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Enterprise is defined by the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
(1963) as, "Boldness, energy, and invention in practical affairs". Ships that have beared the
name "Enterprise", real or fiction, have been inspirational to many throughout the United
States and the world. Click the links below to read about ships that have beared this famous name.
Ships of the sea that have been called "Enterprise" date back to before the year
1705, when Britain captured a French vessel called L'Enterprise. Seventy years later...
1775 to 1909
The first naval vessel in the United States to bear the name Enterprise was a 70
ton British Sloop of War, named HMS George. This ship was captured by the Continental Navy on 18 May 1775
during the American Revolution. This vessel would remain in service to the Continental Navy on Lake
Champlain until it ran aground near Whitehall, NY and was burned to prevent capture on 6/7 July 1777.
Between 20 December 1776 and February 1777, a second Enterprise served in the
Continental Navy. This 25 ton privateer schooner that was purchased by the Continental Navy would serve
in Chesapeake Bay before being returned to the Maryland Council of Safety.
The third Enterprise was constructed in 1799. This 135 ton schooner was
commissioned by 17 December 1799 as the first ship of her class (Bauer, 29). It fought in the Quasi War
with France, Barbary Wars and the War of 1812. This vessel also fought against pirates, slavers, and
smugglers within the waters of the United States of America. While performing these duties, the ship
recovered, captured or defeated 36 ships. One of the many ships captured by Enterprise was
accomplished with assistance from "Old Ironsides", the USS Constitution, in December of 1803.
Enterprise was practically rebuilt in 1805 in Venice. The ship would also be "re-rigged" as a
brig type ship in 1811 at Washington Navy Yard. The vessel would serve about twenty-four years in the US
Navy before running aground and being lost on 9 July 1823.
Eight years later, a 194 ton Boxer class (Bauer, 31) schooner was commissioned as
the fourth ship to bear the name Enterprise. This naval vessel spent a total of six years
patrolling off South America and sailed around the world once before being decommissioned 24 June 1844.
This vessel was the last Enterprise to use sails as its sole power source.
The United States and the world would not see another Enterprise until 16
March 1877, when a 1375 ton bark rigged, steam powered Adams class (Bauer, 77) Sloop of War was
commissioned as the fifth ship in the US Navy to bear the name Enterprise. This vessel would spend
the next thirteen years engaged in survey work or in reserve for the United States Navy. During the
1891-1892 academic year, this Enterprise would serve as a school ship to the US Naval Academy. In
October of 1892, the ship was loaned to the Commonwealth (State) of Massachusetts as a training vessel.
The vessel would be returned to the Navy in 1909 and sold on 1 October of that year, making it the
longest serving vessel to bear the name Enterprise to that time.
Some material from Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy by Bauer, K. Jack and Stephen S.
Roberts. New York: Greenwood Press, ©1991.
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