Reddit Reddit reviews Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy

We found 17 Reddit comments about Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

History
Books
American History
United States History
Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy
W W Norton Company
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17 Reddit comments about Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy:

u/smileyman · 31 pointsr/AskHistorians

During the Quasi-War 21 year old Lieutenant Andrew Sterret summarily executed a man whom he accused of cowardice and desertion under fire. Sterret was serving aboard the USS Constellation. On February 9, 1799 the Constellation attacked the French ship L'Insurgente. Sterret command a division of gun crews. One of the members of his gun crew became terrified and abandoned his post, running to hide. Sterret chased the man down and killed him. He would later write a letter to his brother describing the incident:

>“One fellow I was obliged to run through the body with my sword, and so put an end to a coward. You must not think this strange, for we would put a man to death for even looking pale on board this ship.” [Emphasis in original.]

Source: Toll, Ian W. Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy

u/tspangle88 · 10 pointsr/WarshipPorn

Great picture! If you are interested in Constitution and her sisters, I highly recommend the book "Six Frigates".

u/Flatline334 · 4 pointsr/MURICA

Fellow patriot. If you would like to get a freedom boner to end all freedom boners the you need to read Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy. You will learn about the Constitution but also the other 5 Frigates that were constructed at the same time: The Constellation, The Chesapeake, The President, The United States and The Congress. It is one of my favorite books.

u/agoody117 · 3 pointsr/history

"Six Frigates: The Epic Founding of the US Navy" by Ian Toll:

I read it a few months ago and it was fantastic. I would recommend this if you are interested in the founding / barbary wars / war of 1812

u/cptn_fantastic · 3 pointsr/books

One of my favorite history books is Six Frigates by Ian Toll. For Mediterranean naval history, which at the time involved most extant civilizations, check out Empires of the Sea by Roger Crowley.

u/stoicsmile · 3 pointsr/CasualConversation

Six Frigates sounds up his/her alley. It's about the history of the founding of the American Navy. Lots of political insight as well historical context.

Edit: The stories of these ships and the men who sailed them are epic and dramatic as well.

u/Sebu91 · 3 pointsr/MURICA

Rekt ;)

But seriously, there's an excellent book on the founding of the US Navy and on the exploits of the Six Frigates. It's called "Six Frigates" and can be found here:


Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy by Ian W. Toll http://www.amazon.com/dp/039333032X/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_YHkbub18CB4SE

u/Qkix · 3 pointsr/fountainpens

She was built after the revolution.

If you're interested, here's a good book about her.

This one is very good also.

I really want one of those pens now.

u/angryundead · 3 pointsr/AskHistorians

I'm not an expert but I can give you the layman's version from Six Frigates. (This is more concerned with the Naval history and events that lead to the conflict.)

The budding US military needed competent sailors because of continued conflict with the Barbary Coast states. As a result some of the sailors were from other countries (which was common in all navies at the time) and many of them were either current or former citizens of the British Empire.

At the same time the English were in a conflict with France and desperately needed more men for the Royal Navy. As a result they began impressing former British sailors from ships that didn't belong to them and specifically that were sailing under the colors of the United States. As you can imagine, with the Revolutionary War still very much in the common mind, this didn't sit well with the fledgling nation.

In 1807 there was the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair, an international incident involving the desertion and recovery of sailors from British ships. The commander of the Leopard (Captain Salusbury Pryce Humphreys) unexpectedly opened fire on the Chesapeake after the Chesapeake refused to heave to to allow a search for deserters.

This nearly started a war by itself but lead to growing dissatisfaction in the United States with the way that the British (and the Royal Navy in particular) disregarded the sovereignty of the US.

Six Frigates also maintains that the British ambassador to the United States and the American president (James Madison) took an immediate disliking to each other which further disrupted diplomatic relations.

This breakdown of communications and the refusal of the American Congress and British Parliament to back down eventually led to the war.

At the time, too, the United States had the eponymous six frigates (Constitution, Chesapeake, Constellation, United States, Congress, and President) which gave them a fair amount of strength in the north Atlantic and they held a strategic advantage over the Royal Naval forces who were engaged with the French Navy. This strength contributed to the idea that the Americans should not back down. (The six frigates were also of a newer heavier variety which led to early victories in the war that deeply disturbed and embarrassed the Admiralty.)

The English (according to Six Frigates) wouldn't back down because they win at everything naval and all foreigners are inferior.

It looks, to me, like a slow-motion train wreck.

u/JimDandy_ToTheRescue · 2 pointsr/WarshipPorn

Sorry, knew it. Though it is certainly an obscure incident. Hopefully someone will have learned something from our exchange!

Good relevant reading material: http://amzn.com/039333032X

u/DoctorWhosOnFirst · 2 pointsr/CFBOffTopic

I haven't read one that was specifically about the Quasi War. I took a class on US Naval History that I loved, and I'm trying to remember some of the books we read.

I haven't read it personally, but I've heard good things about Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy.

u/GnomishKaiser · 1 pointr/AskHistorians

If you want to more information on the founding of the US Navy I would suggest reading http://www.amazon.com/Six-Frigates-Epic-History-Founding/dp/039333032X. It goes in depth into the reasoning and building behind ships like the constitution and the rest of the small US navy at the time.

u/[deleted] · 1 pointr/todayilearned

A Army at Dawn and The Day of Battle for (Americans) in North Africa and Italy.

The Great Ships: British Battleships during WW2 by Peter Smith.

Six Frigates for the early history of the USN.

(can you tell I was in the Navy).

My favorite novel set in WW2 is The Caine Mutiny.

u/JohnJacobAdolf · 1 pointr/dancarlin
u/DBHT14 · 1 pointr/AskHistorians

You are very welcome. Not sure if you have read it but an absolute must for understanding the first 40 years of the USN is Ian W. Toll's 6 Frigates. http://www.amazon.com/Six-Frigates-Epic-History-Founding/dp/039333032X

And int he end by 1815 the USN just didnt have very many officers it could turn to for senior command.

Truxton and Dale had left prior to the war and were persona non grata. Prebble was dead along with Lawrence.

That essentially left Perry, Bainbridge, Decatur, Hull, Chauncey, Stewart, Rodgers, and Macdonough as the cadre of experienced captains to virtually run the navy. Which explains how to even just fill out the ranks men like Barron and Porter were brought back into the fold. And how men like Elliott attained rank. For better or worse there were about 2 dozen men of any rank in the USN who had commanded a vessel in battle and they couldnt afford to let too many go for reasons of personality conflicts.

Though when they started killing each other that was a different matter.

u/BlueKnightofDunwich · 1 pointr/Military

Six Frigates

It’s about the early years of the US Navy’s first Frigates. A really great read, especially if you enjoy American or Naval history. It manages to hit that perfect balance of delving deep into subjects like ship building while still being very entertaining. Plus the audiobook is narrated by Stephen Lang, who played General Longstreet in Gettysburg and the scar dude in Avatar.