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On June 12, 1775, Maine Sailor Jeremiah O'Brien Waged the first Naval Battle of the American Revolution


Photo Courtesy of Naval History and Heritage Command

 On June 12, 1775, the first naval battle of the American Revolution took place off the coast of Machias, Maine. That is the day when Jeremiah O'Brien (1744-1818) his four brothers and fellow townsmen from Machias created the "first act of Colonial piracy" in the war by leading an attack on the British cutter Margaretta.  They captured the ship and took its munitions as bounty.  

The conflict occurred five days before the Battle of Bunker Hill, and was the first instance of armed naval combat between Americans and a foreign power. For that reason, many New Englanders consider Machias as one of the "Birthplaces of the U.S. Navy."

The conflict began when the town of Machias  put up a Liberty Pole in town after hearing about the battle of Lexington in April 1775.  When the British ship Margaretta sailed into the harbor, the captain warned the townspeople that the pole must come down, or the ship would fire upon the town. The townspeople voted to leave the  pole intact, and to instead capture the Margaretta. 

Two American ships, the Unity and the Falmouth Packet, were dispatched to fight the battle. 

According to author Charles Lucey, "Fighting was furious," with both sides "determined to conquer or die."  The colonists under O'Brien "used axes and pitchforks" when the battle was joined at close quarters.  But they eventually captured the British feet, killing British Captain James Moore. 

After the battle townspeople erected a fort with a four-gun battery, but it was destroyed by the British later that year.  Today, the Fort O’Brien State Historic Site is a Maine State Historic Site. 


Maine was part of the Massachusetts Colony until 1820.  In August 1775 the Massachusetts Provincial Congress declared, "Jeremiah O'Brien is hereby commissioned as commander of the armed schooner Diligent and the sloop Machias Liberty, for the purpose of guarding the sea coast, for the sum of 160 pounds lawful money of this Colony of supplying the men with provision s and ammunition."  Subsequently, the O'Brien brothers engaged in numerous battles with English ships along the coast from Newburyport to Maine.  

The head of the O'Brien family was Morris O'Brien, who came from Ireland in 1740 and settled in Kittery, Maine, according to the US Congressional Record, and married his wife Mary, also an Irish immigrant.  Subsequently they moved to Machias, where they had six boys, of which Jeremiah was the eldest. The family ran a lumber mill in Machias.

A fascinating biography entitled Life of Captain Jeremiah O'Brien, Machias, Maine, was written by Andrew Sherman and published in 1902.

In 1937 sculptor John Paramino created a plaque for the Massachusetts State House commemorating O'Brien's "distinguished services for winning the first navel engagement in the War of the Revolution and of his subsequent exploits in said war as the first regularly commissioned naval officer  and commander of the Revolutionary Navy of Massachusetts."  It is located on the staircase next to the Hall of Flags. 


In 1975, the original anchor from the Machias Sloop Unity was dedicated along Highway 1 outside of Machias, ME, according to Waymarker.


Five ships in the United States Navy have been named USS O'Brien.  During World War II, the United States liberty ship SS Jeremiah O'Brien was named in his honor.

The Massachusetts State House is one of the 20 downtown stops along Boston's Irish Heritage Trail.

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