Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy (review)

During the Revolutionary War, the country's ragtag, poorly manned, and poorly equipped collection of privateers, state naval militias, and Continental Navy found failure on the high seas more commonly than success. Of the thirteen U.S. frigates built during the Revolutionary War, for example, seven were captured by the Royal Navy. Although briefly buoyed by the audacity of commanders like John Paul Jones, the country was unable and unwilling to sustain a navy in the postrevolutionary period. Its last frigate, Alliance, was sold in 1785 and lived the rest of its days as a merchant ship. Under the Articles of Confederacy, the government could encourage international trade, but it did not have the means to protect the merchants who delivered and sold their cargo.

When the Articles of Confederation were replaced by a new government in 1789, however, the debate over building a navy was renewed, as merchant ships and their crews were held for ransom, particularly along the Barbary Coast in the Mediterranean. Growing threats by established powers such as England and France also demonstrated the need for a navy, particularly to Federalists like Alexander Hamilton. Anti-Federalists argued that a navy would "expand the power of the federal government to the detriment of the states; that it would increase the public debt; that it would lead to higher taxes; and that its expense would fall on the small farmer of the impoverished interior of the country, who might never even lay eyes on the sea" (33). By 1794, the Federalists won out, and a Naval Armament Bill was passed by Congress that authorized the construction of six frigates, forming the nucleus of a new United States Navy. Ironically, opponents of the bill like Jefferson and Madison found their later presidential administrations heavily reliant upon these six ships.

It is within this context that Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy tells a tale told many times, but mostly in fragments. Author Ian Toll begins his story with the Age of Nelson, a time during which the Royal Navy gained maritime supremacy and the small, struggling United States, and its even smaller navy, was barely a concern in the face of England's greater and more immediate threats. Toll capably covers the role of the U.S. Navy during the Quasi-War with France, the Barbary Wars, and the War of 1812.

The story of the early U.S. Navy has always held some fascination in American popular and literary culture, particularly recently in the wake of Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey series. But in the past decade, there has been a resurgence of sorts with the appearance of a number of first-rate books. Strong biographies of John Paul Jones by Evan Thomas and Rear Admiral Joseph Callo, four new Stephen Decatur biographies, and others have also fed this passion for early naval history.

Toll's work, however, offers a new depth of understanding of the navy and the country's history. In addition to America's early naval engagements, Toll pays equal attention to the vital but largely ignored congressional debates and political involvement, without which there would not have been a navy. This book includes the stories of the six ships, whose launchings were sometimes less than spectacular or auspicious; the ship designers and builders (Humphreys, Penrose, and Fox), who were not immune to differences of opinion; and the members of Congress who opposed or funded these projects. Toll seamlessly interweaves all these aspects.

Toll's work is refreshing for another important reason. Some post- 9/11 naval histories have attempted to capitalize on the current national security challenge by suggesting the conflict with the Barbary States was America's first war on terror. Those otherwise satisfactory works are diminished by either a fundamental ignorance of terrorism or capitulation to marketing ploys that diminish the...