Photograph by Brown Brothers 



LAUNCHING THE U. S. S. "MICHIGAN" 



In times of peace the launching of a battleship is a gala event, attended by elaborate 

 ceremonies and witnessed by enthusiastic throngs proud of the privilege of seeing the "mar- 

 riage to the sea" of another man-of-war destined to uphold the honor of America. In times 

 of war, however, no such crowds as attended the Michigan's launching are admitted to the 

 shipyards, for an enemy might, with a bomb, undo the labor of years and destroy a formidable 

 unit of our growing sea power. 



to London a report of the affair, accom- 

 panied by affidavits that the brigantine 

 "during- the time of the salute and the 

 answer to it, had the flag of the Con- 

 tinental Congress flying." The British 

 Government protested sharply to the 

 States General of the Republic of the 

 Netherlands. The Dutch demurred at 

 the asperity with which England de- 

 manded an explanation, but immediately 

 recalled Commander de Graef from St. 

 Eustatius. Thus the first salute to the 

 new ensign was disavowed, although the 

 Holland Republic recognized American 

 independence shortly thereafter. 



In the literature of the Revolution fre- 

 quent reference is found to a "plain 

 striped flag" (404). Official correspond- 

 ence shows that whenever this flag was 

 used afloat it was as the badge of mer- 

 chant shipping and privateers and not as 

 the ensign of the regular commissioned 

 vessels of the navy. How long the Grand 



Union Flag was in use has never been 

 definitely established ; but official records 

 of the navy fail to show that any other 

 ensign was used until after the Star 

 Spangled Banner's adoption by Congress. 



BIRTHDAY OF THE STARS AND STRIPES 



It was nearly one year after the repre- 

 sentatives of the United States of Amer- 

 ica, in General Congress assembled, had 

 pledged their lives, their fortunes, and 

 their sacred honor for the support of the 

 Declaration of Independence that the 

 crosses of St. George and St. Andrew, 

 emblematic of the Mother Country, which 

 had formed the union of the Continental 

 Union flag (364), were discarded and re- 

 placed by a union composed of white 

 stars in a blue field, "representing a new 

 constellation" (see flag No. 6, page 310). 



The date of the birth of the Stars and 

 Stripes, was June 14, 1777, and its crea- 

 tion was proclaimed in a resolution of the 



29s 



