A third of the tonnage on the British shipping register in 1775 came from American Shipyards, and in the years of the revolution that followed no institution suffered more acutely from the loss of American resources and manpower than the Royal Navy. Yet left to herself America was incredibly slow to build up an effective force of sailing warships of her own; her politicians were reluctant to allocate money for construction and the turbulent characters of her senior naval officers - the Commodores - repeatedly influenced development. Well illustrated with The Ships, the Commodores and the Events of the Period.