The USS Scorpion was a 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....

 of the United States Navy

United 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...

 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...

. She was the second USN ship to be named for the scorpion

Scorpion

Scorpions are predatory arthropod animals of the order Scorpiones within the class Arachnida. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by the pair of grasping claws and the narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back, ending with a venomous stinger...

.

Scorpion was launched in the spring of 1813 at Presque Isle (now Erie, Pennsylvania

Erie, Pennsylvania

Erie is a city located in northwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city , with a population of 102,000...

), probably by Noah Brown of New York, for service on the upper Great Lakes 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...

.

Scorpion, commanded by Sailing Master Stephen Champlin

Stephen Champlin

Stephen Champlin was an officer in the United States Navy during the War of 1812.Born in Kingston, Rhode Island, Champlin entered the Navy as a sailing master 22 May 1812...

, first cousin to Oliver Hazard Perry

Oliver Hazard Perry

United States Navy Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry was born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island , the son of USN Captain Christopher Raymond Perry and Sarah Wallace Alexander, a direct descendant of William Wallace...

, operated with Commodore Perry's squadron on Lake Erie

Lake Erie

Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...

 during the summer and fall of 1813.

On 10 September 1813, she participated in the battle off Put-in-Bay

Put-in-Bay, Ohio

Put-in-Bay is a village located on South Bass Island in Put-in-Bay Township, Ottawa County, Ohio, United States. Many believe that the name originates from some early maps of South Bass Island that showed the harbor being named Pudding Bay, probably because it was shaped like a pudding sack. The...

, Lake Erie, which resulted in the defeat and capture of the British fleet (see Battle of Lake Erie

Battle of Lake Erie

The Battle of Lake Erie, sometimes called the Battle of Put-in-Bay, was fought on 10 September 1813, in Lake Erie off the coast of Ohio during the War of 1812. Nine vessels of the United States Navy defeated and captured six vessels of Great Britain's Royal Navy...

). Scorpion had the distinction of firing the first and last shot in the battle in which she lost two men. At the close of the action, she and pursued and captured the fleeing British schooner and the sloop

Sloop

A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....

 .

After Perry's historic victory, the schooner assisted General William Henry Harrison

William Henry Harrison

William Henry Harrison was the ninth President of the United States , an American military officer and politician, and the first president to die in office. He was 68 years, 23 days old when elected, the oldest president elected until Ronald Reagan in 1980, and last President to be born before the...

's forces operating in the Thames River area, by transporting troops as well as stores and ammunition captured from the enemy.

During the winter of 1813 and 1814, she was laid up at Erie, Pennsylvania

Erie, Pennsylvania

Erie is a city located in northwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city , with a population of 102,000...

. From May 1814 to September 1814, the schooner cruised on Lake Erie

Lake Erie

Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...

 and Lake Huron

Lake Huron

Lake Huron is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrologically, it comprises the larger portion of Lake Michigan-Huron. It is bounded on the east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the west by the state of Michigan in the United States...

, cooperating with the army in the Detroit area by transporting troops, staking out the flats through the St. Clair River

St. Clair River

The St. Clair River is a river in central North America which drains Lake Huron into Lake St Clair, forming part of the international boundary between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Michigan...

, and blockading the enemy at the Nottawasaga River

Nottawasaga River

The Nottawasaga River is a river in southern Ontario, Canada. Its headwaters are located on the Niagara Escarpment and Oak Ridges Moraine. It flows through the Minesing Swamp, recognized as a wetland of international significance , and empties into Nottawasaga Bay, an inlet of Georgian Bay, at...

 and Lake Simcoe

Lake Simcoe

Lake Simcoe is a lake in Southern Ontario, Canada, the fourth-largest lake wholly in the province, after Lake Nipigon, Lac Seul, and Lake Nipissing. At the time of the first European contact in the 17th century the lake was called Ouentironk by the Huron natives...

.

On 6 September 1814, while on blockade duty on Lake Huron

Lake Huron

Lake Huron is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrologically, it comprises the larger portion of Lake Michigan-Huron. It is bounded on the east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the west by the state of Michigan in the United States...

, Scorpion, under command of Daniel Turner

Daniel Turner (naval officer)

-Biography:Probably born at Richmond on Staten Island, Turner was appointed a midshipman in the Navy on 1 January 1808. Following brief duty at the New York Naval Station, he served in Constitution on the North Atlantic Station...

, was surprised and captured

Engagement on Lake Huron

The series of minor Engagements on Lake Huron left the British in control of the lake and thus of the Old Northwest for the latter stages of the War of 1812.-Background:...

 by the former American schooner, Tigress, which also had been taken by the British a few days earlier. Both vessels and prisoners were taken to Fort Mackinac

Fort Mackinac

Fort Mackinac is a former American military outpost garrisoned from the late 18th century to the late 19th century near Michilimackinac, Michigan, on Mackinac Island...

.

Scorpion was subsequently taken into the British Navy as the four-gun schooner Confiance, which along with Tigress, according to local legend, was later sunk in Georgian Bay

Georgian Bay

Georgian Bay is a large bay of Lake Huron, located entirely within Ontario, Canada...

, Lake Huron, off Penetanguishene, 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....

. In fact both vessels were laid up and dismantled at Colborne Basin, Ontario.http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/sail/tigress.html