oceanography, chemistry, physics, civil engineering, business 
     law, and psychology, among other disciplines. A merchant ship 
     was the second most complex convergence of technology of the 
     18th Century. He had to learn all this, control and lead 
     dozens of men at a time, fight the elements, and turn a 
     profit. He was an established ship's captain by the age of 
     30, plying the trade route between Philadelphia and the West 
     Indies.
       What was the most complex convergence of technology of the 
     18th Century? A naval warship was the first most complex 
     convergence of technology, because it carried the added 
     element of naval guns and other weaponry.


                       Barry: The Third Crucible

       In 1775, John Barry was dropped into his last and third 
     crucible, when he offered his services to the Continental 
     Congress. His ship Black Prince was purchased by the 
     Continental Congress and renamed Alfred. His lieutenant was a 
     fiery Scotsman, named Jones, John Paul Jones.
       John Barry was then given command of Lexington, 14 guns, in 
     December of 1775. Lexington sailed in March of 1776. That 
     April, off the Capes of Virginia, John Barry engaged Edward, 
     tender to the British man-of-war Liverpool. After a heated 
     battle he captured Edward, the first American naval prize of 
     the war and brought her into Philadelphia. He captured 
     several private armed British ships not long after.
       His next command was Effingham, which was only partially 
     completed and used her to patrol the Delaware Bay and Capes. 
     A British agent offered Barry 20,000 pounds sterling to 
     change sides and bring Effingham with him. In the 18th 
     Century, 20,000 pounds was a fortune. Barry would not turn 
     his coat.
       In October of 1776. the Continental Congress assigned the 
     rankings of officers of the Continental Navy, ranking John 
     Barry No. 7 among Continental Navy captains.
       Barry was a thorough warrior. Barry's contribution to the 
     war was not limited to sea duty. He could have stuck with 
     Effingham and his naval specialization, but in December of 
     1776. Barry recruited a company of volunteers for landing 
     party duty. He and his company took part in the Trenton 
     campaign. He organized the boatmen and assisted George 
     Washington in his famous crossing of the Delaware. Barry 
     subsequently assisted in the defense of Philadelphia and 
     operations in the upper Delaware.
       When the British took possession of Philadelphia in 
     September 1777, Captain Barry was ordered to take his 
     uncompleted frigate Effingham up the Delaware River to a 
     place of safety. In October, the ship was ordered sunk or 
     burned. Barry scuttled her in November, near Bordentown, New 
     Jersey, to deny her use to the British.
       In March of 1778, Captain Barry captured the British 
     schooner Alert of 20 guns, and two ships loaded with supplies 
     for the British Army using a fleet of small boats.
       Taking command of Raleigh, 32 guns, he sailed from Boston 
     in September 1778, and two days later was chased and attacked 
     by three of Royal Navy vessels. After a nine hour running 
     battle, he ran Raleigh ashore on an island near the mouth of 
     Penobscot Bay in what is now known as Maine, but was foiled 
     by a turncoat crewman and unable to completely destroy 
     Raleigh. He escaped to the mainland with most of his crew. He 
     then assumed command of the privateer Delaware, 10 guns.
       In November of 1780, Barry was ordered to command Alliance, 
     32 guns, and took John Laurens, Special Commissioner, to 
     France. Alliance would be his most famous command. To and 
     from France, he captured the British Privateers Alert, 12 
     guns; Mars, 26 guns; and Minerva, 10 guns.
       In May of 1781, Barry engaged the British sloops-of-war, 
     Atlanta, 20 guns, and Trepassy, 14 guns. This was to be 
     Barry's most famous engagement. Barry conducted a relentless 
     defense from the quarterdeck until a projectile of langridge 
     (broken nails and metal fragments) or canister (small 
     spherical projectiles) struck him in the left shoulder. He 
     remained on deck bleeding from many wounds until losing 
     consciousness. He was carried below to the cockpit for 
     medical care by the ship's surgeon.
       As the battle increased in intensity, Alliance's colors 
     were shot away. Barry's second in command, appeared before 
     him as his wounds were being dressed.
       I asked you to bear with me. 18th Century dialogue sound 
     wooden and strangely formal to the 21st Century.
       Barry's second in command stated, ``I have to report the 
     ship in frightful condition, Sir. The rigging is much cut, 
     damage everywhere great, many men killed and wounded, and we 
     labor under great disadvantage for want of wind. Have I 
     permission to strike our colors?''
       Barry replied angrily.
       ``No Sir, the thunder! If this ship cannot be fought 
     without me, I will be brought on deck; to your duty, Sir.'' A 
     new flag was raised using the mizzenbrail for a halyard, and 
     the fight continued. Just as they reached the deck, a gust of 
     wind filled Alliance's sails. Replying to her helm, the 
     battered Alliance swung about and the officers and crew 
     pressed their new advantage to victory.
       He continued in command of Alliance, taking numerous prizes 
     in 1782.
       In 1783, John Barry fought the last Continental Navy 
     engagement of the Revolutionary War against the British man-
     of-war Sybylle, 28 guns. Though the ship surrendered to him 
     he was obliged to abandon it to escape from the rest of the 
     squadron of which Sybylle was a part. At the time, Barry was 
     convoying Duc de Lauzane, carrying money and supplies from 
     the West Indies to the Colonies. His defense enabled Duc de 
     Lauzane to escape and reach the Colonies.
       After the close of Revolutionary War, Captain Barry 
     returned to the merchant marine.
       Upon reorganization of the Navy, in June of 1794, Captain 
     Barry was appointed No. 1 on the list of Captains and his 
     commission was signed by George Washington. As senior 
     captain, this status entitled him to the positional title of 
     ``commodore'' in any group of US Navy ships. The US Navy 
     would have no admirals until the Civil War. The title 
     ``admiral'' was thought to be to aristocratic and 
     undemocratic. The army could have generals, but the navy 
     would have only commodores.
       Barry was ordered to superintend the building of the 
     frigate United States, 44 guns, and to command her when 
     finished. He fought in the Quasi-War with France, 1798-1801, 
     capturing a number of French vessels in the West Indies. By 
     the direction of the Navy Department he brought United States 
     to Washington, where she was laid up. This ended Barry's 
     active service.
       He was employed in testing cannon for the Government 1801-
     1802, and was selected to command the Mediterranean Squadron, 
     but was too ill to take the duty. He died at his country 
     residence near Philadelphia.
       Commodore Barry was indeed the Father of the United States 
     Navy, he was there at the beginning and he stayed the course 
     through two wars. He set the example and what an example it 
     was. He was courageous, tenacious, and versatile.


                              Full Circle

       Let's take one last look at this First Navy Jack. We have 
     come full circle.

[[Page E1798]]

       On July 7, 1779, as you left Southport Harbor and looked 
     over your port beam (or larboard beam as Commodore Barry 
     would have known it), you would seen the smoke from the 
     British punitive raid on Fairfield. On September 11, 2001, as 
     you left Southport Harbor and looked over your starboard 
     beam, you would see the smoke from the burning towers of the 
     World Trade Center. Here we are in the Southport section of 
     Fairfield, a crossroads of history and yet even here in 
     Fairfield we failed to give due deference to history. The 
     Fairfield School system willfully fails to observe Veterans 
     Day, for example, as a holiday.
       We are at war, but have we learned from history? It is all 
     to easy to put the present war aside and go about our 
     business. Let someone else address the problem. Perhaps 
     another John Barry will turn up, or perhaps it doesn't 
     matter.
       We need more John Barrys, men of bravery and determination, 
     we can never have enough.
       Barry knew there were things worse than war and his life 
     was determined by that knowledge. He knew there were things 
     far worse than war. Do we? He acknowledged that there were 
     objectives that war could accomplish, do we?

                          ____________________