Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Thomas READ
READ, Thomas, naval officer, was born in Newcastle, Del., in 1740; son of Col. John (the immigrant) and Mary (Howell) Read, and grandson of Henry Read, an English gentleman. He received a liberal education, and was appointed commodore of the Pennsylvania navy, Oct. 23, 1775, being the first American naval officer to receive that rank. He successfully defended the entrance to
the Delaware river, and was appointed to the highest grade in the Continental navy. June 7, 1776, and assigned to the command of the 32 gun frigate George Washington, still on the stocks on the Delaware river. While waiting for his vessel to be launched and fitted for service, he was appointed captain in the Continental army by the committee of safety, and joined General Washington before the army crossed the Delaware. He commanded a battery made up of guns intended for his frigate, in the battle of Trenton, and for his part in that battle received the formal thanks of all the general officers who took part. He subsequently resigned his commission and retired to his estate near
Bordentown, N.J., and in 1787 was induced by Robert Morris to take command of the frigate Alliance owned by the former. He made a voyage to the China seas, for commercial purposes, over a course that had never been sailed before, and reached Canton in December, 1787, having been more than six months on the way. He discovered two islands, naming them "Morris" and "Alliance," which form part of the Caroline group, and made the first out of season passage to China.
He died at White Hill, N.J., Oct. 26, 1788.
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