However, a subsequent survey found extensive
rot and other problems in her hull and suggested
breaking her up. Dr. Robinson wrote that green
timber used in her construction was the cause
for her poor condition upon her capture.
Although a very attractive ship, Confederacy's
career was typical of the American naval effort
during the Revolution. There were great plans
and beautiful ships, but in the end, it was a fail-
ure. She was, as Dr. Robinson noted a "beauti-
ful, but unlucky ship." Fortunately for future gen-
erations, the British took her lines and preserved
them. We can now study these designs and build
models of these ships to celebrate the history
they represent as well as the ingenuity of the
American colonial shipwright and their unbound-
ed faith in the American dream of freedom.
