#uss chesapeake

[ltwilliammowett]

1st June 1813: The battle between USS Chesapeake and HMS Shannon, by Jenny Morgan (1942-)

[clove-pinks]

As the battle between USS Chesapeake and HMS Shannon raged in June, 1813, Chesapeake was blown into her opponent after a devasting carronade salvo, becoming temporarily hooked on a fluke of the British ship's anchor as the ships collided.

The Tars of Old England Triumphant, 1813 print (Old Print Shop, NYC).

In this close action, the Shannon's officers and crew boarded the enemy ship—and those in the fighting tops ran across yard arms, including midshipmen.

As Chesapeake’s sails began to fill the ship lurched forward. As her side scraped down the Shannon’s forward end her foreyard fouled Shannon’s briefly. Seeing a momentary opportunity, Midshipman John Smith stationed in the foremast fighting top, ran out over the yard followed by five of his topmen and onto Chesapeake’s foreyard. Fighting their way up into the enemy foretop they forced the Americans there to flee down the weather-side shrouds.

Seven men in Chesapeake’s mizzen top armed with muskets and a small howitzer were still causing great execution amongst Shannon’s boarders. Seeing this, Midshipman Philip Cosnahan across in Shannon’s main top began to pick them off one by one using a succession of loaded muskets passed down to him through the lubber’s hole.

— Martin Bibbings, "The Battle," in Broke of the Shannon and the War of 1812, edited by Tim Voelcker.

A model diorama of an early 19th century fighting top by Flagship Models.

[lonestarbattleship]

"Army bombing tests on former USS ALABAMA.

Ex-USS ALABAMA (BB-8) showing the effect of a phosphorus bomb, while serving as a target for U.S. Army bombers in Chesapeake Bay. An Army Martin twin-engine bomber is flying overhead. Also visible, in the foreground, is a Navy F5L seaplane. Wrecks in the distance are the old battleships San Marcos (furthest to the left) and Indiana, both of which had been used as targets.

Date: September 27, 1921

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command: NH 263-KN (color)

[bantarleton]

Captain Sir Philip Bowes Vere Broke, by Samuel Lane. During his lifetime, he was often referred to as "Broke of the Shannon", a reference to his notable command of HMS Shannon in the War of 1812. His most famous military achievement was defeating and capturing the American frigate, USS Chesapeake.

[captain-price-unofficially]

The U.S. Navy escort carrier USS Block Island (CVE-21) off the Chesapeake Bay on 15 October 1943

[rested-shaved-coffeed]

USS Chesapeake, 38, looking particularly handsome under a pyramid of canvas. Painting by F. Muller (early 20th century).

Launched in Portsmouth, Virginia, in 1799, she was one of the original six frigates of the United States Navy authorized in the Naval Act of 1794. She saw service in the Quasi-War with France and the First Barbary War before being involved in two famous run-ins with the Royal Navy. First, in 1807, HMS Leopard, 50, ran down, fired on, and boarded the Chesapeake to impress Royal Navy deserters, despite the US and Great Britain being at peace. Then, in 1813, now at war, the Chesapeake famously sailed out of Boston harbor to fight a single-ship action with the blockading HMS Shannon, 38, and was captured, breaking the Royal Navy’s streak of defeats in single-ship actions with the Americans. She then had a brief career as HMS Chesapeake before being decommissioned in 1819.

Also has a special place in my heart as a Marylander 🌊🦀🌊

[whencyclopedia]

Chesapeake-Leopard Affair

The Chesapeake-Leopard affair was an incident that took place off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia, on 22 June 1807 when the British warship HMS Leopard fired on and boarded an American frigate USS Chesapeake while searching for deserters from the Royal Navy. The incident was one of the events that led to the War of 1812.

Background

In 1807, as the United States was still struggling to find its footing as an independent nation, the Napoleonic Wars were raging in Europe. Napoleon Bonaparte, having crowned himself Emperor of the French three years before, found himself opposed by a series of ever-shifting coalitions of European nations bankrolled by Great Britain. On land, Napoleon's armies had proved dominant; with such great victories as the Battle of Austerlitz (2 December 1805) and the Battle of Friedland (14 June 1807), he had conquered Central Europe and was now exerting influence throughout most of the continent. Britain, meanwhile, had smashed French naval power at the Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) and was afterwards the undisputed master of the waves. This dichotomy left the neutral United States in a precarious position: to deal with one empire meant to upset the other. President Thomas Jefferson, nervously keeping tabs on the developments in Europe, voiced the concerns of many of his countrymen when he wrote: "What an awful spectacle does the world exhibit in this instant, one man bestriding the continent of Europe like a Colossus, and another roaming unbridled on the ocean" (Wood, 622).

But even as the war created anxiety in America, so, too, did it open the door of opportunity. American merchants were quick to capitalize on the gap in international trade caused by the fighting; with France and Spain no longer able to send merchant ships to their colonies in the West Indies, these colonies reluctantly opened their ports to American ships instead. The Americans would then re-export these Caribbean goods to European markets, making a fortune in the process. In 1807, the combined value of American imports and exports reached $243 million, turning the United States into the largest neutral carrier of goods in the world. When Britain complained that the United States' middleman trade strategy violated their so-called Rule of 1756 – which prevented nations from trading in times of war with ports that had been closed to them in times of peace – the Americans circumvented the rule by importing the Caribbean goods to the United States before re-exporting them to Europe, technically turning them into neutral cargo in the process.

American shipping would become threatened, however, as the Franco-British rivalry reached its stalemate. Unable to directly attack the British Isles due to the power of the Royal Navy, Napoleon decided to instead force Britain's submission by paralyzing its economy. In November 1806, he issued the Berlin Decree, the first block in his Continental System, in which he issued a continent-wide embargo on British trade. Any ship carrying British goods was liable for seizure, including those belonging to neutral countries. Britain retaliated with several orders-in-council, which placed a blockade on all ports that complied with Napoleon's embargo, stipulating that all nations who wished to trade at these ports had to first stop in England to pay transit duties. This, of course, left the American merchants in a difficult situation, as they could no longer trade at any European port without running afoul of either the French or the British. Before long, the warring empires were each seizing neutral American ships; between 1803 and 1812, France seized 558 American vessels, while the British captured 917.

Continue reading...

[usafphantom2]

In February of 1944, a Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat of VF-15 is shot from the hangar deck of the USS Hornet during training in Chesapeake Bay. ✈️

@JasonRBurt via X

[preblesboys]

Hampton Roads Naval Museum VA

Let’s talk specifically about the USS Chesapeake!

[aviationgeek71]

Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat (VF-50) launching from the USS Bataan off Chesapeake Bay, January 1944.

[ltwilliammowett]

1st June 1813: The battle between USS Chesapeake and HMS Shannon, by Jenny Morgan (1942-)

[clove-pinks]

A decade of Republican hostility had taken a heavy toll on the navy, but seventeen ships still survived in 1812. Seven were frigates. The Constitution, President, and United States were rated at 44 guns; the Constellation, Chesapeake, and Congress at 36 guns; and the Essex at 32 guns. [...] The frigates were the heart of the navy. Inspired by Philadelphia shipwright Joshua Humphreys, the three heavy frigates—or “44s” as they were called—were bigger and sturdier than other frigates. They carried heavier guns (24-pounders rather than 18-pounders) and their thick hulls were better able to withstand enemy broadsides. In fact, they were “superfrigates,” capable of outfighting and outsailing other ships in their class and of outrunning anything larger.

— Donald R. Hickey, The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict

Engagement between the American Frigate United States and the English Frigate Macedonian Surrendered after 17 Minutes of Fighting, 1815 lithographic print (US Naval History and Heritage Command)

[lonestarbattleship]

View of after gun turret and superstructure of USS SAN MARCOS (ex-USS TEXAS (1892)), just after she had been used as a target by USS NEW HAMPSHIRE (BB-25) in Chesapeake Bay.

Dates: March 1911

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command: NH 73109

[is-the-19thcentury-man-okay]

Apropos your recent remarks on Regency men, the great outdoors, and military service, do you think the picture of Washington, D.C. burning is strictly necessary for this variety? Or only statistically probable? I'm worried it would clash with my collection of pastoral landscape paintings, but also wouldn't want to deprive the Regency man of necessary enrichment. Should I be looking at a different type of 19th century man more compatible with my art collection?

Hello! I am jumping ahead in the order of asks to respond to this question about managing expectations for Regency men.

The portrait with Washington, D.C. in flames is not strictly necessary for perhaps the great majority of men in this time period; but you must allow for the iconic nature of Sir George Cockburn's c. 1817 portrait in his rear-admiral's pattern 1812-25 undress coat with Hessian boots and spurs, and the burning Capitol buildings in Washington behind him. The ultimate statement in military might and Napoleonic-era civilian fashion, melded together in an expression of brilliant masculinity!

It's pronounced COH-burn, for your information.

Despite all this, some would baulk at the underlying violence of such a portrait. If your 19th century man has a penchant for this sort of display, he may be content with a comparable marine tableau—perhaps HMS Shannon capturing USS Chesapeake!

Surely, this majestic view of Halifax Harbour will compliment any pastoral landscape.

[judgemark45]

USS MISSISSIPPI (CGN-40) On trials in Chesapeake Bay, 27 June 1978. Note crewmen at flight stations, with firemen ready, and Mk26 missile launcher and 5"/54 MK45 gun trained abeam. USN Image

[captain-price-unofficially]

A U.S. Navy Grumman F6F Hellcat prepares to take off from the escort carrier USS Charger (CVE-30) 8 May 1944, during training operations in Chesapeake Bay.