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USS Sea Horse (1812)

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History
United States
NameUSS Sea Horse
Acquired1812 by purchase
HomeportNew Orleans
FateScuttled; December 13, 1814
General characteristics
TypeSchooner
Complement14 officers and crew
Armament1 × 6-pounder gun[1]

The first USS Sea Horse was a one-gun schooner that the Navy purchased in 1812 for service on Lake Borgne, near New Orleans, Louisiana. It is claimed she was one of 15 vessels[citation needed] available to Commodore Daniel Todd Patterson in New Orleans at the outbreak of war with Britain in 1812. The Sea Horse and USS Alligator accompanied a squadron of five gunboats at the end of 1814. In addition to these vessels, there was also a further gunboat at Fort St. Philip, as well as the USS Carolina (1812) and USS Louisiana (1812).[2]

She saw action as a tender to a squadron of gunboats, under the command of Lieutenant Thomas ap Catesby Jones, that in December 1814 opposed the British advance on New Orleans.[3][self-published source] On the afternoon of December 13, 1814, at 2:00pm Jones despatched Sea Horse to a store house, to remove its contents, to prevent capture by the British. [4]

At 3:45pm, Sea Horse was moored at Bay St Louis next to a store house and a battery of two 6–pounder cannons. The schooner, with assisted by the battery,[5] fired on three approaching launches with grapeshot, forcing them to retire out of range. Sea Horse faced a subsequent attack by four more launches as reinforcements, commanded by Captain Samuel Roberts of HMS Meteor.[6] This renewed attack was "repulsed after sustaining for nearly half an hour a very destructive fire."[7] In the face of superior numbers, Sea Horse was scuttled and the store was set alight, an explosion occurring at 7:30pm with a large fire being visible thereafter.[5][8] Jones subsequently confirmed that he had permitted Sailing Master William Johnson, her commanding officer, to destroy Sea Horse to prevent her being captured.[9]

See also

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Citations

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  1. ^ "U. S. Naval Squadron—New Orleans, 1814".
  2. ^ Daughan (2011), p. 377.
  3. ^ Carstens, Patrick (2011). Searching For the Forgotten War - 1812: United States of America. Xlibris. ISBN 978-1456867539.
  4. ^ Roosevelt (1900), p. 74.
  5. ^ a b Letter from Jones to Patterson dated 12 March 1815, within Brannan (ed). pp.487-490
  6. ^ Reilly (1974), p. 224.
  7. ^ Roosevelt (1900), p. 77.
  8. ^ Daughan (2011), p. 379.
  9. ^ Brown (1969), p. 78.

References

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