USS Scourge was an American warship converted from a confiscated merchant 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....

. She foundered along with the American warship during a squall

Squall

A squall is a sudden, sharp increase in wind speed which is usually associated with active weather, such as rain showers, thunderstorms, or heavy snow. Squalls refer to an increase in the sustained winds over a short time interval, as there may be higher gusts during a squall event...

 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...

 at 2:00am on Sunday, August 8, 1813,. 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...

.

Scourge began its career as the Lord Nelson, which was built at Niagara in Upper Canada

Upper Canada

The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...

 for merchant James Crooks. Lord Nelson found its way into American naval service after it was stopped and searched by the American warship Oneida under the command of Lt. Melancthon T. Woolsey in May 1812. Lord Nelson was confiscated under the Embargo Act of 1807

Embargo Act of 1807

The Embargo Act of 1807 and the subsequent Nonintercourse Acts were American laws restricting American ships from engaging in foreign trade between the years of 1807 and 1812. The Acts were diplomatic responses by presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison designed to protect American interests...

 and taken to Sackets Harbor, where it was armed with four 6-pounder cannons, four 4-pounder cannons and fitted with bulwark

Bulwark

Bulwark may refer to:*A bastion or fortifications in general*In naval terminology, an extension of a ship's sides above deck level*HMS Bulwark, any of several Royal Navy ships*USS Bulwark, any of several US Navy ships...

s. The ship was placed in Captain Isaac Chauncey

Isaac Chauncey

Isaac Chauncey was an officer in the United States Navy.-Biography:Chauncey, born in Black Rock, Connecticut, 20 February 1779, was appointed a Lieutenant in the Navy from 17 September 1798...

's squadron

Squadron (naval)

A squadron, or naval squadron, is a unit of 3-4 major warships, transport ships, submarines, or sometimes small craft that may be part of a larger task force or a fleet...

 and patrolled Lake Ontario during the War of 1812.

Scourge and Hamilton sank during a sudden squall off Fourteen Mile Creek near present-day Hamilton, Ontario

Hamilton, Ontario

Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...

 around 2:00 am on Sunday August 8, 1813. The sinkings took more than 80 men to their death. Scourge was under the command of Sailing Master

Master (naval)

The master, or sailing master, was a historic term for a naval officer trained in and responsible for the navigation of a sailing vessel...

 Joseph Osgood. According to a Letter of August 1813 after both ships were lost sixteen survived. A survivor of the Scourge, Ned Myers, told his story to James Fenimore Cooper

James Fenimore Cooper

James Fenimore Cooper was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. He is best remembered as a novelist who wrote numerous sea-stories and the historical novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales, featuring frontiersman Natty Bumppo...

. According to Myers about eight men from the Scourge were saved, and about 42 were lost.

The site of the sunken ships was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1976. The Ontario Heritage Act

Ontario Heritage Act

The Ontario Heritage Act, first enacted on March 5, 1975, allows municipalities and the provincial government to designate individual properties and districts in the Province of Ontario, Canada, as being of cultural heritage value or interest....

 was amended in 2005 to provide special protection to the shipwrecks of the Hamilton, the Scourge, and the SS Edmund Fitzgerald

SS Edmund Fitzgerald

The SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that made headlines after sinking in a Lake Superior storm on November 10, 1975, with the loss of the entire crew of 29. When launched on June 8, 1958, she was the largest boat on North America's Great Lakes, and she remains...

because of their historical and cultural significance and because they contain human remains.

Crew List

• Mr. Joseph Osgood - Sailing Master - lost in storm
• Mr. Osgood's Steward - a mulatto - survived the storm
• Mr. Bogardus - Master's mate - survived the storm
• Unnamed ships pilot - survived the storm
• William Deer - Boatswain - lost in storm
• George Turnblatt - Gunner - lost in storm
• Lemuel Bryant - survived the storm
• Ebenezer Duffy - Ship's Cook - survived the storm
• Tom Goldsmith - survived the storm
• Simeon Grant - left the ship before the storm after losing a hand in an accident
• James Lawson - Seaman - lost in storm
• Leonard Lewis - survived the storm
• Mr. Livingston - left the ship before the storm
• Ned Myers - survived the storm
• Philips - powder boy - lost in storm
• Bill Southard - lost in storm

External links

• http://www.hamilton-scourge.hamilton.ca/home.htm