![]() Gloucester in 1813, drawn from a model | |
History | |
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Name | Duke of Gloucester |
Builder | Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard, Kingston |
Launched | May 1807 |
Fate | Captured on 25 April 1813 |
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Name | York |
Acquired | Captured 25 April 1813 |
In service | 25 April 1813 |
Out of service | 29 May 1813 |
Fate | Burned by the British on 29 May 1813 |
Notes | Used as powder hulk |
General characteristics | |
Type | 10-gun brig |
Tons burthen | 165 (bm) |
Propulsion | Sails |
Sail plan | brig |
Armament | 10 × 12-pounder guns |
HMS Duke of Gloucester (or Gloucester) was a 10-gun brig of the Royal Navy which was launched at the Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard in Kingston, Ontario. A Provincial Marine vessel, during the War of 1812, the brig took part in several of the early engagements between British and American naval forces on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. While being repaired at York, Duke of Gloucester was captured by Americans in 1813. A month later the British destroyed the brig at the Battle of Sackett's Harbor.
In 1806, plans were drawn up for a vessel to replace the aging Provincial Marine gunboat Swift. [1] The new vessel was constructed at Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard in Kingston, Upper Canada under Master Shipwright John Dennis. [2] [3] When Duke of Gloucester was launched in May 1807, the Provincial Marine's role on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River was restricted to the transport of provisions and personnel for the colonial government and the British Army. [2] [4] The vessel measured 165 tons burthen and Duke of Gloucester's draught was shallow enough to allow the brig access to any port in any season. [2] [5] The vessel was armed with ten 12-pounder (5.4 kg) guns. [2] By the War of 1812, the vessel was armed with six 6-pounder (2.7 kg) long guns and rated a schooner. [6] [7]
After entering service, Duke of Gloucester was retained for exclusive use by the colonial government. By 1812, the hull had rotted and a replacement, Prince Regent, was ordered. [5] At the onset of the war, Duke of Gloucester was commanded by Lieutenant Francis Gauvreau. [8] Duke of Gloucester was part of the squadron under the command of Master Commandant Hugh Earl that sailed to attack Sackett's Harbor on 19 July 1812. While the three larger vessels in the squadron, Royal George, Earl of Moira and Prince Regent attacked the American fortifications, Duke of Gloucester remained offshore. The attack failed and the British withdrew. [9]
Duke of Gloucester and Earl of Moira were then ordered to capture a group of American merchant vessels sheltering at Ogdensburg, New York. Commodore Isaac Chauncey sent the schooner Julia to intercept the British vessels and the two forces met off Elizabethtown, Upper Canada on 31 July. Earl of Moira fired and missed Julia, but the strength of musket fire coming from the British shoreline forced the Americans to retreat to Ogdensburg. The following day, Earl of Moira and Duke of Gloucester began a naval blockade of Ogdensburg. The blockade was in effect until the end of the month when a temporary halt to the conflict allowed Julia and the merchant vessels to sail for Lake Ontario. [10] For the rest of the year the squadron, with the exception of Royal George, performed the traditional duties of the Provincial Marine, transporting supplies along Lake Ontario. [11]
During the winter of 1812–1813, Duke of Gloucester was sent to York, Upper Canada. [12] However, by 1813, Duke of Gloucester was no longer seaworthy and was un-rigged. [13] [14] Duke of Gloucester was being repaired at York, with the intent of increasing the vessel's armament to 16 guns when the Americans briefly captured the colonial capital in 1813. [15] [16] Chauncey stripped the town of guns and supplies and towed the schooner back to Sackett's Harbor, New York. [15] Renamed York, the schooner was converted to a powder hulk at Sackett's Harbor. [17] [18] York was herself damaged by the British a month later on 29 May 1813 in the Battle of Sackett's Harbor. [19]
The Battle of York was a War of 1812 battle fought in York, Upper Canada on April 27, 1813. An American force supported by a naval flotilla landed on the lakeshore to the west and advanced against the town, which was defended by an outnumbered force of regulars, militia and Ojibwe natives under the overall command of Major General Roger Hale Sheaffe, the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada.
HMS Detroit was a 20-gun sloop of the Royal Navy, launched in July 1813 and serving on Lake Erie during the War of 1812. She was the most powerful British ship in the Lake Erie squadron until the Americans captured her during the Battle of Lake Erie on 10 September 1813. Detroit was commissioned into the United States Navy as its first USS Detroit. However, she was so damaged that the sloop took no further part in the war. Postwar, Detroit was sunk for preservation at Misery Bay off Presque Isle until 1833, when she was refloated and converted for commercial service. In 1841, Detroit was reduced to a hulk at Buffalo, New York where she was purchased with the intent of sending her over Niagara Falls. The plan went awry and Detroit ran aground on a shoal before the falls and broke up.
USS Sylph was a schooner in the United States Navy during the War of 1812.
USS Julia was a schooner in the United States Navy during the War of 1812. Initially the privately-owned schooner Julia, she was captured at the onset of the war by armed boats looking for violators of President James Madison's embargo of trade with the British. Purchased by the United States Navy, the vessel was armed with two guns and made part of the squadron on Lake Ontario. Julia took part in the Battle of York and the Battle of Fort George. In August 1813, the schooner was captured by the Royal Navy after failing to execute a turn and was put in service as HMS Confiance. The vessel continued as a warship in British service for a couple of weeks before being converted to a troop transport. In October, Confiance was recaptured by the Americans and renamed Julia. No longer considered capable as a warship, the vessel was retired from service.
USS General Pike was a corvette in the United States Navy, which took part in Engagements on Lake Ontario during the Anglo-American War of 1812. She was launched in June 1813 and took part in several indecisive battles on the Great Lakes. She was laid up at the end of the war and was sold in 1825.
HMS Royal George was a British 20-gun wooden sloop of the Provincial Marine, and subsequently, the Royal Navy, operating on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812. The vessel took part in several Engagements on Lake Ontario and was the flagship of the Provincial Marine at the First Battle of Sackett's Harbor. In 1814, the vessel was renamed Niagara. Following the war, the sloop was converted to a transport and sold in 1837.
HMS Princess Charlotte, later HMS Burlington, was a 42-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy built in 1814, during the War of 1812 at the Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard in Kingston, Ontario. She had originally been built as Vittoria, but was renamed before being launched. She was constructed to a design by George Record, and was built under a private contract by Master shipwright John Goudie. She served on Lake Ontario, having been commissioned at Oswego on 5 May 1814 under Captain William Mulcaster.
HMS Psyche was a 54-gun fourth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was built at the Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard in Kingston, Upper Canada during the War of 1812, using frames shipped from Britain and assembled in Upper Canada. The ship was not completed until after the end of the war in 1815 and did not enter service. Under the Rush–Bagot Treaty of 1816, the frigate was disarmed and laid up at Kingston. The ultimate fate of the ship is unknown.
The Engagements on Lake Ontario encompass the prolonged naval contest for control of the lake during the War of 1812. Few actions were fought, none of which had decisive results. The contest essentially became a naval building race, sometimes referred to sarcastically as the "Battle of the Carpenters."
The Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard from 1788 to 1853 in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, at the site of the current Royal Military College of Canada.
Amherstburg Royal Naval Dockyard was a Provincial Marine and then a Royal Navy yard from 1796 to 1813 in Amherstburg, Ontario, situated on the Detroit River. The yard comprised blockhouses, storehouses, magazine, wood yard and wharf. The yard was established in 1796 to support the Upper Canada Provincial Marine after Great Britain ceded a pre-existing shipyard on the Detroit River to the United States. Amherstburg Royal Naval Dockyard constructed four warships for the Lake Erie detachment of the Provincial Marine before and during the War of 1812. In 1813 the dockyard was abandoned and destroyed when the British retreated and never reopened. In 1928, the site was designated a National Historic Site of Canada.
HMS Prince Regent was a 56-gun British warship that served on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812. Prince Regent was built at the Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard in Kingston, Upper Canada and launched on 14 April 1814. Rated as a fourth-rate frigate, Prince Regent took part in the Raid on Fort Oswego in 1814. Following the War of 1812 the frigate was renamed HMS Kingston on 9 December 1814. In 1817, the vessel was placed in reserve following the Rush-Bagot Treaty that demilitarized all the lakes along the United States-Canada border. Discarded in 1832, the vessel found no buyer and sank in Deadman Bay off Kingston after 1832.
HMS Moira was a British 14-gun schooner of the Royal Navy, that plied the waters of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River during the War of 1812. Initially constructed for the Provincial Marine in 1805, the vessel took part in the Engagements on Lake Ontario. Renamed Charwell in 1814, following the war, the vessel became a powder hulk and an accommodation vessel. The vessel was sold in 1837.
HMS Wolfe was a 20-gun sloop-of-war, launched at the Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard at Kingston, Upper Canada, on 22 April 1813. She served in the British naval squadron in several engagements on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812. Upon her launch, Wolfe was made the flagship of the squadron until larger vessels became available. Along with the naval engagements on Lake Ontario, Wolfe supported land operations in the Niagara region and at the Battle of Fort Oswego. Following the war, the vessel was laid up in reserve and eventually sold in 1832.
HMS Lord Melville was a brig of the Royal Navy launched at Kingston, Ontario, on 20 July 1813. Initially designed as a schooner, she was altered to 14-gun brig in 1813. She served on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812, and was renamed HMS Star on 22 January 1814. By 1815, she was unfit for anything but transport duties. She was sold in 1837.
Provincial Marine was a coastal protection service in charge of the waters in the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence River and parts of Lake Champlain under British control. While ships of the Provincial Marine were designated HMS, they were operated in more of a coast guard manner than as a full-fledged navy. Operations were maintained and staffed by the Royal Navy. Most ships of the Provincial Marine were built on the Great Lakes.
HMS General Hunter was a 10-gun brig of the Upper Canada Provincial Marine then, in 1813, the Royal Navy for their squadron on Lake Erie. She was ordered and built as a schooner in 1806 to replace Hope, a Provincial Marine vessel that had run aground in 1805. General Hunter was launched in 1807, entering service that year. With the outbreak of the War of 1812, General Hunter was converted to a brig and rearmed. As part of the Lake Erie squadron, General Hunter was present at the Battle of Lake Erie where the United States Navy defeated the British and gained control of the lake. General Hunter was captured at the battle and taken into American service. With the ship's name shortened to Hunter, she was used as a transport for the rest of the war. Following the war, the ship was sold into mercantile service. In 1816, the ship ran aground in a storm on Lake Huron and wrecked. The ship's contents were salvaged, but the wreck was left to be buried under the sand. In 2004, the wreck became the site of archaeological excavations and artifacts were retrieved from the site and placed in museums.
Queen Charlotte was the ship-rigged ship-sloop constructed for the Upper Canada Provincial Marine in 1810 as part of the fleet renewal in the lead-up to the War of 1812. Ordered in 1809, the ship was designed by Master Shipwright William Bell and constructed at Amherstburg Royal Naval Dockyard in Amherstburg, Upper Canada on Lake Erie. The design was based on the Snake class and was considered an effective design. During the War of 1812, Queen Charlotte was part of the Lake Erie squadron. After the Royal Navy took over command of the Great Lakes, Queen Charlotte was commissioned in 1813. On 10 September 1813, Queen Charlotte and the rest of the Lake Erie squadron were captured at the Battle of Lake Erie. The ship entered service with the United States Navy, though after the defeat of the British squadron, saw no further action during the war. Following the war, the ship was intentionally sunk at Put-in-Bay for preservation. Raised and sold into commercial service in 1825, the vessel continued in service until 1844, when the ship was no longer considered serviceable and left to rot as a dismasted hulk.
Governor Simcoe was a merchant schooner launched in 1793. The Provincial Marine acquired her in 1813 and renamed her after the British naval officer Sir Sidney Smith. She saw service on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812. The Royal Navy acquired her in 1814 and renamed her HMS Magnet. A few months later her captain had to blow her up to prevent the Americans from capturing the vessel.
Prince Regent was a schooner constructed for Upper Canada's Provincial Marine for use on Lake Ontario. Built just before the beginning of the War of 1812, the vessel took part in the attack on Sackett's Harbor, New York. With the arrival of the Royal Navy in the Great Lakes under the command of Commodore James Lucas Yeo in 1813, the vessel was renamed HMS Lord Beresford or General Beresford, or Beresford. The British detachment on the lake engaged the American naval squadron and attacked American positions in the Niagara region, while supporting British armies.