Did you know that the New Hampshire built worship?

The USS Raleigh started life as a patriot and ended up a loyalist.

Although most of the fighting during the Revolutionary War happened on land, there was still a fair amount of fighting on the high seas.

In 1775, the Continental Congress created the Continental Navy and ordered 13 frigates to be built.

The Raleigh was one of them.

It was built on Badger Island at the shipyard of Portsmouth's John Langdon.

Just a few years after the Revolutionary War.

That island would become part of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, which is the oldest continuously operating shipyard in the United States.

The Raleigh was a type of worship known as a frigate, and it carried 32 guns.

Shortly after it put to sea in August 1777, it became the first American naval vessel to carry the American flag into battle.

She chased down British supplies, captured a schooner carrying counterfeit Massachusetts money, scouted with enemy convoys, and even tangled with British escorts on the open sea.

However, while she started her days serving the United States, he was captured by the British and her name was changed to the HMS Raleigh.

New Hampshire had long been known as one of America's shipbuilding centers way before the Raleigh was built, but the ship still holds a special place in New Hampshire's history.

In fact, our first state seal included an image of the ship under construction.

In 1931, the state government redesigned the seal.

The ship depicted on it then was fully built and designated as the USS Raleigh.

It's still on our state seal and our state flag today.