Capture of USS President

The capture of USS ''President'' was one of many naval actions fought at the end of the War of 1812. The frigate tried to break out of New York Harbor but was intercepted by a British squadron of four warships and forced to surrender.

Prelude

USS ''President'' was a prime target of the Royal Navy during the War of 1812 as it was seen to have insulted British honor after the ''Little Belt'' Affair.Lambert By 1815, Commodore Stephen Decatur commanded ''President'', he had captured the smaller British frigate in a famous action in 1812, while in command of the frigate .

Napoleon's failed attempt at invading Russia in 1812 would relieve many British ships from European waters allowing them to impose a strict blockade on the United States. On June 1, 1813, Decatur tried to break out of New York in USS ''United States'' and (which had been taken into the United States Navy), but he encountered a powerful British squadron which drove him into New London, Connecticut. The two frigates were effectively hulked or demilitarized in order to tow them far enough upriver to be safe from British cutting-out expeditions. Coincidentally, this was the same day of the capture of USS ''Chesapeake'' which meant that in one day, nearly half of the United States frigates were incapacitated by British forces. By 1814, the US Navy was entirely contained with the exception of a few sloops. The frigate was captured, the frigates , , and had been destroyed, and ''United States'', ''Macedonian'', , , were blockaded. There was no chance of sailing in good weather, the only hope for escape was in the dangerous winter gales when the British forces would be blown offshore. Decatur tried to break out of New London in ''United States'' in early 1814, but turned back when he feared that pro-British local civilians were burning blue lights to alert the blockaders.Military History online article
/ref> He and his crew of ''United States'' were transferred to the faster ''President'', which had been refitted in New York.

Meanwhile, the British squadron blockading New York consisted of the former ship of the line which had been razeed (cut down) to create a 32-pounder frigate, the 24-pounder frigate HMS ''Forth'', and the 18-pounder frigates HMS ''Pomone'' and HMS ''Tenedos''. Commodore John Hayes was in overall command as the captain of ''Majestic''.Lambert The 24-pounder frigate had attempted to cut out (send the boats to board and capture) the privateer and had lost many of her crew, and Captain Henry Hope had expected to be sent back to Britain as ''Endymion'' by that time was an old ship (built in 1797) and her crew had been weakened by the battle. To his surprise, however, Admiral Henry Hotham ordered ''Endymion'' to remain on the North American Station as ''Endymion'' was the fastest ship in the Royal Navy, and he ordered some replacement crew to be drafted from the 56-gun razee . Hope went to unusual lengths to train his new crew in anticipation of imminent combat using the same methods as were used by Philip Broke on . The combination of ''Endymion''s handling, speed, 24-pounder armament and the crew's training meant that she was better prepared for battle than most other frigates. ''Endymion'' relieved her newer softwood sister ship ''Forth'' from the New York blockade, and Hayes' squadron now consisted of ''Majestic'', ''Endymion'', ''Pomone'', and ''Tenedos''.

''President''s breakout

''President'' was in New York Harbor with the sloops-of-war and , and the schooner-rigged tender . By 1815 ''President'' was overdue for repairs. Unlike the other five of the six frigates, ''President'' was not fastened with diagonal riders which caused her hull to be prone to hogging and twisting. They were preparing to break out past the British blockade to embark on cruises against British merchant shipping.Roosevelt, p.221 A blizzard blew up from the northwest on 13 January, and the British ships were blown off their station to the southeast. Decatur determined to take advantage of the situation by breaking out with ''President'' alone. (He may have been accompanied by a merchant brig, also named ''Macedonian'', carrying extra rations as a tender, but the brig does not feature in any subsequent events.)Forester, p.206 The plan was that the smaller warships would break out later and rendezvous with ''President'' off Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic.

Decatur immediately met with disaster. He had ordered gunboats as harbor pilots to mark the safe passage across the shoal with anchored boats at the mouth of the harbor, but they failed to do so properlyRoosevelt, p.222 and ''President'' grounded on the bar and remained stuck there for almost two hours, enduring a pounding from the wind and heavy sea. The frigate was damaged by the time that it was worked free: some copper was stripped away from the hull, the masts were twisted and some of them had developed long cracks. Decatur claimed the hull was twisted, and the bow and stern hogged on the sand bar, although it is likely that this was the case before ''President'' had even left port as she was already overdue for repairs. Decatur decided that it was impossible for ''President'' to return to port, the wind was still strong. The logs from the British squadron claimed that the gale had stopped, though strong winds persisted. Decatur headed east, keeping close to the Long Island shore before heading southeast.

While ''President'' and her crew were struggling to float off the sand bar, the British blockading squadron was fighting to return to their blockading station. As the winds slowed, the British regrouped. Hayes realized that American ships might have taken the opportunity to leave port unobserved, so he left ''Tenedos'' to watch the Sandy Hook passage and headed north to watch the Long Island passage, rather than heading back to the harbor entrance.

Action

The British squadron sighted ''President'' at dawn on 14 January. Decatur immediately turned downwind and tried to gain speed by lightening his ship. The winds had waned but they were still strong. In heavy seas and high winds, the largest ship will have the advantage in speed, and Hayes' ''Majestic'' gained on ''President'', as they were similar in length but ''Majestic'' was considerably heavier. The winds became more moderate at noon. After ''Majestic'' had fired some ranging shots which fell short, ''Pomone'' overtook ''Majestic'' and led the pursuit, but ''Tenedos'' appeared unexpectedly to the south and Hayes sent ''Pomone'' to investigate in case the sighting was another American ship. HMS ''Endymion'' overtook the rest of the British squadron. ''Endymion'' was regarded as the fastest ship in the Royal Navy, as she recorded speeds that were faster than clipper ships.

In the afternoon, ''Endymion'' and ''President'' began exchanging fire using their bow and stern-chase cannon. At 2 pm, Captain Henry Hope took ''Endymion'' into position on ''President''s starboard quarter so that none of ''President''s stern chasers could bear.Lambert From this position, Hope engaged ''President'' with ''Endymion''s single brass 18-pounder bow chaser. Decatur made several attempts to close on ''Endymion'', but he discovered that ''President''s damage limited her maneuverability and exaggerated the advantage in maneuverability of the smaller ''Endymion''.Lambert

Faced with this new dilemma, Decatur ordered bar and chain-shot to be fired to disable ''Endymion''s sails and rigging. But ''President'' was trapped; Decatur could not escape to the north, as he would have reached the Long Island shore and been forced to the east once more; nor could he escape to the south, as ''Endymion'' would most likely slow ''President'' enough that the rest of the British squadron would catch up.Lambert

Hope then yawed ''Endymion'' to rake ''President''s hull, then quickly returned to position on ''President''s quarter where ''President''s guns would not bear. The first broadside sent splinters flying in the ''President''s spar deck where Decatur was standing. A large splinter hit him in the chest and knocked him over, while another cut his forehead. His First Lieutenant was standing next to him and had his leg cut off by a splinter, and he was knocked down and through the wardroom hatch. Another splinter fatally fractured the skull of a lieutenant next to him too. The 24-pounder cannon from ''Endymion'' was more effective than the traditional 18-pounder shot that could not pierce the thick live oak sides of the United States' frigates, and three shots pierced ''President'' all the way through to the after powder room which was located beneath her mizzen step.

Hope repeated the yawing maneuver three times and did considerable damage.LambertRoosevelt (1883), pp. 55–56. At 7 pm, ''President'' brailed up her spanker and wore downwind with ''Endymion'' imitating the maneuver. Decatur had hoped to put ''Endymion'' out of the chase and escape, but ''Endymion'' aimed into ''President''s hull, specifically targeting the gun ports.Lambert Many members of ''President''s gun crews were cut down, significantly reducing ''President''s ability to fire back at ''Endymion''.Lambert By contrast, ''President'' primarily directed her fire at ''Endymion''s rigging in order to slow her down.Cooper (1856), p. 431.Roosevelt (1883), p. 403.

''President'' ceased fire at 7:58 pm and hoisted a light in her rigging, indicating that she had surrendered. ''President''s rigging was in a crippled state, and she was slowed to the point that she could not escape from the rest of the British squadron which would soon be in sight.Lambert The damage to her hull, however, was far more severe and she had taken on of water in the hold. Her magazine had also been hit; 10 of ''President''s 15 starboard gun ports were hit by shot, and six of the guns were dismounted or damaged.

Following the standard practice, ''Endymion'' ceased fire and hove to for repairs once ''President'' had surrendered. ''Endymion'' could not immediately take possession of her prize, as she had no usable boats; Decatur took advantage of the situation, despite having struck, and made off to escape at 8:30 pm. ''Endymion'' hastily completed repairs and resumed the chase at 8:52 pm. At 9:05, ''Pomone'' and ''Tenedos'' came up with the heavily damaged ''President'', unaware that she had already struck. ''Pomone'' fired two ineffective broadsides (there was minimal damage to ''President''s starboard side) into her, following which Decatur hailed to say that he had surrendered. Shortly afterwards, Captain Lumley of ''Pomone'' took possession of ''President''. Decatur ordered his sword to be sent to the captain of the "black ship" a reference to Captain Hope of ''Endymion'' (which was unusually painted all black which can be seen in all three of the Thomas Buttersworth paintings of the action). According to British accounts, ''President'' had lost 35 men killed and 70 wounded, including Decatur; American sources give the losses at 24 killed and 55 wounded. British accounts claimed that ''Endymion'' had 11 killed and 14 wounded. ''President'' had a crew of 480 and a broadside of 816 pounds; ''Endymion'' had a crew of 346 and a broadside of 641 pounds.

Comparison of force
(English measurement methods used for both ships)

Aftermath

The damaged ''Endymion'' and ''President'' sailed in company to Bermuda. They encountered a violent storm that dismasted both,Roosevelt, p.224 but both reached safety. Official notification came soon afterwards that the war had ended. ''Endymion'' and ''President'' arrived at Spithead on 28 March 1815 to a crowd of onlookers who witnessed the disparity in force between the two vessels, and the size of the American 44-gun frigates that had been victorious earlier in the war.

On 18 January 1815 aboard HMS ''Endymion'', Commodore Decatur took time to report to the Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Crowninshield his losses and difficulty in providing exact figures "Of our loss in killed & wounded I am unable to present you a correct statement, the attention of our Surgeon r. Samuel R.Trevett USNbeing so on the wounded that he was unable to make a correct return... the enclosed list with the exception I fear of its being short of the yingwill be found correct."Stephen Decatur to Secretary of the Navy dated 18 January 1815 with "List of Killed & Wounded on board U.S. Frigate President" NARA M125 "Captains Letters" RG260 volume 42, letter number 50

The British took ''President'' briefly into the Royal Navy as the 50-gun (later 60-gun) fourth-rate but broke up the dilapidated ship in 1818. They later built a 60-gun frigate which they also named to the exact lines of the captured ship in 1829, despite some elements of the design (countered stern) being obsolete. This ship was used as a political statement as it was commanded by George Cockburn (who led the Burning of Washington) and made flagship of the North American station to remind the United States of its greatest losses during the War of 1812.

The smaller American ships still in New York sortied before hearing of the capture of ''President'', and reached the rendezvous off Tristan da Cunha. ''Hornet'' managed to sink the brig-sloop , after which ''Peacock'' joined forces with her. The two American ships then mistook the British ship of the line for an East Indiaman. ''Hornet'' narrowly escaped after jettisoning all her guns and most of her stores. ''Peacock'' subsequently captured several merchant ships in the Indian Ocean until receiving confirmation that the war had ended.

See also

* List of sailing frigates of the United States Navy
* List of ships captured in the 19th century
* Bibliography of early American naval history

References

Bibliography

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External links

Story of the capture of USS ''President''



Naval Chronicle

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