Topic: Nicholas Biddle

Nicholas Biddle (September 10, 1750–March 17, 1778) was one of the first five captains of the Continental Navy, which was raised by the Americans during the American Revolutionary War.

Nicholas Biddle was born in Philadelphia. At the age of thirteen, he went on a voyage to the West Indies, during which he was marooned on a desert island for two months. In 1770, he became a midshipman in the Royal Navy. In 1773, he resigned from the navy in order to join Captain Constantine Phipps expedition to the Arctic. While on this trip, he met the future Lord Nelson.

As the American Revolution threatened to break out, he returned to the colonies and offered his services to the state of Pennsylvania. In August 1775, the Pennsylvania Committee of Safety placed Biddle in command of the armed galley Franklin.