"The American Revolutionary War was fought mainly on land and won mainly on the water. So great was the dependence of the colonists on overseas trade that many in England believed that the rebellion could be suppressed by naval force alone. In the absence of the actual presence of the enemy within the country . . . and with the resultant deterioration of the American economy, it would have been very difficult to keep even the most patriotic rebel at fighting pitch . . . history might have been written very differently.
An important factor, and one not always remembered, was that the Continental Congress relied heavily on aid from abroad. Aid which included not only muskets and powder, but ultimately ships and men as well. This aid could only be brought to American shores by water, and to do it required a sea power to counterbalance that of England.
The struggle for North America was fought not only at Trenton, Monmouth, and Saratoga, but also in the cold, gray seas off Ushant; off Cadiz, and in the shadows of grim Gibralter, and in the tropical waters of the West Indies."
-- Jack Coggins - Ships and Seamen of the American Revolution
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