USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=USS "Constitution" vs HMS "Guerriere"
partof=the War of 1812


caption=Painting of combat between USS "Constitution" and HMS "Guerriere" by Michel Felice Corne (1752-1845)
date=August 19, 1812
place=Atlantic Ocean
result=American Victory
combatant1=
combatant2=Flagicon|UK United Kingdom
commander1=Isaac Hull
commander2=James Richard Dacres
strength1=1 Frigate
44 guns
450 CrewBorneman p.81]
strength2=1 Fifth-rate frigate
38 guns
272 Crew
casualties1=7 killed
7 woundedBorneman p.87]
casualties2=15 killed
78 wounded
257 captured
1 Frigate sunk The USS "Constitution" vs HMS "Guerriere", was a single ship action between the two ships during the War of 1812. It was shortly after war had broken out, and would prove to be an important victory for American morale.

Background

When the United States declared war on Britain on June 18, 1812, the Royal Navy had eighty-five vessels in American waters. By contrast, the United States Navy, which was not yet twenty years old, was a frigate navy that had only twenty-two commissioned vessels.

The USS "Constitution" had been launched on September 20, 1797, and had done service in the Quasi War (1798-1800 with Revolutionary France) and the First Barbary War (1801-1805 in the Mediterranean). By early 1812, relations with the United Kingdom had further deteriorated and the US Navy began preparing for war, which was finally declared on June 18. Captain Isaac Hull, who had been appointed "Constitution"’s commanding officer in 1810, put to sea without orders on July 12 to prevent being blockaded in port. His intention was to join the five ships of John Rodgers' squadron. However, the "Constitution" was in Annapolis, and Hull was unaware that Rodgers had already set sail for New York.

In Halifax, British Vice Admiral Herbert Sawyer dispatched a squadron under Captain Philip Broke to catch Rodgers' squadron. In the British squadron, the ships HMS "Shannon", "Africa", "Aeolus" and "Belvidera" were joined by HMS "Guerriere".Borneman p.82]

Sailing towards New York, Hull saw four ships sailing west, and another one heading straight towards the "Constitution". Hull thought the ships could be of Rodgers' squadron, but was cautious. Hull ordered signal lights, and when the incoming ship did not identify herself, Hull ordered for the "Constitution" to sail away and wait for daylight to assess the situation. However, when daylight came, it was confirmed that the incoming ship was not of Rodgers' squadron, but HMS "Guerriere". That day, the "Constitution" was followed by the British squadron. In an attempt to pull away, Hull ordered ten tons of drinking water to be thrown into the sea. Despite this, the British squadron continued to gain on the "Constitution". The "Constitution" then tried kedging, and with the help of the breeze pulled away from the squadron. [Borneman p.83] Following his escape, the "Constitution" sailed for Boston, Massachusetts.

On August 2, the "Constitution" sailed from Boston up the coasts of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. There she captured and sank two British merchantmen, and then went south towards Bermuda. She soon chased down the American privateer "Decatur", and her captain told Hull that he had escaped a British frigate the day before.Borneman p.84]

Battle

The next day, August 19, a ship was sighted by the "Constitution". With the wind on her side, the "Constitution" closed in on the ship, and identified her as HMS "Guerriere", a ship that had chased her earlier that July. As the "Constitution" approached, the Captain of the "Guerriere", James Richard Dacres, ordered broadside after broadside be fired at the approaching ship. They had little effect, and after one cannon-ball bounced "harmlessly" off the side of the "Constitution", a crew member is said to have yelled "Huzzah! her sides are made of iron!".

With the ships 25 yards apart, Hull ordered his crew to fire a broadside both of cannonball, and a canister of grape shot.Borneman p.86] The effect of this broadside over and over again proved devastating to the "Guerriere". One of the broadsides knocked over her mizzenmast. The mizzenmast hung over the side, and slowed the "Guerriere". The "Constitution" went ahead, and attempted to cross her bow, but the maneuver was cut too close and the "Guerriere"s bowsprit became entangled in the rigging of the "Constitution"'s mizzenmast.

On both ships, boarding parties were summoned, while musket fire broke out from each ship. However, the "Guerriere"s foremast fell over, she lost her forward movement, and the "Constitution" broke away from the grip of "Guerriere"'s bowspirit. The "Constitution" prepared to fire more broadsides into the "Guerriere", but then the "Guerriere" fired a shot in the opposite direction of the "Constitution".

Sensing that the shot in the opposite direction of the "Constitution" may be an attempt to signal surrender, Hull ordered a Lieutenant over to see if it was. When the Lieutenant walked onto the "Guerriere", he asked if it was an attempt to signal surrender. Captain Dacres responded "Well, Sir, I don't know. Our mizzen mast is gone, our fore and main masts are gone-I think on the whole you might say we have struck our flag."

Aftermath

Captain Dacres was escorted aboard the "Constitution". Hull refused to accept Dacres' sword of surrender, saying he could not accept the sword from someone who had defended his ship so gallantly. He also ordered that Dacres' mother's bible be returned to him. The "Guerriere" was clearly sinking, and the wounded were transferred to the "Constitution". Hull found that 10 impressed Americans had been serving aboard "Guerriere" but Dacres had permitted them to stay below decks instead of fighting their countrymen.Forester, p.53]

Hull had wanted the "Guerriere" towed in as a prize ship. The "Constitution" lay by the "Guerriere" during the night but at daybreak it was obvious that the "Guerriere" could not be salvaged. The prisoners and the American salvage parties were brought aboard "Constitution" and at three o'clock in the afternoon, the "Guerriere" was set on fire, and soon blew up. [Roosevelt, p.54]

Although "Constitution" was capable of continuing its cruise (it was substantially undamaged and still had two thirds of its ammunition), Hull wanted the American public to have news of the victory. He reached Boston ten days later, and his news (with the obvious proof of more than two hundred prisoners of war) caused rejoicing. The "Guerriere" had been one of the ships of the Royal Navy which had been the most active in stopping and searching American merchant vessels, and the news of its defeat was particularly satisfying. [Forester, p.55] Ironically, Hull was never to hold another fighting command.

Once released by exchange of prisoners and returned to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Dacres was tried by court martial, as was customary in the case of a Royal Navy ship lost from any cause. He put forward as his defence the facts that the "Guerriere" was originally French-built, captured by the Royal Navy in 1806 and therefore not as sturdy as British-built ships, and more importantly, that the "Guerriere" was badly decayed and in fact on its way to refit in Halifax at the time, and the fall of the mizzen mast which crippled the "Guerriere" early in the fight had been as much due to rot as battle damage. [Forester, pp.50-51] There was no suggestion that Dacres and his men had not done their utmost, or that Dacres had been unwise to engage the "Constitution". (Early in the War of 1812, it was accepted in the Royal Navy that a British 38-gun frigate could successfully engage a 44-gun frigate of any other nation.) Dacres was therefore acquitted. [Forester, pp.56-57]

Footnotes

References

*cite book|last=Borneman|first=Walter R.|authorid=Walter R. Borneman|title=1812: The War That Forged a Nation|location=New York|publisher=Harper Perennial|year=2004|isbn=ISBN 9780060531126
*cite book|last=Forester|first=C.S.|authorid=C.S.Forester|title=The Age of Fighting Sail|publisher=New English Library|isbn=0-939218-06-2
*cite book|last=Roosevelt|first=Theodore|authorid=Theodore Roosevelt|title=The Naval War of 1812|location=New York|publisher=Random House|year=1999|isbn=0-375-75419-9