USS Alfred 24-gun ship. Port stern quarter. Alfred (formerly the Black Prince) commissioned in 1775. The first battleship ever owned by the United States of America, the U. S. S. Alfred was commissioned at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 23 December 1775. The ship was purchased from the British Royal Navy where it was named the Black Prince. (This wooden ship-of-the-line is not to be confused with the ironclad Black Prince built in 1861.) Lieutenant John Paul Jones commanded the USS Alfred and he received the Alfred into the US Navy on 03 December 1775 by hoisting the Grand Union Flag. After...