HMS Shannon (1806)
Encyclopedia

HMS Shannon was a 38-gun Leda-class
Leda class frigate
The Leda-class frigates, were a successful class of forty-seven British Royal Navy 38-gun sailing frigates. The design of Leda was based on the Sané-designed Hébé, a French Hébé class frigate that the British 44-gun fifth rate HMS Rainbow captured in 1782...

 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"...

 of 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...

. She was launched in 1806 and served in the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

 and the War of 1812
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...

. She won a noteworthy naval victory on 1 June 1813, during the latter conflict, when she captured the American Navy's USS Chesapeake
USS Chesapeake (1799)
USS Chesapeake was a 38-gun wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. She was one of the original six frigates whose construction was authorized by the Naval Act of 1794. Joshua Humphreys designed these frigates to be the young navy's capital ships...

 in a singularly bloody battle.

Construction and commissioning

Josiah and Thomas Brindley built Shannon at Frindsbury
Frindsbury
Frindsbury is part of the Medway Towns conurbation in Kent, southern England. It lies on the opposite side of the River Medway to Rochester, and at various times in its history has been considered fully or partially part of the City of Rochester. Frindsbury refers to both a parish and a manor....

 in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

 and launched her on 5 May 1806. She was to spend her first seven years under the command of Captain Philip Broke
Philip Broke
Rear Admiral Sir Philip Bowes Vere Broke, 1st Baronet KCB was a distinguished officer in the British Royal Navy.-Early life:Broke was born at Broke Hall, Nacton, near Ipswich, the eldest son of Philip Bowes Broke...

, who was transferred from , and took command of Shannon in June that year. Shannon was one of the largest frigates built by the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, at a time when the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...

 concentrated on producing vessels in larger numbers but to smaller builds and less heavy armament.

Home waters

Shannon was quickly put into service. She formed part of a squadron under Commodore Owen that was patrolling off the French port of Boulogne
Boulogne-sur-Mer
-Road:* Metropolitan bus services are operated by the TCRB* Coach services to Calais and Dunkerque* A16 motorway-Rail:* The main railway station is Gare de Boulogne-Ville and located in the south of the city....

. On 8 October she took part in the bombardment of the town using Congreve rocket
Congreve rocket
The Congreve Rocket was a British military weapon designed and developed by Sir William Congreve in 1804.The rocket was developed by the British Royal Arsenal following the experiences of the Second, Third and Fourth Mysore Wars. The wars fought between the British East India Company and the...

s.

Her next task was sailing in 1807 with to protect the whale
Whale
Whale is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to suborder Odontoceti . This suborder also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga...

 fishery
Fishery
Generally, a fishery is an entity engaged in raising or harvesting fish which is determined by some authority to be a fishery. According to the FAO, a fishery is typically defined in terms of the "people involved, species or type of fish, area of water or seabed, method of fishing, class of boats,...

 off Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...

. Despite encountering ice
Drift ice
Drift ice is ice that floats on the surface of the water in cold regions, as opposed to fast ice, which is attached to a shore. Usually drift ice is carried along by winds and sea currents, hence its name, "drift ice"....

 on 7 May 1807, they were able to push through, reaching the southern part of Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen is the largest and only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Constituting the western-most bulk of the archipelago, it borders the Arctic Ocean, the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland Sea...

 on 17 June. There the two ships surveyed the Bay of Magdalena, at a latitude
Latitude
In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...

 of 80°N. They eventually reached a latitude of 80° 6' N before the ice stopped them. They then turned westwards and reached the coast of Greenland on 23 July. The island of Shannon is named after the ship. Shannon spent the early autumn cruising from Shetland. She then left, returning to Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...

 by the end of September, where she cruised off the Downs
The Downs
The Downs are a roadstead or area of sea in the southern North Sea near the English Channel off the east Kent coast, between the North and the South Foreland in southern England. In 1639 the Battle of the Downs took place here, when the Dutch navy destroyed a Spanish fleet which had sought refuge...

. She put into Spithead
Spithead
Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds, except those from the southeast...

 on 28 September to undergo a refit.

By the end of 1807, France had invaded Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

, and Shannon joined Sir Samuel Hood's expedition against Madeira
Madeira
Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...

. The British took the island without firing a shot. Captain Broke then escorted the transports that had accompanied the fleet back to England, where they arrived on 7 February 1808. Shannon put into Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

 before returning to patrolling in the Channel.

On 20 July Shannon was in company with and when they captured Comet. Then on 21 August, Shannon was in company with Surinam and when they captured Espoir.

In November 1808, Shannon took the French frigate Thétis
French frigate Thétis (1788)
Thétis was a 40-gun Nymphe-class frigate frigate of the French Navy.From 1790, she served in various diplomatic missions in the Indian Ocean, before returning for a refit in Brest in 1793. From 1795, she was shuttled from France to Guadeloupe...

 in tow. had shortly before captured Thétis, which later entered service as HMS Brune.

Shannon spent 1809 with the Channel Fleet
Channel Fleet
The Channel Fleet was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1690 to 1909.-History:The Channel Fleet dates back at least to 1690 when its role was to defend England against the French threat under the leadership of Edward Russell, 1st Earl of...

 and on 27 January captured the French 14-gun 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...

 cutter Pommereuil. Broke sent the prize into Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

.

On 1 June 1811, Shannon returned to Plymouth and was put into the dock where her hull was re-coppered
Copper sheathing
Copper sheathing was the practice of protecting the under-water hull of a ship or boat through the use of copper plates affixed to the outside of the hull. It was pioneered and developed by the Royal Navy during the 18th century.-Development:...

. After this was completed, she sailed for Portsmouth to complete her refitting and resupplying in preparation for being assigned to foreign service.

The American coast

Broke and Shannon were ordered to sail for North America as tensions between Britain and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 escalated in the run up to what would become the War of 1812
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...

. Shannon sailed from Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

 and arrived in Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...

 on 24 September 1811 after a journey of 45 days.

On 5 July 1812 Broke took command of a squadron consisting of Shannon, , , and later . Vice-Admiral Herbert Sawyer
Herbert Sawyer
Admiral Sir Herbert Sawyer KCB was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the American Revolution, the French Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and the Napoleonic Wars. He eventually rose to the rank of Admiral....

 then ordered him to carry out a blockade
Blockade
A blockade is an effort to cut off food, supplies, war material or communications from a particular area by force, either in part or totally. A blockade should not be confused with an embargo or sanctions, which are legal barriers to trade, and is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually...

 of American ports.

Broke's first success came on 16 July when he captured the 16-gun American brig
Brig
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...

 Nautilus
USS Nautilus (1799)
Nautilus was a schooner launched in 1799. The United States Navy purchased her in May 1803, renaming her the USS Nautilus; she thus became the first ship to bear that name. She served in the First Barbary War. She was altered to a brigantine. The British captured Nautilus early in the War of 1812...

 off Sandy Hook. The Nautilus had been on a cruise from New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

.

Later in the evening, the squadron spotted and gave chase to the USS Constitution
USS Constitution
USS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. Named by President George Washington after the Constitution of the United States of America, she is the world's oldest floating commissioned naval vessel...

 as she sailed from Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...

 to New York. The chase lasted some 65 hours, during which both pursued and pursuers had to tow and warp. Belvidera eventually managed to come within gunshot of the Constitution on the afternoon of 17 July, but a lucky breeze blew up, and the Constitutions clean bottom allowed her to make good her escape.

Shannons next duty was to meet a convoy homebound from Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

. An American squadron under Commodore John Rodgers
John Rodgers (naval officer, War of 1812)
John Rodgers was a senior naval officer in the United States Navy who served under six Presidents for nearly four decades during its formative years in the 1790s through the late 1830s, committing the greater bulk of his adult life to his country...

 had sailed to intercept it. Shannon ensured the convoy safely passed the Great Banks, before she returned to the American coast. She put into Halifax on 20 September to take on provisions. Sir John Warren
John Borlase Warren
Sir John Borlase Warren, 1st Baronet , was an English admiral, politician and diplomat. Born in Stapleford, Nottinghamshire, he was the son and heir of John Borlase Warren of Stapleford and Little Marlow...

 arrived while she was in port, and took up the post of Commander in Chief of the North America and West Indies Station. He then despatched Shannon with the schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....

  to rescue the crew and offload the money being carried by the frigate , which had been wrecked on Sable Island
Sable Island
Sable Island is a small Canadian island situated 300 km southeast of mainland Nova Scotia in the Atlantic Ocean. The island is a year-round home to approximately five people...

. While carrying out this mission, Shannon encountered and subsequently captured an enemy 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...

 schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....

, Wily Reynard on 11 October, that she took back to Halifax with her.

On 31 October, Shannon, and while cruising with , and , Broke captured the American privateer brig Thorn. Thorn was armed with eighteen long 9-pounder guns and had a crew of 140 men. She was a relatively new vessel and was three weeks out of Marblehead
Marblehead
-Places:United States*Marblehead, Illinois*Marblehead, Massachusetts*Marblehead, Ohio*Marblehead, Wisconsin-Other uses:*Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race, a biannual sailing race on the North Atlantic...

 on her first cruise. Sent to Halifax with a prize crew
Prize crew
Prize crew is a term used to indicate a number of crew members of a ship chosen to take over the operations of a captured ship.In the early days of sailing and up into the American Civil War, capturing enemy ships was quite common...

, Thorn was subsequently purchased and renamed as the Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

 privateer brig Sir John Sherbrooke.

Sir John Warren was at Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...

 during the winter of 1812, and left Broke in command of the Royal Navy squadrons operating on the coasts of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

, New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...

 and New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

. In December Broke took the Shannon and escorted a homebound convoy half way across the Atlantic, returning to North America by sailing round the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...

. In 1813, Captain Oliver arrived on the station aboard the 74-gun third rate , and took command from Captain Broke. Broke continued to deploy with his squadron until the Shannon and Tenedos became separated from them in a gale. They decided to steer for Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, reaching the port on 2 April. Having observed the activity in the port, they returned to their squadron and reported the presence of the American frigates , and Constitution. In their absence, the had entered the harbour through the eastern channel.

Captain Capel
Thomas Bladen Capel
Admiral Sir Thomas Bladen Capel GCB RN was an officer in the British Royal Navy whose distinguished service in the French Revolutionary War, the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 earned him rapid promotion and great acclaim both in and out of the Navy...

 aboard ordered the Shannon and Tenedos to watch the port from close inshore, while the rest of the squadron cruised in the offing. On 16 May Shannon and Tenedos chased a large armed ship under American colours, and forced her to run aground near Cape Ann Town. Shannon anchored close to the grounded ship and fired a few shots to disperse a number of militiamen who were assembling. Lieutenant George Watt of Shannon then managed to bring the ship off the shore without loss. She was discovered to be the French corvette-built privateer Invincible, of 16 guns. had captured her in the Bay of Biscay
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...

 but the American privateer Alexander had retaken her. Her captors sent Invincible into Halifax. On 25 March Shannon took on stores of water and provisions from Tenedos, which was then detached, with orders to rejoin the Shannon on 14 June.

Issuing a challenge

During his long period in command of Shannon, Broke had drilled his crew to an extremely high standard of naval gunnery.
"The weekly routine at sea was for the watch on deck to be exercised at the great guns on Monday and Tuesday afternoons, and in the afternoons the first division of the watch was exercised at small arms. Wednesday and Thursday forenoons saw the watch on deck at the carronades, and in the afternoons the second division of the watch at small arms. Friday was reserved for the Midshipmen – great guns in the morning, small arms in the afternoon. Thus each man had one morning at the 18-pounders, one morning at the carronades and two afternoons with musquets in every week. Saturdays were reserved for washing clothes and scrubbing the berth deck in the afternoon. Sunday, apart from Church service and any necessary evolutions with the sails, was free."

In addition to these gunnery drills, Broke was fond of preparing hypothetical scenarios to test his crew. For example, after all hands had been drummed to quarters, he would inform them of a theoretical attack and see how they would act to defend the ship. He would also arrange on occasion for a wooden cask to be sent over the side so competitions could be held to see which crew could hit it and how fast they could do so. A game called 'singlestick' was also devised and practiced. "This was a game employing roughly similar thrusts and parries as were used with cutlass, but as it was played with blunt sticks, hits, although painful, were not often dangerous. It soon developed quickness of eye and wrist."

Eager to engage and defeat one of the American 'super-frigates' that had already scored a number of victories over the Royal Navy in single ship confrontations, Broke prepared a challenge. The President had already slipped out of the harbour under the cover of fog and had evaded the British. Constitution was undergoing extensive repairs and alterations and would not be ready for sea in the foreseeable future. However, Chesapeake appeared to be ready to put to sea.

Consequently Broke decided to send his challenge to Chesapeake, which had been refitting in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

 harbour under the command of Captain James Lawrence
James Lawrence
James Lawrence was an American naval officer. During the War of 1812, he commanded the USS Chesapeake in a single-ship action against HMS Shannon...

, offering single ship combat. While patrolling offshore, Shannon had intercepted and captured a number of American ships attempting to reach the harbour. After sending two of them off to Halifax, he found that his crew was being dangerously reduced. Broke therefore resorted to burning the rest of the prizes in order to conserve his highly trained crew in anticipation of the battle with the Chesapeake. Broke sent the boats from the burnt prizes into Boston, carrying Broke's oral invitation to Lawrence to come out and engage him. He had already sent the Tenedos away in the hope that the more favourable odds would entice the American out, but eventually began to despair that the Chesapeake would ever come out of the harbour. He finally decided to send a written challenge.
"As the Chesapeake appears now ready for sea, I request you will do me the favour to meet the Shannon with her, ship to ship, to try the fortune of our respective flags. The Shannon mounts twenty-four guns upon her broadside and one light boat-gun; 18 pounders upon her main deck, and 32-pounder carronades upon her quarter-deck and forecastle; and is manned with a complement of 300 men and boys, beside thirty seamen, boys, and passengers, who were taken out of recaptured vessels lately. I entreat you, sir, not to imagine that I am urged by mere personal vanity to the wish of meeting the Chesapeake, or that I depend only upon your personal ambition for your acceding to this invitation. We have both noble motives. You will feel it as a compliment if I say that the result of our meeting may be the most grateful service I can render to my country; and I doubt not that you, equally confident of success, will feel convinced that it is only by repeated triumphs in even combats that your little navy can now hope to console your country for the loss of that trade it can no longer protect. Favour me with a speedy reply. We are short of provisions and water, and cannot stay long here."


By now Shannon had been off Boston for 56 days and was running short of provisions, while the extended period at sea was wearing the ship down. She would be even more at a disadvantage facing the Chesapeake, fresh from harbour and a refit.

Broke despatched a boat carrying the invitation, manned by a Mr Slocum, a discharged American prisoner. The boat had not reached the shore when the Chesapeake was seen underway, sailing out of the harbour. She was flying three American ensigns and a large white flag at the foremast inscribed 'Free Trade and Sailor's Rights'.

Though Lawrence had not received Broke's letter before leaving harbour, according to author Ian W. Toll, it would not have made any difference, Lawrence intended to sail at the first day of favourable weather. The fact that it was not in his nation's interests at this point in the war to be challenging British frigates seems to have not entered into his reasoning; President had in fact slipped out of harbour in foul weather to commerce raid, which was deemed in the US national interest.

The two ships had in one another about as close a match as could exist in a state of war. Chesapeakes (rated at 38 guns) armament of twenty-eight 18-pounder long guns was an exact match for Shannon. Measurements proved the ships to be about the same deck length. The only measurable difference between the two ships was the size of their complements: Chesapeakes 379 against the Shannons 330. Shannon carried 276 officers, seamen and marines of her proper complement; eight recaptured seamen; 22 Irish labourers who had been 48 hours in the ship and of whom only four could speak English, and 24 boys, of whom about 13 were under 12 years of age.

Broke had trained his gun crews to fire accurate broadsides into the hulls of enemy vessels, with the aim of killing their gun crews, rather than shooting down the masts. By contrast, half of Chesapeakes officers and up to one quarter of the crew were new to the ship. Her crew had conducted no practice at small arms nor of the main battery. Despite this, Lawrence believed that he would win the battle. The previous American victories over Royal Navy ships left him expectant of success, especially since Chesapeake had a substantially larger crew than Shannon.

Still, before setting sail, Lawrence wrote two quick notes, one to the Secretary of the Navy pronouncing his intentions and another to his brother in-law asking him to look after Lawrence's wife and children in event of his death. He then set sail. Just before the engagement, the American crew gave three cheers.

Initial engagement

The two ships met at half past five in the afternoon, 20 nautical miles (37 km) east of Boston lighthouse, between Cape Ann
Cape Ann
Cape Ann is a rocky cape in northeastern Massachusetts on the Atlantic Ocean. The cape is located approximately 30 miles northeast of Boston and forms the northern edge of Massachusetts Bay. Cape Ann includes the city of Gloucester, and the towns of Essex, Manchester-by-the-Sea, and...

 and Cape Cod
Cape Cod
Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...

. Shannon was flying a rusty blue ensign
Blue Ensign
The Blue Ensign is a flag, one of several British ensigns, used by certain organisations or territories associated with the United Kingdom. It is used either plain, or defaced with a badge or other emblem....

 and her dilapidated outside appearance after a long period at sea suggested that she would be an easy opponent. Observing the Chesapeakes many flags, a sailor had questioned Broke: "Mayn't we have three ensigns, sir, like she has?" "No," said Broke, "we've always been an unassuming ship."

Shannon refused to fire upon Chesapeake as she bore down, nor would Chesapeake rake Shannon despite having the weather gauge. Lawrence's behavior that day earned him praise from the British officers for gallantry. The two ships opened fire just before 18:00 at a range of about 35 metres, with Shannon scoring the first hit, striking the Chesapeake on one of her gunports with two round shot and a bag of musket balls fired by William Mindham, the gun captain of one of Shannons starboard 18-pounders. Two or three further broadsides followed that swept the Chesapeakes decks with grape and roundshot from Shannons 32-pounder carronades. Shannon ran into Chesapeake, with Chesapeake lying athwart Shannons starboard bow, trapped by one of Shannons anchors.

Shannon now opened fire on the Chesapeakes maindeck with her after guns firing through the Chesapeakes port holes. Many of Chesapeakes crew were killed or wounded; two thirds of her gun crews were already casualties. The Chesapeake’s wheel was then shot away and her helmsman killed by a 9-pounder gun that Broke had ordered installed on the quarter deck for that very purpose.

With Chesapeake trapped against the Shannon and unable to manoeuvre, Chesapeakes stern now became exposed to raking British fire. Her situation worsened when a small open cask of musket
Musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun, fired from the shoulder. Muskets were designed for use by infantry. A soldier armed with a musket had the designation musketman or musketeer....

 cartridges abaft the mizzen-mast blew up. When the smoke cleared, Captain Broke judged the time was right and gave the order to board. Lawrence too tried to give the order to board, but the British were faster.

The British board

Mr Stevens, the boatswain
Boatswain
A boatswain , bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun is an unlicensed member of the deck department of a merchant ship. The boatswain supervises the other unlicensed members of the ship's deck department, and typically is not a watchstander, except on vessels with small crews...

 attempted to lash the two ships together to prevent the Chesapeake from disengaging and escaping. This bravery cost him an arm. A party of small-arm men rushed aboard the Chesapeake, led by Broke and including the purser
Purser
The purser joined the warrant officer ranks of the Royal Navy in the early fourteenth century and existed as a Naval rank until 1852. The development of the warrant officer system began in 1040 when five English ports began furnishing warships to King Edward the Confessor in exchange for certain...

, Mr G. Aldham, and the clerk, Mr John Dunn. Aldham and Dunn were killed as they crossed the gangway, but the rest of the party made it onto the Chesapeake.
"Captain Broke, at the head of not more twenty men, stepped from the rail of the waist-hammock netting to the muzzle of the after-carronade of the Chesapeake, and sprang from thence upon her quarterdeck."
The main-deck was found to be empty, having been swept clear by Shannon’s broadsides. Broke and his men quickly advanced forward along the deck, while more British reinforcements leapt aboard.

Meanwhile, the first lieutenant, Mr George T. L. Watt, had attempted to hoist the British colours over the Chesapeake, but was hit in the forehead by grapeshot as he did so. Fighting had now broken out along the top-masts of the ships as rival sharpshooters fired upon the their opponents in their rival's masts, and on the sailors on the exposed decks. The British marksmen, led by Midshipman William Smith, who had command of the fore-top, stormed the Chesapeakes fore-top over the yard-arm and killed all the Americans there.

Captain Broke himself led a charge against a number of the Americans who had managed to rally on the forecastle
Forecastle
Forecastle refers to the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters...

. After four minutes of fierce fighting, the Americans called for quarter, but then, finding that they out-numbered the British, they rallied and counter attacked. Three American sailors, probably from the rigging, descended and attacked Captain Broke. Although taken by surprise, he killed the first. Still, the second hit him with a musket, which stunned him, while the third sliced open his skull with his sabre, knocking Broke to the deck. Before the American could finish Broke off, he was cut down by William Windham. Shannons crew rallied to the defence of their captain and carried the forecastle, killing the remaining Americans.

Broke handed over command of the Shannon to Lieutenant Provo Wallis
Provo Wallis
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Provo William Perry Wallis, GCB was a Royal Navy officer and naval war hero. He was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia and was 100 years old when he died....

. Though wounded, Broke was able to save the life of a young American midshipman
Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...

 who had slid down a rope from the fore-top. With American resistance weakening, Lieutenant Charles Leslie Falkiner, who had commanded the boarders who had rushed the main-deck, took command of the prize. While the two yard-arms had been locked together, Mr Cosnaham, who had commanded the main-top, had crawled out on the main yard-arm where he could fire down onto the Chesapeake, killing three of her men.

The Chesapeake is taken

The British then secured the ship and took her surrender. The engagement had lasted just eleven minutes. Shannon had lost 23 killed, and had 56 wounded. Chesapeake had about 60 killed, including her four lieutenants, the master and many other of her officers, and about as many wounded. Captain Lawrence had been mortally wounded by fire from Shannon’s fore-top and was carried below before the Chesapeake was boarded. His last order upon being wounded was "Don't give up the ship!".

A large cask of un-slaked lime
Calcium oxide
Calcium oxide , commonly known as quicklime or burnt lime, is a widely used chemical compound. It is a white, caustic, alkaline crystalline solid at room temperature....

 was found open on Chesapeakes forecastle and another bag of lime was discovered in the fore-top. British sailors alleged the intention was to throw handfuls into the eyes of Shannon’s men in an unfair and dishonourable manner as they attempted to board, though that was never done by the Chesapeakes crew, and the historian Albert Gleaves has called the allegation "absurd," noting, "Lime is always carried in ship's stores as a disinfectant, and the fact that it was left on the deck after the ship was cleared for action was probably due to the neglect of some subordinate, or petty officer."

Shannon’s midshipmen during the action were Messrs. Smith, Leake, Clavering, Raymond, Littlejohn and Samwell. Samwell was the only other officer to be wounded in the action. Mr Etough was the acting master, and conned the ship into the action. Shortly after the frigate had been secured, Broke fainted from loss of blood and was rowed back to the Shannon to be attended to by the ship's surgeon. After the victory, a prize crew was put aboard the Chesapeake and the Shannon escorted her and her crew into Halifax, arriving there on 6 June. Lieutenant Bartholomew Kent, of brought the first news of the British victory back to London.

At Halifax Chesapeakes crew was imprisoned. Chesapeake herself was repaired and taken into service by the Royal Navy before she was sold at Portsmouth, England in 1820 and broken up.

Aftermath

The victory in closely matched combat raised the shaken morale of the Royal Navy, and the Americans honoured the heroism of Captain Lawrence. After setting out on 5 September for a brief cruise under a Captain Teahouse, the Shannon departed for England on 4 October, carrying the recovering Captain Broke. They arrived at Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

 on 2 November. After the successful action Lieutenants Wallis and Falkiner were promoted to the rank of commander, and Messrs. Etough and Smith were made lieutenants. Captain Broke was made a baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...

 that September. The Court of Common Council of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 awarded him the freedom of the city, and a sword worth 100 guinea
Guinea (British coin)
The guinea is a coin that was minted in the Kingdom of England and later in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom between 1663 and 1813...

s. He also received a piece of plate
Plate (dishware)
A plate is a broad, concave, but mainly flat vessel on which food can be served. A plate can also be used for ceremonial or decorative purposes.-Materials:...

 worth 750 pounds and a cup worth 100 guineas.

The British buried Captain Lawrence in Halifax with full military honours; six senior British naval officers served as pall bearers. Although Shannons surgeon had pronounced as fatal Captain Broke's head wound from a cutlass stroke, he survived; nevertheless he never again commanded a ship. Two-thirds of the men that followed Broke in the boarding party were wounded or killed. The casualties, 228 dead or wounded between the two ships' companies, were high, with the ratio making it one of the bloodiest single ship actions of the age of sail. It had the single highest body count in an action between two ships in the entirety of the war. The fact that it happened in 15 minutes is a sign of the sheer ferocity with which this battle was fought.

In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issue of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Shannon wh. Chesapeake" to any surviving claimants from the action.

Subsequent service

Commander Humphrey Senhouse (acting) assumed command in June 1813. Shannon was in ordinary
Reserve fleet
A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed, and thus partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; an equivalent expression in unofficial modern U.S....

 at Portsmouth in 1814-1815. Between July 1815 and March 1817, she was at Chatham undergoing extensive repairs that cost £26,328. She then returned to ordinary. She underwent a small repair for £4,969 between May and July 1826. She was fitted for sea between August and December 1828, which cost another £14,746. In September Captain Benjamin Clement recommissioned her, and he would command her until 1830.

The Shannon became a receiving ship and temporary hulk at Sheerness
Sheerness
Sheerness is a town located beside the mouth of the River Medway on the northwest corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 12,000 it is the largest town on the island....

 in 1831. On 11 March 1844 she was renamed Saint Lawrence.

Fate

Shannon was finally broken up at Chatham
Chatham, Medway
Chatham is one of the Medway towns located within the Medway unitary authority, in North Kent, in South East England.Although the dockyard has long been closed and is now being redeveloped into a business and residential community as well as a museum featuring the famous submarine, HMS Ocelot,...

, a process completed on 12 November 1859.

Legacy

  • Graves of Shannon's crew are marked in the cemetery of the Royal Naval Dockyard, Halifax
    Royal Naval Dockyard, Halifax
    Royal Naval Dockyard, Halifax was a British Royal Navy base in Halifax, Nova Scotia from 1759 to 1905. The Halifax Yard was the main year round base of the Royal Navy's North American Station when first established in 1759 during the Seven Years' War....

     and at the city's St. Paul's Church
    St. Paul's Church (Halifax)
    St. Paul's Church is an evangelical Anglican church in downtown Halifax Nova Scotia within the Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island of the Anglican Church of Canada. It is located at the south end of the Grand Parade, an open square in downtown Halifax with Halifax City Hall at the...

    , then the cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Nova Scotia
    Anglican Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
    The Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island is a diocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of Canada of the Anglican Church of Canada. It encompasses the provinces of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and has two cathedrals: All Saints' in Halifax and St. Peter's in Charlottetown...

    ." A plaque was erected to commemorate the battle in Halifax in 1927 and may be seen at Point Pleasant Park
    Point Pleasant Park
    Point Pleasant Park is a large, partially forested municipal park at the southern tip of the Halifax peninsula. It once hosted several artillery batteries, and a well-preserved 18th century Martello tower can be found there...

    . Shannon's bell is displayed at the Maritime Command Museum in Halifax while the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic
    Maritime Museum of the Atlantic
    The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is a Canadian maritime museum located in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia.The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is a member institution of the Nova Scotia Museum and is the oldest and largest maritime museum in Canada with a collection of over 30,000 artifacts...

     in Halifax has an exhibit about the battle which includes the battle-damaged ships bell from Shannon as well as a surgeon's chest and mess kettle from Chesapeake.

  • Because he was able to claim six days as acting captain of the Shannon, Provo Wallis became senior to many others who had been lieutenants in the Napoleonic-era Royal Navy. It was an advantage that, combined with his longevity, eventually propelled him to the post of Admiral of the Fleet
    Admiral of the Fleet
    An admiral of the fleet is a military naval officer of the highest rank. In many nations the rank is reserved for wartime or ceremonial appointments...

    .

  • A fictionalised account of the battle appears in The Fortune of War
    The Fortune of War
    The Fortune of War is a historical novel written by British author Patrick O'Brian. It is the sixth book in the Aubrey-Maturin series, and is set during the War of 1812....

     by Patrick O'Brian
    Patrick O'Brian
    Patrick O'Brian, CBE , born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and centred on the friendship of English Naval Captain Jack Aubrey and the Irish–Catalan physician Stephen...

    .


Folk song

The battle became the subject of a British ballad:

The Chesapeake and the Shannon

The Chesapeake so bold, out of Boston, I am told,

Came to take a British frigate neat and handy, O!

The people of the port came out to see the sport,

With their music playing Yankee doodle dandy, O!

Yankee doodle, Yankee doodle dandy, O!

The people of the port came out to see the sport,

With their music playing Yankee doodle dandy, O!

The British frigate's name, that for the purpose came

To tame the Yankee's courage neat and handy, O!

Was the Shannon, Captain Broke, with his crew all hearts of oak,

And in fighting, you must know, he was the dandy, O!

Yankee doodle, &c.

The fight had scarce began when the Yankees, with much fun,

Said, we'll tow her into Boston neat and handy, O!

And "I'll kalkilate" we'll dine, with our lasses drinking wine,

And we'll dance the jig of Yankee doodle dandy, O!

Yankee doodle, &c.

But they soon every one flinched from the gun,

Which at first they thought to use so neat and handy, O!

Brave Broke he waved his sword, crying, "Now, my lads, let's aboard,"

And we'll stop their playing Yankee doodle dandy, O!

Yankee doodle, &c.

He scarce had said the word, when they all jump'd on board,

And they hauled down the ensign neat and handy, O!

Notwithstanding all their brag, the glorious British flag

At the Yankees' mizzen-peak it looked the dandy, O!

Yankee doodle, &c.

Then here's to all true blue, both officers and crew,

Who tamed the Yankees' courage neat and handy, O!

And may it ever prove in battle, as in love,

The true British sailor is the dandy, O!

Yankee doodle, &c.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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