state legislature repealed all previously-established laws respecting the naval establishment. Throughout 1777 and 1778 the state acquired property for shipyards, and brought more ships into service. This included the Paul Pritchard Shipyard at Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. This activity picked up pace when the British captured Savannah late in 1778, bringing the war closer to the state. When it became clear the British were going to make a second attempt on Charleston in 1780, the state procured additional ships, and the naval defense of Charleston was passed to Continental Navy captain Abraham Whipple. Most of the state's ships were lost during the Siege of Charleston, and only a few small ships were commissioned after the tide of battle turned against the British in 1781. One ship that survived the loss of Charleston was the frigate South Carolina, which was at sea at the time. Commodore Alexander Gillon had procured South Carolina in Europe, the state having ordered her in March 1778. Previously named Indien, she was chartered from the Chevalier de Luxembourg for a three-year period. The charter agreement provided that prize money was to be divided between the officers and crew (½), South Carolina (¼), and the Chevalier Luxembourg (¼). On her way from Europe to South Carolina she captured several prizes, and she participated in the 1782 capturing of the Bahamas with the Spanish fleet. She was captured in December 1782, and the financial terms Gillon agreed to concerning prize distribution and indemnification of the Chevalier de Luxembourg for its loss bedeviled the state's finances for years. Additionally, the Navy included frigates, Rattlesnake, Bricole, and Truite (26), the brigs Notre Dame (16), and Comet; also General Moultrie (20). Bricole, Truite, Notre Dame and General Moultrie all participated in the defense of Charleston in early 1780. Bricole was a flûte built by Jean-Joseph Ginoux and launched around April 19, 1764. In September 1779 she sank in the Savannah River but was refloated. The next month the French ceded her to the South Carolina government. The South Carolinians wanted to convert her to a frigate of 44 guns, but then gave up the idea and made her a floating battery instead. As such she was armed with fourteen 12-pounder guns on her lower deck and twenty-two 8-pounder guns on her upper deck. In March 1780 she was sunk in front of Charleston, South Carolina to impede the entry of British