| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USS Lynch |
| Namesake | Thomas Lynch |
| Owner | Colonel John Lee of Marblehead, Massachusetts |
| Ordered | by General George Washington |
| Builder | not known |
| Laid down | date unknown |
| Acquired | 26 January 1776 |
| Commissioned | 1 February 1776 at Manchester, New Hampshire |
| Decommissioned | (captured by the British 19 May 1777) |
| Refit | Beverly, Massachusetts |
| Captured | by HMS Foudroyant 19 May 1777 |
| Fate | taken to Plymouth, England, 23 May 1777 by the British |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | schooner |
| Tonnage | not known |
| Length | not known |
| Beam | not known |
| Draft | not known |
| Propulsion | sail |
| Complement | not known |
| Armament | two 4-pounder guns; two 2-pounder guns; four swivel guns |
USS Lynch was a schooner acquired as part of the Continental Navy in 1776. She served for over a year on the New England coast, interfering with British maritime trade when possible. In 1777 she was assigned dispatch boat duty and, after delivering her secret dispatches to France, set sail for the United States with French secret dispatches. The British captured her, but not before she could destroy the French dispatches.