USS Scorpion (1813)

USS Scorpion (1813)
Career
Name: USS Scorpion
Launched: 1813
Fate: Captured by the British, 6 September 1814
Career (UK) Royal Navy Ensign
Name: HMS Confiance
General characteristics
Type: Schooner
Displacement: 86 long tons (87 t)
Length: 62 ft (19 m)
Beam: 17 ft (5.2 m)
Draft: 5 ft (1.5 m)
Propulsion: Sail
Complement: 35 officers and enlisted
Armament: • 1 × 32-pounder long gun
• 1 × 32-pounder carronade

The USS Scorpion was a schooner of the United States Navy during the War of 1812. She was the second USN ship to be named for the scorpion.

Scorpion was launched in the spring of 1813 at Presque Isle (now Erie, Pennsylvania), probably by Noah Brown of New York, for service on the upper Great Lakes during the War of 1812.

Scorpion, commanded by Sailing Master Stephen Champlin, first cousin to Oliver Hazard Perry, operated with Commodore Perry's squadron on Lake Erie during the summer and fall of 1813.

On 10 September 1813, she participated in the battle off Put-in-Bay, Lake Erie, which resulted in the defeat and capture of the British fleet (see Battle of Lake Erie). Scorpion had the distinction of firing the first and last shot in the battle in which she lost two men. At the close of the action, she and Trippe pursued and captured the fleeing British schooner Chippeway and the sloop Little Belt.

After Perry's historic victory, the schooner assisted General William Henry Harrison's forces operating in the Thames River area, by transporting troops as well as stores and ammunition captured from the enemy.

During the winter of 1813 and 1814, she was laid up at Erie, Pennsylvania. From May 1814 to September 1814, the schooner cruised on Lake Erie and Lake Huron, cooperating with the army in the Detroit area by transporting troops, staking out the flats through the St. Clair River, and blockading the enemy at the Nottawasaga River and Lake Simcoe.

On 6 September 1814, while on blockade duty on Lake Huron, Scorpion, under command of Daniel Turner, was surprised and captured by the former American schooner, Tigress, which also had been taken by the British a few days earlier. Both vessels and prisoners were taken to Fort Mackinac.

Scorpion was subsequently taken into the British Navy as the four-gun schooner Confiance, which along with Tigress, according to local legend, was later sunk in Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, off Penetanguishene, Ontario. In fact both vessels were laid up and dismantled at Colborne Basin, Ontario.[1]

References

This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • USS Trippe (1812) — The first USS Trippe was a sloop in the United States Navy during the War of 1812. She was named for John Trippe. Originally named Contractor , she was purchased by the Navy on the Niagara River in New York in 1812 was converted to a warship by… …   Wikipedia

  • USS Josephus Daniels — Laufbahn Geordert: 18. Mai 1961 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • USS Josephus Daniels (DLG-27) — Laufbahn Geordert: 18. Mai 1961 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • USS Lady Prevost (1812) — USS Lady Prevost was a schooner captured from the British during the War of 1812 and pressed into use in the United States Navy.Built in 1810 as the Lady Prevost at Canadian Provisional Marine in Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada, she was a 13 gun… …   Wikipedia

  • USS Josephus Daniels (CG-27) — Laufbahn Geordert: 18. Mai 1961 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • USS Wasp — USS Wasp, ha sido el nombre utilizado por diez buques de la Armada de los Estados Unidos. El Goleta mercante llamada originalmente Scorpion adquirida por la armada continental a finales de 1775. a finales de 1777, el Wasp encalló, se incendió, y… …   Wikipedia Español

  • USS Wasp — Ten ships of the United States Navy have borne the name USS Wasp , after the stinging insect. * was a merchant schooner originally named Scorpion and purchased by the Continental Navy in late 1775. In the fall of 1777, the Wasp was run aground,… …   Wikipedia

  • Guerre De 1812 — Guerre anglo américaine de 1812 Guerre anglo américaine de 1812 La Bataille de Queenston Heights Informations générales Date 18 juin  …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Guerre américano-britannique — Guerre anglo américaine de 1812 Guerre anglo américaine de 1812 La Bataille de Queenston Heights Informations générales Date 18 juin  …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Guerre américano-britannique de 1812 — Guerre anglo américaine de 1812 Guerre anglo américaine de 1812 La Bataille de Queenston Heights Informations générales Date 18 juin  …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”