Action off Charles Island
Encyclopedia
The Action off Charles Island was a naval battle fought during the War of 1812
in the summer of 1813 off Charles Island
in the Galapagos. An American
squadron of three vessels attacked three British
privateer
s and captured them. The engagement was notable for being one of the few to occur in the Pacific Ocean
during the war and involved United States Marine Lieutenant
John M. Gamble
, the first marine to command an American warship.
David Porter
, in the thirty-six gun frigate
USS Essex
, led a fleet of armed vessels in the South Pacific in one of the first commerce raiding
operations in history. During the time of the action, the Essex was accompanied by two smaller vessels, recently captured from the British and classified as sloops-of-war by Captain Porter. They were the ten gun Greenwich of 338 tons and the ten gun Georgiana of 280 tons. Because Porter had entered the Pacific with no more than 350 American servicemen under his command, when he took prizes he could only place small skeleton crew
s in most of his ships. The Georgiana had a complement of forty-two men under the Essexs Chaplain
Adams and the Greenwich held only fourteen men under the command of Lieutenant Gamble. The rest of Porter's fleet was sent to Valparaiso
to be sold while Porter and the remaining vessels patrolled for British whaler
s in between Tumbes, Peru
and the Galapagos.
according to the rating system
used by the Royal Navy
. Charlton was sailing in the center of the three ships and was taken without a fight by the Essex as the Greenwich and Georgiana went after the Seringapatam, of 375-ton corvette with fourteen guns.
The Seringapatam was originally built as a small man-of-war for Tippoo Sahib of Mysore
, but eventually became a whaler. She was commanded by Captain William Stivers and had a forty-one man crew. Although the Seringapatam was officially on a whaling expedition, it had instead been capturing American whalers as prizes, and had earned a reputation as the most powerful and most feared British privateer in the South Pacific. When escape seemed unlikely, Seringapatam changed course and appeared to be making an attack run on the Greenwich but the latter came to a halt and waited for the Georgiana to come up and provide assistance. At this point, four men were transferred from the Georgiana to the Greenwich so the Captain Stivers chose to break off the attack and continue fleeing. Lieutenant Gamble closed the distance between the two ships and he first demanded that the British surrender. But when the Americans came within pistol range, Seringapatams colors were raised and she opened fire with a powerful broadside.
Greenwich immediately returned fire with small arms and cannon and for several moments the two vessels exchanged shot. American fire proved to be more accurate and after taking heavy damage, the British struck their colors and Greenwich ceased her firing. Just as Lieutenant Gamble was preparing to board the enemy, Seringapatam attempted another escape. Gamble ordered his men to resume shooting at the sails of the British vessel and eventually brought her to a halt. Meanwhile, the Essex had finished pursuing the small eight gun New Zealander and captured her without difficulty. Captain Porter then assisted in chasing down the Seringapatam.
ships were already filled with captives, the Americans disarmed the Charlton, loaded her with forty-eight of the prisoners, and sent them to Rio de Janeiro
as a cartel under parole with orders to surrender to the first American authority they encounter. Captain Stivers, when asked to surrender his privateer's commission, revealed that though he applied for a letter of marque
, he had not yet received one, but that it was probably waiting for him in Lima. Captain Porter announced that Stivers would be taken to the United States and be tried as a pirate, and ordered him and his crew to be put in irons. They were given more freedom after some liberated American whalers told Porter that they were treated well by the British during their time as prisoners aboard the Seringapatam.
The British corvette was considered a formidable threat to American commerce in the Pacific so when the American public learned of the action, Lieutenant Gamble became famous and received many letters of congratulations from other naval officers. Seringapatam was found to have carried up to 30,000 dollars worth of armaments and provisions. Gamble was promoted to captain and died in 1836 as a lieutenant colonel
. Following the engagement, Captain Porter made for Nuku Hiva
where he built America's first base in the Pacific and repaired his ships. It was during the stay at Nuku Hiva that the Seringapatam Mutiny occurred as well as a series of battles between the Americans and the natives.
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
in the summer of 1813 off Charles Island
Floreana Island
Floreana Island is an island of the Galápagos Islands. It was named after Juan José Flores, the first president of Ecuador, during whose administration the government of Ecuador took possession of the archipelago, having previously been called Charles Island...
in the Galapagos. An American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
squadron of three vessels attacked three British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
s and captured them. The engagement was notable for being one of the few to occur in the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
during the war and involved United States Marine Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
John M. Gamble
John M. Gamble
Lieutenant Colonel John Marshall Gamble was an officer in the United States Marine Corps during the early 19th century. He was the first, and remains the only, U.S. Marine to command a U.S...
, the first marine to command an American warship.
Background
In the war between the United Kingdom and the United States, American CaptainCaptain (naval)
Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....
David Porter
David Porter (naval officer)
David Porter was an officer in the United States Navy in a rank of commodore and later the commander-in-chief of the Mexican Navy.-Life:...
, in the thirty-six gun frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
USS Essex
USS Essex
USS Essex may refer to:, was a 32-gun sailing frigate launched in 1799, participated in the War of 1812, and captured in 1814**Essex Junior, was a British whaler captured by Essex and put into service until recaptured in 1814...
, led a fleet of armed vessels in the South Pacific in one of the first commerce raiding
Commerce raiding
Commerce raiding or guerre de course is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt the logistics of an enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than engaging the combatants themselves or enforcing a blockade against them.Commerce raiding was heavily criticised by...
operations in history. During the time of the action, the Essex was accompanied by two smaller vessels, recently captured from the British and classified as sloops-of-war by Captain Porter. They were the ten gun Greenwich of 338 tons and the ten gun Georgiana of 280 tons. Because Porter had entered the Pacific with no more than 350 American servicemen under his command, when he took prizes he could only place small skeleton crew
Skeleton crew
A skeleton crew is the minimum number of personnel needed to operate and maintain an item at its most simple operating requirements, such as a ship or business, during an emergency and, at the same time, to keep vital functions operating.- Uses :...
s in most of his ships. The Georgiana had a complement of forty-two men under the Essexs Chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
Adams and the Greenwich held only fourteen men under the command of Lieutenant Gamble. The rest of Porter's fleet was sent to Valparaiso
Valparaíso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...
to be sold while Porter and the remaining vessels patrolled for British whaler
Whaler
A whaler is a specialized ship, designed for whaling, the catching and/or processing of whales. The former included the whale catcher, a steam or diesel-driven vessel with a harpoon gun mounted at its bows. The latter included such vessels as the sail or steam-driven whaleship of the 16th to early...
s in between Tumbes, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
and the Galapagos.
Action
There is some confusion as to the date of the battle, in later memoirs, Lieutenant Gamble recalled that it was fought on the 12 or 13 of July while Captain Porter's memoir, and letters from Porter to Gamble, state that it occurred on the 14 of July. Either way at about 11:00 am the Americans were sailing west from Tumbez off Banks' Bay in the Galapagos when they sighted three sets of sails on the horizon. Commodore Porter signaled his ships to prepare for action and a chase began. At the time, the majority of British ships cruising in the South Pacific were armed whalers that often doubled as privateers. The first British vessel captured was the Charlton of ten guns and was a gun-brigBrig
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
according to the rating system
Rating system of the Royal Navy
The rating system of the Royal Navy and its predecessors was used by the British Royal Navy between the beginning of the 17th century and the middle of the 19th century to categorise sailing warships, initially classing them according to their assigned complement of men, and later according to the...
used by the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. Charlton was sailing in the center of the three ships and was taken without a fight by the Essex as the Greenwich and Georgiana went after the Seringapatam, of 375-ton corvette with fourteen guns.
The Seringapatam was originally built as a small man-of-war for Tippoo Sahib of Mysore
Kingdom of Mysore
The Kingdom of Mysore was a kingdom of southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. The kingdom, which was ruled by the Wodeyar family, initially served as a vassal state of the Vijayanagara Empire...
, but eventually became a whaler. She was commanded by Captain William Stivers and had a forty-one man crew. Although the Seringapatam was officially on a whaling expedition, it had instead been capturing American whalers as prizes, and had earned a reputation as the most powerful and most feared British privateer in the South Pacific. When escape seemed unlikely, Seringapatam changed course and appeared to be making an attack run on the Greenwich but the latter came to a halt and waited for the Georgiana to come up and provide assistance. At this point, four men were transferred from the Georgiana to the Greenwich so the Captain Stivers chose to break off the attack and continue fleeing. Lieutenant Gamble closed the distance between the two ships and he first demanded that the British surrender. But when the Americans came within pistol range, Seringapatams colors were raised and she opened fire with a powerful broadside.
Greenwich immediately returned fire with small arms and cannon and for several moments the two vessels exchanged shot. American fire proved to be more accurate and after taking heavy damage, the British struck their colors and Greenwich ceased her firing. Just as Lieutenant Gamble was preparing to board the enemy, Seringapatam attempted another escape. Gamble ordered his men to resume shooting at the sails of the British vessel and eventually brought her to a halt. Meanwhile, the Essex had finished pursuing the small eight gun New Zealander and captured her without difficulty. Captain Porter then assisted in chasing down the Seringapatam.
Aftermath
American sources make no mention of casualties on either side though the Greenwich sustained some damage and the Seringapatam was crippled. Eighty-nine prisoners were taken by Porter but because the United States NavyUnited States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
ships were already filled with captives, the Americans disarmed the Charlton, loaded her with forty-eight of the prisoners, and sent them to Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
as a cartel under parole with orders to surrender to the first American authority they encounter. Captain Stivers, when asked to surrender his privateer's commission, revealed that though he applied for a letter of marque
Letter of marque
In the days of fighting sail, a Letter of Marque and Reprisal was a government licence authorizing a person to attack and capture enemy vessels, and bring them before admiralty courts for condemnation and sale...
, he had not yet received one, but that it was probably waiting for him in Lima. Captain Porter announced that Stivers would be taken to the United States and be tried as a pirate, and ordered him and his crew to be put in irons. They were given more freedom after some liberated American whalers told Porter that they were treated well by the British during their time as prisoners aboard the Seringapatam.
The British corvette was considered a formidable threat to American commerce in the Pacific so when the American public learned of the action, Lieutenant Gamble became famous and received many letters of congratulations from other naval officers. Seringapatam was found to have carried up to 30,000 dollars worth of armaments and provisions. Gamble was promoted to captain and died in 1836 as a lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
. Following the engagement, Captain Porter made for Nuku Hiva
Nuku Hiva
Nuku Hiva is the largest of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. It was formerly also known as Île Marchand and Madison Island....
where he built America's first base in the Pacific and repaired his ships. It was during the stay at Nuku Hiva that the Seringapatam Mutiny occurred as well as a series of battles between the Americans and the natives.