In 1775, it was inconceivable that the American colonists could have overcome the overwhelming military superiority of Great Britain. Yet the belligerent colonists seemed certain that they could defeat the British army they so despised. On the other hand, the one great fear shared by all colonists was that they would not be able to overcome the presence of the Royal Navy. From as early as 1764 until the French joined the world-wide naval conflict, the colonists contended with British naval might alone and against formidable odds. These Blue Water Patriots fought the first battles on the road to American independence. This is their story. The 1700s were a period in which the armed merchantmen of the age of trade were replaced by genuine warships whose task was to control the sea lanes. The American Revolution was a watershed in that it marked the advent of improved warship designs, new technologies, improved gunpowder and communications, and innovative tactics. Volo provides readers with the historical context for understanding the fascinating technological and strategic innovations occurring in the Atlantic and in the Caribbean. Rich in detail and broad in historical scope, Blue Water Patriots takes readers from the firing on the Royal Navy cutter St. John in 1764 to Cornwallis's surrender trapped by the French fleet at Yorktown in 1781.