Capture of USS Chesapeake
- Capture of USS Chesapeake
Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Capture of "USS Chesapeake"
partof=the War of 1812
caption=
date=1 June 1813
place=Atlantic Ocean
result=British Victory
Capture of USS "Chesapeake"
combatant1=
combatant2=Flagicon|UK United Kingdom
commander1=Captain James Lawrence
commander2=Captain Philip Broke
strength1=1 Frigate
340 Crew
strength2=1 38-gun "Leda" class frigate
330 Crew
casualties1=
casualties2= The Battle of Boston Harbor was fought on June 1, 1813, between HMS "Shannon" and the USS "Chesapeake". The Shannon won the battle, and the Chesapeake was captured. During this many men were killed on both sides. At Boston, Captain James Lawrence took command of Chesapeake 20 May 1813, and on 1 June, put to sea to meet the waiting HMS Shannon (38), the crack frigate whose written challenge had just missed Chesapeake's sailing. During six minutes of firing, two full broadsides were fired. The Chesapeake was struck by 362 shots, while the Shannon was hit by 258. Chesapeake suffered early in the exchange of broadsides, having its wheel shot away so she lost maneuverability. Lawrence himself was mortally wounded and was carried below. The crew struggled to carry out their captain's last order, "Don't give up the ship!", but were overwhelmed. The battle lasted thirteen minutes, killing or wounding 252 men. Shannon's Captain Broke was severely injured in fighting on the forecastle. Chesapeake and her crew were taken to Halifax, Nova Scotia where the sailors were imprisoned; the ship was repaired and taken into service by the Royal Navy. She was sold at Portsmouth, England in 1820 and broken up. Surviving timbers were used to build the nearby Chesapeake Mill in Wickham and can be seen and visited to this day.
Fictionalized accounts of the battle appear in the novel The Fortune of War by Patrick O'Brian, and The Key to Honor by Ron Wattanja. It is discussed briefly, with reference to the court martial of Third Lieutenant William Sitgreaves Cox, in Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers. This engagement also became the subject of a well-known British sea shanty, "The Chesapeke and the Shannon".
Some additional links:www.cronab.demon.co.uk/ches.htm www.multied.com/1812/Chesapeake.html
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