- USS Lady Prevost (1812)
USS "Lady Prevost" was a
schooner captured from the British during theWar of 1812 and pressed into use in theUnited States Navy .Built in 1810 as the "Lady Prevost" at Canadian Provisional Marine in
Amherstburg, Ontario , Canada, she was a 13-gun ship named for the wife of General SirGeorge Prevost , Commander-in-Chief of the British armies along the Canadian-New York border in the War of 1812. She operated out ofNavy Island Royal Naval Shipyard .British service
The British schooner served as a training ship for Canadian seamen on
Lake Erie through 1812, in preparation for a campaign to gain control of theGreat Lakes and a subsequent invasion of the United States. Under command of Lieutenant James Buchan, RN, she was one of Captain James Barclay’s squadron which engaged the American squadron under CaptainOliver Hazard Perry offPut-in-Bay in theBattle of Lake Erie on11 September 1813 . In a gun duel first with schooners , and then, as the tide of battle turned, with Perry’sflagship USS|Niagara|1813|2, "Lady Prevost" suffered damage to her masts and superstructure and, with the rest of her squadron, surrendered.American service
Taken prize at the surrender, the schooner was repaired and joined the American squadron on Lake Erie as USS "Lady Prevost". In company with "Niagara", USS|Scorpion|1812|2, and "Trippe" under command of Captain
Jesse D. Elliott , she sailed into Lake Sinclair on29 September to cut the supply lines of the British Army attempting to invade western New York.For the remainder of the War of 1812, the squadron operated on Lakes Erie and Huron, cooperating with the Army commanded by General
William Henry Harrison . "Lady Prevost" was primarily engaged in supporting American troops fighting the British and their Indian allies in the northwest.Disposition
Following the end of the war in 1815, "Lady Prevost" was burned and sunk by the Americans at
Erie, Pennsylvania , but was raised later that year and converted into a merchantman. She was sold at public auction late in 1815.References
*Colledge
*http://www.hhpl.on.ca/GreatLakes/Documents/shiplists/macpherson.htm British Naval Service on Great Lakes
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