<P> On Lake Champlain, Benedict Arnold ordered the construction of 12 Navy vessels to slow down the British fleet that was invading New York from Canada . The British fleet did destroy Arnold's fleet, but the U.S. fleet managed to slow down the British after a two - day battle, known as the Battle of Valcour Island, and managed to slow the progression of the British Army . By mid-1776, a number of ships, ranging up to and including the thirteen frigates approved by Congress, were under construction, but their effectiveness was limited; they were completely outmatched by the mighty Royal Navy, and nearly all were captured or sunk by 1781 . </P> <P> Privateers had some success, with 1,697 letters of marque being issued by Congress . Individual states, American agents in Europe and in the Caribbean also issued commissions; taking duplications into account more than 2,000 commissions were issued by the various authorities . Over 2,200 British ships were taken by Yankee privateers, amounting to almost $66 million, a significant sum at the time . </P> <P> One particularly notable American naval hero of the Revolution was John Paul Jones, who in his famous voyage around the British Isles defeated the British ship Serapis (1779) in the Battle of Flamborough Head . Partway through the battle, with the rigging of the two ships entangled, and several guns of Jones' ship Bonhomme Richard (1765) out of action, the captain of Serapis asked Jones if he had struck his colors, to which Jones has been quoted as replying, "I have not yet begun to fight!" </P> <P> France officially entered the war on 17 June 1778, and the ships of the French Navy sent to the Western Hemisphere spent most of the year in the West Indies, and only sailed near the Thirteen Colonies during the Caribbean hurricane season from July until November . The first French fleet attempted landings in New York and Rhode Island, but ultimately failed to engage British forces during 1778 . In 1779, a fleet commanded by Vice Admiral Charles Henri, comte d'Estaing assisted American forces attempting to recapture Savannah, Georgia . </P>

When was the term new navy first used