Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard
Encyclopedia
The Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard from 1788 to 1853 in Kingston
, Ontario
, Canada
, at the site of the current Royal Military College of Canada
.
by Major John Ross of the 34th Regiment. When the Provincial Marine relocated from Carleton Island to Kingston, Point Frederick
was established as a naval depot in 1789.
The quarter-master-general`s department of the army, who had a monopoly of shipping on the Great Lakes, built transport schooners of the Provincial Marine on Point Frederick by 1792. In 1809 a heavily-armed, three-masted square-rigged vessel, `HMS Royal George (1809)
` was built and launched in Navy Bay specifically for fighting on the lakes.
Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard was the only Royal Navy
base on Lake Ontario
, countering the American
naval base a short distance away in Sackets Harbour
, New York
during the War of 1812
. During the War of 1812 attacks were launched from the dockyard on the American bases at Sackets Harbour
, and Oswego
. On 10 November 1812, at the beginning of the War of 1812, the Americans pursued `HMS Royal George (1809)
` into Kingston harbour and were held off by the shore batteries.
Commanded by Commodore Sir James Lucas Yeo
, the Royal Navy took over operations on the Great Lakes from the Provincial Marine in 1813. A stone building, built around 1813, was used as a naval hospital during the War of 1812 and is now known as the Ordnance storekeeper`s quarters. After the Rush-Bagot Treaty
of 1817, the role of the dockyard diminished. A blacksmith shop, which was built in the dockyard in 1823 is now used by the Royal Military College of Canada
. Half of the Royal artificer`s cottages, which were built in 1822, were destroyed by a fire in the 1880s.
The War of 1812 has been known as the ship-builders war. Ships were built on Point Frederick by the successive commissioners of the dockyard, Captain Richard O`Conor and Sir Robert Hall. Under the terms of the Bush-Bagot agreement of 1817, naval forces on Lake Ontario were restricted to one gunboat. Nevertheless, Sir Robert Hall maintained the ships of the fleet in ordinary
until his death in 1818. His replacement, Captain Robert Barrie built a Stone Frigate
to warehouse the gear and rigging from the ships, which were dismantled and housed in Navy Bay. After the wood barracks burned down in 1816, the Stone Frigate became the main building on Point Frederick. Captain Robert Barrie was recalled and the war ships, which were by the early 1830s merely hulks, were actioned off.
Closed in 1835, the dockyard reopened in 1837 in response to rebellions in the Canadas. Captain Williams Sandom and a party of sailors resided in the Stone Frigate warehouse close to the St. Lawrence pier in Navy Bay. Their headquarters was the HMS Niagara, one of the 1812 hulks which had been repurchased. Steamships were hired to transport regulars and militia from Kingston at the Battle of the Windmill
, near Prescott. Steam warships operated from the dockyard. An old wooden blockhouse protected the battery at the end of Point Frederick. Four stone Martello tower
s were built along the shore to defend Kingston's harbour after the Oregon Crisis
. One of of the towers, known as Fort Frederick
was built by Royal Engineers on Point Frederick near the old dockyard. The dockyard closed in 1853.
A wooden commodore`s house, which was shown on a plan dated 1868-70, was still standing when the Royal Military College of Canada opened in the 1876. By the 1860s, only the Stone Frigate storehouse and one wharf were kept in repair. The old hulks of the the War of 1812 were hard aground in the mud and broken by the annual freezing and thawing of Navy Bay and Deadman Bay.
The ordnance and admiralty lands in Kingston, which included the the dockyard on Point Frederick, were transferred to the Canadian government on the condition it should not be used for anything but naval purposes. An order in council ratified the agreement adding the phrase and for the naval defence of Canada.
The site was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1928.
maintains a collection of artifacts and records relating to Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard which once occupied Point Frederick.
A model by master modeler, Louis Roosen, depicting HMS St. Lawrence (1814), (mounting 102 guns) the only 1st Rate Royal Navy Ship-of-the-Line to sail on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812, was presented to the Royal Military College of Canada Commandant, Brigadier-General Tom Lawson on April 22, 2008. The model is approx 1.4m (4 ½ “) long and took over 4000 hours to complete.
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, at the site of the current Royal Military College of Canada
Royal Military College of Canada
The Royal Military College of Canada, RMC, or RMCC , is the military academy of the Canadian Forces, and is a degree-granting university. RMC was established in 1876. RMC is the only federal institution in Canada with degree granting powers...
.
History
A government wharf was contructed in 1783 on the eastern side of Lake OntarioLake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
by Major John Ross of the 34th Regiment. When the Provincial Marine relocated from Carleton Island to Kingston, Point Frederick
Point Frederick Peninsula
Point Frederick is a peninsula National Historic Site of Canada in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The peninsula is near where Lake Ontario empties into the Saint Lawrence River...
was established as a naval depot in 1789.
The quarter-master-general`s department of the army, who had a monopoly of shipping on the Great Lakes, built transport schooners of the Provincial Marine on Point Frederick by 1792. In 1809 a heavily-armed, three-masted square-rigged vessel, `HMS Royal George (1809)
HMS Royal George (1809)
HMS Royal George was a British 20-gun wooden sloop of the Provincial Marine, and subsequently, the Royal Navy, operating on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812 with a crew of 200....
` was built and launched in Navy Bay specifically for fighting on the lakes.
Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard was the only 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...
base on Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
, countering the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
naval base a short distance away in Sackets Harbour
Sackets Harbor, New York
Sackets Harbor is a village in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population was 1,386 at the 2000 census. The village was named after land developer and owner Augustus Sackett, who founded it in the early 19th century.The Village of Sackets Harbor is within the western part of the...
, 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...
during 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...
. During the War of 1812 attacks were launched from the dockyard on the American bases at Sackets Harbour
Sackets Harbor, New York
Sackets Harbor is a village in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population was 1,386 at the 2000 census. The village was named after land developer and owner Augustus Sackett, who founded it in the early 19th century.The Village of Sackets Harbor is within the western part of the...
, and Oswego
Oswego, New York
Oswego is a city in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 18,142 at the 2010 census. Oswego is located on Lake Ontario in north-central New York and promotes itself as "The Port City of Central New York"...
. On 10 November 1812, at the beginning of the War of 1812, the Americans pursued `HMS Royal George (1809)
HMS Royal George (1809)
HMS Royal George was a British 20-gun wooden sloop of the Provincial Marine, and subsequently, the Royal Navy, operating on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812 with a crew of 200....
` into Kingston harbour and were held off by the shore batteries.
Commanded by Commodore Sir James Lucas Yeo
James Lucas Yeo
Sir James Lucas Yeo KCB was a British naval commander who served in the War of 1812.Yeo was born in Southampton on 7 October 1782, and joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman at the age of 10. He first saw action as a lieutenant aboard a brig in the Adriatic Sea, and distinguished himself during the...
, the Royal Navy took over operations on the Great Lakes from the Provincial Marine in 1813. A stone building, built around 1813, was used as a naval hospital during the War of 1812 and is now known as the Ordnance storekeeper`s quarters. After the Rush-Bagot Treaty
Rush-Bagot Treaty
The Rush-Bagot Treaty was a treaty between the United States and Britain ratified by the United States Senate on April 16, 1817 . The treaty provided for a large demilitarization of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain, where many British naval arrangements and forts still remained...
of 1817, the role of the dockyard diminished. A blacksmith shop, which was built in the dockyard in 1823 is now used by the Royal Military College of Canada
Royal Military College of Canada
The Royal Military College of Canada, RMC, or RMCC , is the military academy of the Canadian Forces, and is a degree-granting university. RMC was established in 1876. RMC is the only federal institution in Canada with degree granting powers...
. Half of the Royal artificer`s cottages, which were built in 1822, were destroyed by a fire in the 1880s.
In ordinary
In ordinary as a phrase has two technical meanings recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary:# In relation particularly to the staff of the British royal household, and more generally to those employed by the Crown, it is used as a suffix showing that the appointment is to the regular staff, for...
until his death in 1818. His replacement, Captain Robert Barrie built a Stone Frigate
Stone frigate
Stone frigate is a nickname for a naval establishment on land. The term has its origin in Britain's Royal Navy after its use of Diamond Rock, off Martinique, as a 'sloop of war' to harass the French...
to warehouse the gear and rigging from the ships, which were dismantled and housed in Navy Bay. After the wood barracks burned down in 1816, the Stone Frigate became the main building on Point Frederick. Captain Robert Barrie was recalled and the war ships, which were by the early 1830s merely hulks, were actioned off.
Closed in 1835, the dockyard reopened in 1837 in response to rebellions in the Canadas. Captain Williams Sandom and a party of sailors resided in the Stone Frigate warehouse close to the St. Lawrence pier in Navy Bay. Their headquarters was the HMS Niagara, one of the 1812 hulks which had been repurchased. Steamships were hired to transport regulars and militia from Kingston at the Battle of the Windmill
Battle of the Windmill
The Battle of the Windmill was a battle fought in November 1838 in the aftermath of the Upper Canada Rebellion. Loyalist forces of the Upper Canadian government defeated an invasion attempt by Hunter Patriot insurgents based in the United States.-Background:...
, near Prescott. Steam warships operated from the dockyard. An old wooden blockhouse protected the battery at the end of Point Frederick. Four stone Martello tower
Martello tower
Martello towers are small defensive forts built in several countries of the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the Napoleonic Wars onwards....
s were built along the shore to defend Kingston's harbour after the Oregon Crisis
Oregon boundary dispute
The Oregon boundary dispute, or the Oregon Question, arose as a result of competing British and American claims to the Pacific Northwest of North America in the first half of the 19th century. Both the United Kingdom and the United States had territorial and commercial aspirations in the region...
. One of of the towers, known as Fort Frederick
Fort Frederick (Kingston)
Fort Frederick is a historic military building located on Point Frederick on the grounds of the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Its construction dates to 1846 and the Oregon crisis. The fort consists of earthworks surrounding a Martello tower...
was built by Royal Engineers on Point Frederick near the old dockyard. The dockyard closed in 1853.
A wooden commodore`s house, which was shown on a plan dated 1868-70, was still standing when the Royal Military College of Canada opened in the 1876. By the 1860s, only the Stone Frigate storehouse and one wharf were kept in repair. The old hulks of the the War of 1812 were hard aground in the mud and broken by the annual freezing and thawing of Navy Bay and Deadman Bay.
The ordnance and admiralty lands in Kingston, which included the the dockyard on Point Frederick, were transferred to the Canadian government on the condition it should not be used for anything but naval purposes. An order in council ratified the agreement adding the phrase and for the naval defence of Canada.
The site was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1928.
Museum
Fort Frederick which is operated as the Royal Military College of Canada Museum,maintains a collection of artifacts and records relating to Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard which once occupied Point Frederick.
A model by master modeler, Louis Roosen, depicting HMS St. Lawrence (1814), (mounting 102 guns) the only 1st Rate Royal Navy Ship-of-the-Line to sail on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812, was presented to the Royal Military College of Canada Commandant, Brigadier-General Tom Lawson on April 22, 2008. The model is approx 1.4m (4 ½ “) long and took over 4000 hours to complete.
Ships built
The following ships were built and launched at the dockyard:- Buffalo - gunboat 1792
- Catherine - gunboat 1792
- Sophia - gunboat 1792
- Swift - gunboat 1798
- HMS Speedy 1798
- HMS Royal GeorgeHMS Royal George (1809)HMS Royal George was a British 20-gun wooden sloop of the Provincial Marine, and subsequently, the Royal Navy, operating on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812 with a crew of 200....
1809 - HMS St Lawrence 1814
- HMS Prince RegentHMS Prince Regent (1814)HMS Prince Regent was a 56-gun British warship that served on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812. The Prince Regent was built at the Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard in Kingston, Upper Canada and launched on 14 April 1814. Following the War of 1812 the frigate was renamed HMS Kingston on 9 December...
1814 - HMS Princess Charlotte 1814
- HMS Duke of GloucesterHMS Duke of Gloucester (1813)HMS Duke of Gloucester was a 10 gun brig of the Royal Navy which was launched at the Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard in Kingston, Ontario....
- HMS Earl of Moira - brig 1805
- Sir Sidney Smith - schooner 1806
- HMS Sir George Prevost - schooner 1813
- HMS Lord MelvilleHMS Lord MelvilleHMS Lord Melville was a schooner of the Royal Navy launched at Kingston on 20 July 1813. She was altered to 14-gun brig in 1813. She served on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812, was renamed HMS Star on 22 January 1814. By 1815, she was unfit for anything but transport duties. She was sold in...
- schooner 1813 - Psyche - frigate 1814
- Niagara - gunboat 1814
- Queenston - gunboat 1814
- Crystler - gunboat 1814
- KingstonHMS Prince Regent (1814)HMS Prince Regent was a 56-gun British warship that served on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812. The Prince Regent was built at the Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard in Kingston, Upper Canada and launched on 14 April 1814. Following the War of 1812 the frigate was renamed HMS Kingston on 9 December...
- gunboat 1814, steam vessel 1838 - Canada - unfinished 1815
- Wolfe - unfinished 1815
- Beckwith - transport 1816
- HMS Sir Isaac BrockHMS Sir Isaac BrockHMS Sir Isaac Brock was a warship which was destroyed before being completed at York, Upper Canada during the War of 1812. The ship was named after the famed hero of the war, Major General Sir Isaac Brock....
- schooner 1817 - Cherokee - steam vessel 1841
- Mohawk - steam vessel 1843
- Watertown - passenger vessel 1864