Ship Modelers Association

The ALFRED was a converted merchantman of 440 tons which carried a compliment of 220 men with 20 each 9-pounder guns and 10 each 6-pounder guns. They think John Wharton of Philadelphia originally built her in 1774. She was originally the merchantman BLACK PRINCE which first made two voyages to England as a merchantman before being requisitioned for a warship by the Continental Congress on November 4, 1775. She was renamed for Alfred the Great, the ninth-century British king credited with building England’s first fleet. Her first commander was Captain Dudley Saltonstall.

The Alfred was the first flagship of the new Continental Navy in 1775, flying the Grand Union Flag of the United Colonies. She was made flagship of Commodore Ezek Hopkins’s eight-ship squadron (including COLUMBUS, CABOT, ANDREW DORIA, PROVIDENCE, FLY, HORNET, and WASP), which occupied Nassau for two weeks in March 0f 1776. On board the ALFRED on her voyage on October 26, 1776, was one lieutenant John Paul Jones, when the ALFRED left New London for a cruise off Nova Scotia during which ALFRED captured nine enemy ships before successfully returning to Boston on December 26th. The British supplied many of the supplies and war material needed by General George Washington and his army by just such seizures of British supply ships originally intended for the British.

The following August, under Captain Elisha Hinman, ALFRED and RALEIGH sailed for France for military supplies. Returning via the West Indies, the two ships were engaged by the British ships HMS ARIADNE (20 guns) and CERES (14 guns) on March 29, 1778. As a result of this battle, ALFRED was captured and acquired by the Royal Navy at Barbados. She only lasted in the Royal Navy for four years, however, as she was then sold out of service in 1782.

There is a fine kit of this model put out by Bluejacket Shipcrafters based upon the research of Larry Arnot who produced the instruction booklet for this kit model that is a textbook on the details of 18th century naval design and outfitting. The model is to the scale of 1:96, is of solid hull construction and comes with brass etching details. This is not a model for a beginner if the modeler intends to fully rig the model.