O'Brien I (TB-30)
Captain Jeremiah O'Brien and his five brothers, Gideon, John, William, Dennis and Joseph, were crewmembers of the sloop Unity which captured HMS Margaretta at the entrance to the harbor at Machias, Mass. (now Maine), 12 June 1775. Under the command of Jeremiah O'Brien, thirty-one townsmen armed with guns, swords, axes, and pitch forks captured the British armed schooner in an hour long battle after Margaretta had threatened to bombard the town for interference with the shipment of lumber to British troops in Boston.
I
The first O'Brien (Torpedo Boat 30) was laid down by Lewis Nixon, Elizabethport, N.J., 29 December 1898; launched 24 September 1900; sponsored by Miss Mira O'Brien, great-great granddaughter of Joseph O'Brien; and commissioned 15 July 1905, Lt. Edward Woods in command. Between August 1905 and April 1906, she operated with the coastal squadron between Newport and Pensacola. Placed in the Reserve Torpedo Flotilla 7 May 1906, at the Norfolk Navy Yard, she was struck from the Navy List 3 March 1909 and used as target.
