The Deadliest Seconds of the War

Originally published in the Journal of the American Revolution on December 16, 2025.

On March 7, 1778, one of the deadliest naval battles of the Revolutionary War occurred off the coast of Barbados between the British ship Yarmouth and an American squadron led by the Continental frigate Randolph. The five-ship American contingent which sailed from Charlestown, South Carolina, led by Capt. Nicholas Biddle, was the largest joint Continental and state navy operation from that place during the war. Despite the relatively large assemblage of ships, the battle was brief and ended with the explosion of the Randolph and the deadliest seconds of the war.

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