Our chapter was chartered on December 7, 1983. It is named in honor of the USS Chesapeake, which was launched from the Gosport Shipyard (today's Norfolk Naval Shipyard) on December 2, 1799. She was one of the first six frigates authorized by Congress on March 27, 1794. The USS Chesapeake, with a complement of 340 sailors, served an important role in the Quasi-War with France, the Tripolitan, and the War of 1812.
On June 1, 1813, near the Port of Boston, the USS Chesapeake engaged in her last battle against the British frigate, Shannon. Mortally wounded, Captain James Lawrence of the USS Chesapeake issued his last command, "Don't give up the ship!" This phrase has inspired American sailors to the present day.
The British hauled the ship back to Halifax, where she was impressed for service into the Royal Navy. In 1820, the USS Chesapeake ran aground. Her wood was used to build houses in Portsmouth, England, and a mill at the village of Wickham, near Southampton, England.
The City of Chesapeake, Virginia, was founded January 1, 1963, through the merger of the areas known as Norfolk County and the City of South Norfolk, Virginia. In the heart of Chesapeake is the borough of Great Bridge, where the first land battle of the Revolutionary War in Virginia took place on December 9, 1775.
Due to the patriots' momentous victory at the Battle of Great Bridge, Lord Dunmore and his troops fled and the Port of Norfolk was secured.
The Great Bridge Waterways and History Foundation commenced construction of a visitor's center and museum at the site of the Battle of Great Bridge. On March 20, 2006, the Virginia Daughters erected a monument in memory of patriots who fought in the battle.