HMS ''Wolfe'' (later HMS ''Montreal'', originally HMS ''Sir George Prevost'') was a 20-gun

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 ...

, launched at the

Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard The Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard from 1788 to 1853 in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, at the site of the current Royal Military College of Canada. History The British naval forces on the lakes, known as the Provincial M ...

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

, on 22 April 1813. She served in the British naval squadron in several engagements on Lake Ontario during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. Upon her launch, ''Wolfe'' was made the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

of the squadron until larger vessels became available. Along with the naval engagements on Lake Ontario, ''Wolfe'' supported land operations in the Niagara region and at the Battle of Fort Oswego (as ''Montreal''). Following the war, the vessel was laid up in reserve and eventually sold in 1832.

Description and construction

After the outbreak of the war, the British Governor General of Canada, Lieutenant General Sir

George Prevost Sir George Prevost, 1st Baronet (19 May 1767 – 5 January 1816) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who is most well known as the "Defender of Canada" during the War of 1812. Born in New Jersey, the eldest son of Genevan ...

ordered the construction of warships for the

Provincial Marine The Provincial Marine or Marine Department was a coastal protection service in charge of the waters in the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence River and parts of Lake Champlain under British control. While ships of the Provincial Marine were design ...

on 14 December 1812 to match American ships being built at

Sackett's Harbor, New York Sackets Harbor (earlier spelled Sacketts Harbor) is a village in Jefferson County, New York, United States, on Lake Ontario. The population was 1,450 at the 2010 census. The village was named after land developer and owner Augustus Sackett, who f ...

. One was to be constructed at

, the other at

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

. Designed by Thomas Plucknett, the construction of the vessel was handed over to James Morrison of

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

who had been hired as master shipwright at Kingston. Progress was slow and Morrison was fired and Daniel Allen, the foreman of the shipwrights, was made master. Daniel Allen was fired in March 1813 for urging his artificers to strike and George Record replaced him as master shipwright of the Kingston yard. The construction of the new vessel picked up and by April the vessel was ready. On 22 April, the vessel was ready to be launched using a non-traditional method. During the launching, the vessel jammed in her cross-supports and after three days of pulling, was returned to her original position. Launched again on 25 April, this time using the traditional method, the vessel slid into the water successfully. The vessel was initially named ''Sir George Prevost'' after the British governor general, in response to the American , which had been named after the

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

. Prevost objected to the name and the vessel was re-christened with the name ''Wolfe'', after the British general who died at the

Battle of the Plains of Abraham The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, also known as the Battle of Quebec (), was a pivotal battle in the Seven Years' War (referred to as the French and Indian War to describe the North American theatre). The battle, which took place on 13 Sept ...

. A

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...

, named , was constructed at

York, Upper Canada York was a town and the second capital of the colony of Upper Canada. It is the predecessor to the Old Toronto, old city of Toronto (1834–1998). It was established in 1793 by Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe as a "temporary" location fo ...

. ''Wolfe'' measured 426

tons burthen Builder's Old Measurement (BOM, bm, OM, and o.m.) is the method used in England from approximately 1650 to 1849 for calculating the cargo capacity of a ship. It is a volumetric measurement of cubic capacity. It estimated the tonnage of a ship b ...

, with a

gun deck The term gun deck used to refer to a deck aboard a ship that was primarily used for the mounting of cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical prope ...

that measured and was long at the

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

. The vessel had a beam of , a draught of and a depth of hold of . ''Wolfe'' had only two decks, a flush gun deck above and a berthing deck below, with a shallow

hold Hold may refer to: Physical spaces * Hold (compartment), interior cargo space * Baggage hold, cargo space on an airplane * Stronghold, a castle or other fortified place Arts, entertainment, and media * Hold (musical term), a pause, also called ...

. The vessel was pierced for twenty-two gun ports. ''Wolfe'' was designed to carry her

long gun A long gun is a category of firearms with long Gun barrel, barrels. In small arms, a ''long gun'' or longarm is generally designed to be held by both hands and braced against the shoulder, in contrast to a handgun, which can be fired being held w ...

s facing forward and astern through bridle ports. When the vessel was launched, the only guns available were eighteen

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 long guns. This later changed to four and ten carronades and one and eight 18-pounder long guns. ''Wolfe'' ended her war service with eighteen 32-pounder carronades and three 18-pounder long guns. ''Wolfe'' had a

complement Complement may refer to: The arts * Complement (music), an interval that, when added to another, spans an octave ** Aggregate complementation, the separation of pitch-class collections into complementary sets * Complementary color, in the visu ...

of 224 officers and enlisted.

Service history

The arrival of Commodore Sir James Lucas Yeo at Kingston on 16 May marked the command takeover of the naval forces on the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

from the Provincial Marine. Yeo made ''Wolfe'' his

and made

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

Daniel Pring as his

flag captain In the Royal Navy, a flag captain was the captain of an admiral's flagship. During the 18th and 19th centuries, this ship might also have a " captain of the fleet", who would be ranked between the admiral and the "flag captain" as the ship's "Firs ...

. On 27 May, the squadron sailed from Kingston loaded with troops commanded by Sir George Prevost for

. They arrived on 28 May and unloaded troops for the

assault In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or consent, unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may ...

on the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

's key naval base on

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

. Though none of the vessels other than ''Beresford'' took part in the actual battle, the objectives of the attack were partially met, with the American naval yard being burnt down. The squadron collected the remaining troops and withdrew. The squadron sailed again from Kingston on 3 June, transporting troops and supplies to the Burlington Heights area. While off Forty Mile Creek, alterations were made to the cabin layout and the painting was finished, as the job had been left incomplete when ''Wolfe'' had sailed for Sackett's Harbor. The squadron returned to Kingston on 17 June via the south shore of Lake Ontario, capturing three merchant

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

s, two sloops and raiding along the

Genesee River The Genesee River ( ) is a tributary of Lake Ontario flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York in the United States. The river contains several waterfalls in New York at Letchworth State Park and Roch ...

and American Eighteen Mile Creek. On 18 June, the squadron sailed again from Kingston, trading shots with

Fort Oswego Fort Oswego was an 18th-century trading post in the Great Lakes region in North America, which became the site of a battle between French and British Army forces in 1756 during the North American phase of the Seven Years' War, known in the United ...

on 19 June and raiding

Sodus, New York Sodus is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Wayne County, New York, Wayne County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 8,384 at the 2010 census. The town takes its name from a native word for the bay in ...

. The squadron returned on 28 June. In July, most of the month was spent by Yeo preparing the squadron. Aboard ''Wolfe'' the 18-pounder carronades were replaced with 32-pounder versions. In July Pring was sent to command on

Lake Champlain Lake Champlain ( ; , ) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canadian province of Quebec. The cities of Burlington, Ve ...

. The squadron left Kingston on 31 July to seek out the American squadron under Commodore

Isaac Chauncey Isaac Chauncey (February 20, 1772 – January 27, 1840) was a United States Navy officer who served in the Quasi-War, the Barbary Wars and the War of 1812. In the latter part of his naval career he was President of the Board of Navy Commiss ...

. The two squadrons met in a series of indecisive clashes though August and September where ''Wolfe'', and ''Beresford'' captured the American schooners and on 10 August. ''Wolfe'' was badly damaged by the American vessel on 28 September, being partly dismasted. She escaped into Burlington Bay at the western end of Lake Ontario. The Americans did not pursue, and the British squadron was able to return to Kingston on 7 October and make repairs. Beyond making a small transport voyage in early October, ''Wolfe'' and ''Royal George'' remained laid up through the winter months.

As ''Montreal''

During the winter of 1813–1814, ''Wolfe'' was rearmed, with her original medley of guns being replaced by seven long 24-pounder and eighteen long 18-pounder guns. In January 1814, the Royal Navy formally took over ownership of the Great Lakes squadron from the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, and all the vessels were added to the

Navy List A Navy Directory, Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval authorities of a co ...

. To avoid duplication of names already on the list, several of the vessels were renamed. ''Wolfe'' was renamed ''Montreal'' on 22 January 1814. Upon entering Royal Navy service, the vessel was reclassified a

sixth rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a sixth-rate was the designation for small warships mounting between 20 and 28 carriage-mounted guns on a single deck, sometimes with smaller guns on the upper works an ...

. As the British had also completed two frigates during the winter, ''Montreal'' ceased to be the British flagship and command of the vessel passed to Commander Francis Spilsbury. On 4 May 1814, the squadron departed Kingston, intent on attacking Fort Oswego again. They arrived the next day and during the night, ''Montreal'' and ''Niagara'' (the renamed ''Royal George'') got within of the fort. At 06:00 on 6 May, the two vessels opened fire, marking the beginning of the Battle of Fort Oswego. The naval bombardment provided by the squadron drove the American

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

back from their chosen place. The attack was successful and the fort and town were captured. After returning to Kingston with the spoils from the attack, Yeo's squadron sailed to blockade Sackett's Harbor. The blockade was put in place on 19 May and ''Montreal'' was given the task of patrolling off Stony Island. On 29 May, a large detachment under the command of Captain Stephen Popham of ''Niagara'' and Captain Spilsbury departed the squadron in two

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

s and heavy ship's boats intent on capturing an American

flotilla A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' ( fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. Composition A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same cla ...

bateau A bateau or batteau is a shallow-draft, flat-bottomed boat which was used extensively across North America, especially in the colonial period and in the fur trade. It was traditionally pointed at both ends but came in a wide variety of sizes. ...

x. At Sandy Creek, the force was defeated by the Americans and Captains Popham and Spilsbury were captured and the majority of the crews of ''Niagara'' and ''Montreal'' either captured or killed. As a result, men from and HMS ''Star'' were transferred to fill out their crews. As a result of the defeat at Sandy Creek, the blockade was lifted on 5 June, with the squadron returning to Kingston on 13 June. In June, Captain George Downie was given command of ''Montreal'', though through the summer, the vessel did not venture far from Kingston. In September, was launched. Captain Downie was sent to command on Lake Champlain, taking the place of Captain Peter Fisher who had been recalled to Lake Ontario by Commodore Yeo. Fisher was given Downie's vessel, ''Montreal'' to command, a situation he was not happy with. ''Montreal'' was smaller than the flagship of the Lake Champlain squadron and smaller than which had been given to a junior officer. Fisher made a complaint to the Admiralty over the command situation, which would later be one of the reason's for Yeo's recall in November. ''St Lawrence''s arrival on Lake Ontario ended American attempts to gain control of the lake. On 1 November, the squadron sailed for Fort George, with ''Montreal'' among the vessels transporting troops. The squadron returned to Kingston on 10 November. On 28 November, ''Montreal'' sailed again, but returned after just three days due to the vessel's poor condition. After the end of the war, ''Montreal'' was

paid off Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship i ...

into the ordinary. The vessel was sold on 1 January 1832. A wreck located within Kingston Harbour, west of Cedar Island, was discovered in 2002. Known locally as "Guenter's Wreck", the shipwreck was tentatively identified as ''Montreal'', though the final identification has not been declared. An archaeological survey was performed in 2012.

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * *

External links

*
The War of 1812 Magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolfe, Hms Great Lakes ships War of 1812 ships of Canada War of 1812 ships of the United Kingdom Ships built in Kingston, Ontario 1813 ships Shipwrecks of Lake Ontario Provincial Marine