USS Alfred (1774)

Alfred was the merchant vessel Black Prince, named for Edward, the Black Prince, and launched in 1774. The Continental Navy of what would become the United States acquired her in 1775, renamed her Alfred, and commissioned her as a warship. She participated in two major actions, the battle of Nassau, and the action of 6 April 1776. The Royal Navy captured her in 1778, took her into service as HMS Alfred, and sold her in 1782. she then became the merchantman Alfred, and sailed between London and Jamaica.

Black Prince

Black Prince was built at Philadelphia in 1774. No record of her builder seems to have survived, but it is possible that John Wharton may have constructed the ship. It was owned by Willing, Morris & Co., a merchant trading firm operated by Thomas Willing and Robert Morris.

John Barry served as the ship's only master during her career as a Philadelphia merchantman. Launched in the autumn of 1774 as relations between the American colonies and the mother country grew increasingly tense, Black Prince was fitted out quickly so that she could load and sail to Bristol on the last day of 1774. The ship did not return to Philadelphia until April 25, 1775, six days after the Battle of Lexington and Concord.