Sinking of HMS Avon

The Sinking of HMS ''Avon'' was a single ship action fought during the War of 1812, and took place on 1 September 1814. In the battle, the ship-rigged sloop of war forced the to surrender. The Americans could not take possession of the prize as other British brig-sloops appeared and prepared to engage. ''Avon'' sank shortly after the battle.

Prelude

The heavy sloop of war USS ''Wasp'' had spent seven weeks in Lorient in France, making repairs after an earlier hard-fought action against HMS ''Reindeer'', and replacing casualties from the crews of American privateers in the port. ''Wasp'' sortied on 27 August, and almost immediately was involved in action. Early on 1 September, a convoy of ten merchant ships escorted by the ship of the line was encountered. ''Wasp'' made repeated attacks and succeeded in capturing one ship loaded with iron, brass and arms.

Later that day, as night was falling, Master Commandant Johnston Blakely, commanding ''Wasp'', spotted four other unknown sail, and made for the nearest.

Battle

The unknown vessel was the , mounting sixteen 32-pounder carronades and two 6-pounder long guns. ''Wasp'' carried twenty-two 32-pounder carronades, two 12-pounder chase guns and a 12-pounder boat carronade removed from ''Reindeer''.

As ''Wasp'' approached ''Avon''s quarter, the two vessels exchanged several hails, in which the Americans demanded that the British vessel heave to, and also exchanged shots from their bow and stern chase guns. Blakely eventually drew up alongside ''Avon'', deliberately selecting the leeward position to prevent ''Avon'' escaping downwind.

It was fully dark by this time, the wind was fresh and the sea was fairly rough. Nevertheless, the American gunners were very accurate. After half an hour, ''Avon'' had been partly dismasted, one third of her crew were casualties and her guns had been silenced, many of the broadside carronades being dismounted. By contrast, although the battle took place at such short range that one American sailor was struck by wadding from a British carronade, only four shot struck the hull of ''Wasp'' and only three American sailors were wounded.Roosevelt, p.182

Three quarters of an hour after the start of the battle, ''Avon'' surrendered. While the crew of ''Wasp'' were lowering a boat to take possession, another unknown vessel was seen approaching, followed by two more. ''Wasp'' made away downwind while the braces which had been shot away were replaced. The nearest pursuer was the British brig-sloop . The brig got close enough to fire an inaccurate broadside over ''Wasp''s quarter, but ''Avon'' had been making repeated distress signals, and ''Castilian'' broke off to help. ''Avon''s crew was taken off, and the shattered brig sank soon afterwards.

Aftermath

''Wasp'' continued to cruise west of the mouth of the English Channel. On 21 September, it met with a neutral Swedish merchant vessel, on board of which were two officers from the frigate , which had been captured the previous year off the coast of Chile. Some of the officers from the prizes taken earlier by ''Wasp'' were put aboard the Swedish ship. After the two vessels parted, ''Wasp'' vanished, and was presumed lost to bad weather south of the Azores.

The released prisoners brought news of the one-sided nature of the action between ''Wasp'' and ''Avon'' to Britain. This caused calls to be made for larger, better-armed sloops and brigs to be built, without taking into consideration the far more effective American gunnery.Forester, p.171

Notes

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External links

{{coord missing, Atlantic Ocean

Avon
Conflicts in 1814
1814 in the United Kingdom
19th-century history of the Royal Navy
Maritime incidents in 1814
September 1814 events
Military history of the English Channel