Nicholas Biddle (naval officer)

Nicholas Biddle 1750-78, American naval officer, b. Philadelphia. Biddle left the British navy in 1773. In the American Revolution he became captain in the patriot navy and daringly raided British shipping off the American coast. After receiving command (1777) of the ship Randolph, Biddle was killed and his ship destroyed in an encounter (1778) with the British warship Yarmouth off the coast of Barbados.

Biddle, Nicholas (1750–78) Revolutionary naval officer, born in Philadelphia. As a captain in the Continental navy, he commanded the Andrea Doria (1776) and joined Esek Hopkins, the colonies' naval commander in chief, in capturing British forts in the Bahamas and raiding British shipping in the North Atlantic. Commanding the 32–gun warship Randolph (1776), he captured the 20–gun True Briton, along with 3 accompanying merchantmen. He died in a sea battle with the 64–gun British ship of the line Yarmouth, 60 leagues east of Barbados.