USS Wasp was a sloop-of-war

Sloop-of-war

In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...

 that served in the U.S. Navy in 1814 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 fifth US Navy ship to carry that name.
She carried out two successful raiding voyages against British trade during the summer of 1814, in the course of which she fought and defeated three British warships.
Wasp was lost, cause unknown, in the Atlantic in early autumn, 1814.

Service history

Wasp was a ship-rigged sloop-of-war

Sloop-of-war

In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...

 constructed in 1813 at Newburyport

Newburyport, Massachusetts

Newburyport is a small coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, 35 miles northeast of Boston. The population was 21,189 at the 2000 census. A historic seaport with a vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes part of Plum Island...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

, by Cross & Merrill. She was commissioned early in 1814, Master Commandant Johnston Blakeley in command. She remained at Portsmouth

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...

, New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

, until late spring awaiting sailing orders and, upon receipt of them, put to sea on 1 May 1814 for a war cruise to the western approaches to the English Channel

English Channel

The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...

.

First raiding voyage

Wasp captured her first vessel, the 207-ton barque

Barque

A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...

 Neptune, on 2 June 1814, embarked her crew as prisoners, and burned the prize at sea. On 13 June 1814, she took William, a 91-ton 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...

, and burned her as well. Wasp encountered the 131-ton armed brig Pallas on 18 June 1814, captured her, apparently without resistance, and scuttled her. Her fourth victim, 171-ton galiot

Galiot

Galiots were types of ships from the Age of Sail.In the Mediterranean, galiots were a type of small galley, with one or two masts and about twenty oars, using both sails and oars for propulsion...

 Henrietta, which she took on 23 June 1814, was given up to the prisoners Wasp had thus far taken. On 26 June 1814, Wasp captured and scuttled the 325-ton ship Orange Boven.

Sinking of HMS Reindeer

On 28 June 1814, Wasp came upon the 18-gun Cruizer class brig-sloop HMS Reindeer

HMS Reindeer (1804)

HMS Reindeer was a Royal Navy 18-gun Cruizer class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, built by Samuel & Daniel Brent at Rotherhithe and was launched in 1804. She was built of fir, which made for more rapid construction at the expense of durability...

 some 225 miles west of Plymouth, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, and brought her to battle. The fight lasted only 19 minutes, but during that brief span of time the two ships traded a murderous fire of grape and solid shot. Several times, Reindeer's crew tried to board Wasp, but the American crew repulsed them on each occasion. In the end, Wasp's own ship's company boarded Reindeer and carried the day. Wasp suffered six hits in her hull, and some of her rigging was shot away, but she remained sailable. Reindeer had suffered 25 men killed, including her captain, Cmdr. William Manners, and 42 wounded.

After taking prisoners on board, setting fire to Reindeer, and watching Reindeer explode, Wasp set course for L'Orient, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. En route, she took two more prizes, the 112-ton brig Regulator on 4 July 1814 and the 151-ton schooner Jenny on 6 July 1814. Not long thereafter, she entered L'Orient for repairs, provisions, and care for her wounded.

Second raiding voyage

Wasp remained in L'Orient until she again put to sea on 27 August 1814. On 30 August 1814, she captured the brig Lettice and, on 31 August 1814, took another, Bon Accord. Early in the morning of 1 September 1814, she encountered a convoy of 10 ships escorted by the 74-gun ship-of-the-line HMS Armada

HMS Armada (1810)

HMS Armada was a Royal Navy 74-gun third-rate ship of the line. She was launched on 23 March 1810 by Mrs Pridham, the wife of the Mayor of Plymouth, Mr Joseph Pridham. After a relatively undistinguished career, Armada was sold out of the Navy in 1863 and broken up at Marshall's ship breaking yard...

. Wasp made for the convoy and singled out the brig Mary, which she quickly took as a prize, carrying off Mary's crew as prisoners and burning her. The American sloop then attempted to take another ship in the convoy, but Armada chased her off.

Sinking of HMS Avon

That evening, she spied another sail on the horizon and gave chase. By 2130, she had the brig under her lee bow and opened fire. The enemy returned fire until 2200 at which time her battery seemed to cease fire. When Wasp did the same and called for the stranger's surrender, the British ship answered with another cannonade. Wasp again opened fire on the ship, now known to have been the 18-gun, 477-ton brig HMS Avon

HMS Avon (1805)

HMS Avon was a Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by Symons at Falmouth and launched on 31 January 1805. In the War of 1812 she fought a desperate action with the USS Wasp that resulted in her sinking on 27 August 1814.-Service:...

. Some broadsides later, Avon's guns fell silent once more, and Wasp repeated the call for surrender. Avon, at this point a battered hulk, had no choice but to comply.

However, just as Wasp began to lower the boat for the prize crew, the lookout sighted another enemy brig standing toward the two adversaries. Wasp's crew manned their battle stations immediately in hope of taking the newcomer as well. Just then, two more British ships appeared on the horizon and Wasp was forced to give up the destruction of Avon and see to her own salvation. The lead British ship, however, failed to engage Wasp; instead, she hauled in close to Wasp's stern and loosed a broadside into the American's rigging which damaged sails, sheets, and braces considerably and then came about to rendezvous with the other two ships following her and the sinking Avon. Although the Americans didn't know it at the time, Avon sank soon after Wasp left her. Avon had suffered 10 killed and 32 wounded. Avon's primary rescuer was her sister ship, Castilian.

The American warship continued her ravages of the British merchant marine. On 12 September 1814, she encountered Three Brothers, a brig, and scuttled her. On 14 September 1814, she sank the brig Bacchus. On 21 September 1814, an eight-gun brig, HMS Atalanta, ran afoul of Wasp, and she, too, suffered the ignominy of capture. Deemed too valuable to destroy, Atalanta was placed under the command of Midshipman David Geisinger

David Geisinger

David Geisinger was an officer of the United States Navy, who served during the War of 1812, and was later Commodore of the East India Squadron.-Biography:...

 and was sent home to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. She entered Savannah

Savannah, Georgia

Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...

, Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

, safely on 4 November 1814.

Fate

After Wasp and Atalanta parted company, nothing more was heard from Wasp. She was last seen by a Swedish merchantman bound from 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...

 to Falmouth

Falmouth, Cornwall

Falmouth is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It has a total resident population of 21,635.Falmouth is the terminus of the A39, which begins some 200 miles away in Bath, Somerset....

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, about three weeks after the Atalanta capture and was said to be headed for the Caribbean

Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....

. Wasp probably foundered in a storm.

First Raiding Cruise

First raiding cruise

Date	Ship Name	Tonnage	Ship Type	Location	Disposition of Ship
2 June 1814	Neptune	207	Barque	English Channel	Burned
13	William	91	Brig	“	Burned
18	Pallas	131	Brig	“	Scuttled
23	Henrietta	171	Galiot	“	Prize; used to transport prisoners
26	Orange Boven	325	Ship	“	scuttled
28	HMS Reindeer	n/a	18-gun Sloop	“	Captured
4 July	Regulator	112	Brig	“	Prize
6	Jenny	151	Schooner	“	Prize

Second Raiding Cruise

Second raiding cruise

Date	Ship Name	Tonnage	Ship Type	Location	Disposition of Ship
30 August 1814	Lettice	t	Brig	English Channel	Captured
31	Bon Accord	t	Brig	“	Captured
1 September	Mary	t	Brig	“	Captured
1	HMS Avon	n/a	18-gun Brig	“	Wrecked
12	Three Brothers	t	Brig	SW Approaches	Scuttled
14	Bacchus	t	Brig	“	Sank
21	HMS Atalanta	n/a	8 gun Brig	Mid-Atlantic	Captured