Saltonstall's Naval Fleet Gun

In the summer of 1779, Massachusetts organized a large expedition to drive the British from Fort George at Castine on Penobscot Bay. The naval force was commanded by Commodore Dudley Saltonstall. For nearly three weeks, the Americans besieged the British position but failed to capture it. Then, on 13 August 1779, a powerful British relief squadron under Sir George Collier arrived. The American fleet retreated and deliberately scuttled, or blew up their own vessels to keep them from falling into British hands. Historians generally count 42 American vessels lost. The loss of Saltonstall's fleet was catastrophic. The Penobscot Expedition is often described as the worst American naval defeat before Pearl Harbor. Commodore Saltonstall was later court-martialed and dismissed from the Continental Navy for how he handled the campaign.