The capture of HMS ''Epervier'' was a naval action fought off the coast of

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

near

Cape Canaveral Cape Canaveral () is a cape (geography), cape in Brevard County, Florida, in the United States, near the center of the state's Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. Officially Cape Kennedy from 1963 to 1973, it lies east of Merritt Island, separated ...

on 28 April 1814, between the United States ship-rigged

sloop-of-war During the 18th and 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship of the Royal Navy with a single gun deck that carried up to 18 guns. The rating system of the Royal Navy covered all vessels with 20 or more guns; thus, the term encompassed all u ...

, commanded by Master Commandant Lewis Warrington, and the British under Commander Richard Wales. The Americans captured the British vessel after a one-sided cannonade, but the British merchant convoy escaped.

Prelude

USS ''Peacock'' was one of a class of three heavy sloops-of-war designed by William Doughty, and was named after the victory the previous year over the Royal Navy brig . ''Peacock'' sortied from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

on 12 March 1814 and, having eluded the British blockade, delivered some stores to St. Marys, Georgia. ''Peacock'' was then supposed to rendezvous with the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

, but ''President'' had been unable to break out of New York. While waiting for ''President'' to appear, Warrington cruised around the

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, hoping to intercept British merchant ships sailing from

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. Early on the morning of 28 April, several sail were sighted to windward. They belonged to a small convoy that had sailed from

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.carronade A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the last quarter of the 18th century to the mid-19th cen ...

s and two 18-pounder carronades as bow chasers. ''Peacock'' carried twenty 32-pounder carronades and two 12-pounder guns. The ratio of the vessels' broadsides was 256 pounds to 320.

Battle

As the two vessels made toward each other, the wind shifted to the southward, giving neither ''Peacock'' nor ''Epervier'' the advantage of the

windward In geography and seamanship, windward () and leeward () are directions relative to the wind. Windward is ''upwind'' from the point of reference, i.e., towards the direction from which the wind is coming; leeward is ''downwind'' from the point ...

position.Roosevelt, p.173 At about 10:20 in the morning, both ships fired their starboard broadsides on opposite tacks, aiming high to disable their opponent's rigging. Both vessels received damage aloft, after which ''Epervier'' turned downwind and engaged ''Peacock'' on a parallel course. ''Peacock'' directed her fire against ''Epervier''s hull with great effect. The British fire fell away rapidly, and ''Epervier'' probably scored no hits after the first broadside from the port battery. After 40 minutes, ''Epervier'' was badly damaged, with 45 shot holes in the hull, and of water in the hold. Commander Wales summoned boarding parties to muster, intending to board and capture ''Peacock'', but his crew refused. At 11:05, ''Epervier'' struck her colours. ''Epervier'' had eight men killed and 15 wounded (about 20 percent of the crew.)

Aftermath

The Americans repaired the damage to ''Peacock''s rigging within an hour. ''Peacock''s first lieutenant took charge of the prize and succeeded in preventing it from sinking; the

prize crew A prize crew is the selected members of a ship chosen to take over the operations of a captured ship. History Prize crews were required to take their prize to appropriate prize courts, which would determine whether the ship's officers and crew h ...

had the brig ready to sail by nightfall. ''Epervier'' was found to be carrying $118,000 in

specie Specie may refer to: * Coins or other metal money in mass circulation * Bullion coins * Hard money (policy) * Commodity money * Specie Circular, 1836 executive order by US President Andrew Jackson regarding hard money * Specie Payment Resumption A ...

, which was private rather than Government property. The next day, The Americans sighted two British frigates. ''Peacock'' successfully decoyed them away from ''Epervier'' and also herself escaped, with the result that both vessels reached

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...

, a few days later. The Americans repaired ''Epervier'' and took her into the United States Navy as USS ''Epervier''. Warrington set out again in ''Peacock'' and made a successful raiding cruise in British waters, capturing 14 merchant vessels.

Results

The victory of ''Peacock'' over ''Epervier'' was one of the most one-sided of the War of 1812, even though the two opposing vessels were not grossly disparate in strength. It was stated that although ''Peacock''s fire had dismounted some of ''Epervier''s

carronade A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the last quarter of the 18th century to the mid-19th cen ...

s, more of them fell from their mounts when they were fired. Wales had carried out little of the gunnery practice that would have revealed defects in the guns or carriages before it was too late to remedy them.Forester, p.172 Wales had also reported disaffection and unrest among his crew and, unusually for the Royal Navy in the War of 1812, they failed in their duty to fight to their utmost. The court martial (on 20 January 1815) revealed that ''Epervier'' had the worst crew of any vessel on her station. In particular, her crew consisted mostly of invalids from the hospital.

Post script

On 21 October 1814, Congress passed a resolution that in honour of their capture of ''Epervier'', each of ''Peacock''s officers would receive a silver medal and each of her midshipmen would receive a sword.

Citations

References

* * * {{DISPLAYTITLE:Capture of HMS ''Epervier'' Epervier April 1814