“Boldness, energy, and invention in practical affairs” defines the word, thus the name, Enterprise. Ships that been called Enterprise have been serving in the United States Navy since the days of the Continental Navy during American Revolution of the 1770's and have embodied this definition over two and a quarter centuries. Here is a look at the earliest vessels to serve the American colonies and the United States in the 18th and 19th Centuries.
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 the night of 6/7 July 1777.
The second Enterprise of the Continental Navy served between 20 December 1776 and February 1777. This 25 ton privateer schooner was purchased by the Continental Navy would serve as a non-commissioned vessel in Chesapeake Bay before being returned to the Maryland Council of Safety.
The third Enterprise was constructed in 1799. The 135 ton schooner was commissioned by 17 December 1799 as the first ship of her class. It fought in the Quasi-War with France, the Barbary Wars and the War of 1812. This vessel also fought against pirates, slavers, and smugglers within the waters of the United States. 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”, USS Constitution, in December 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 in 1831, the U.S. Navy commissioned a Boxer-class schooner as the fourth ship to bear the name Enterprise. This 194 ton vessel spent a total of six years patrolling off South America and sailed around the world once before being decommissioned 24 June 1844. This Enterprise was the last to use sails as its sole source of propulsion.
The United States would not see another Enterprise until 16 March 1877, when a 1,375 ton bark-rigged, steam powered, screw driven Adams-class 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 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.