11 JANUARY 1820 USS LYNX In modern times, the unexplained disappearance of a vessel at sea would raise much interest, concern, news coverage, and even sensationalist speculation. Witness the loss of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 in 2014. In the 19th century, Read More
12-19 NOVEMBER 1814 McGOWAN’S RAID The British and American naval fleets on Lake Ontario contested that region throughout the War of 1812. In fact, the British began the 1814 fighting season by chasing American Commodore CAPT Isaac Chauncey’s squadron from its Read More
TODAY IN NAVAL HISTORY 31 AUGUST 1812 THE MISSING HUSBAND Not even three months had passed since war was declared against England in 1812. Both the US Army and the US Navy were filling their ranks for the fight. A Read More
14 JULY 1813 USS ASP vs. OVERWHELMING ODDS In February of 1813 our nation was struggling once again against the naval superpower of the day, Britain, and fears of a British incursion into the Chesapeake were real. Our Navy was no Read More
25 JUNE 1813 BOMBSHIP EAGLE Smarting from the British blockade of American seaports during the War of 1812, Congress turned for help to our private citizens. Legislation was passed in March 1813 allowing a bounty equal to one-half the value Read More
TODAY IN NAVAL HISTORY 11 SEPTEMBER 1814 ACTION AT THE NORTHERN END The heavyweights concentrated at the northern end of the battle line. Here the headforemost approach of CAPT George Downie in the British flagship CONFIANCE, 37, allowed SARATOGA and Read More
TODAY IN NAVAL HISTORY 11 SEPTEMBER 1814 ACTION AT THE SOUTHERN END As MacDonough had correctly anticipated, HMS FINCH, 11, could not sail close enough to the wind to approach the southern American line. In falling to leeward however, she Read More
TODAY IN NAVAL HISTORY 11 SEPTEMBER 1814 BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN To the British, our War of 1812 was only a distant theater of a more global war against Napoleonic France. And the defeat of Napoleon at Toulouse and his Read More
15 MAY 1812 PRELUDE TO THE WAR OF 1812 At the turn of the 19th century the territory that is now Florida was Spanish. This fact was of no reassurance to the administration of President James Madison in 1811. Spain was Read More
29 APRIL 1816 SHIPS-OF-THE-LINE Until the 16th century, navies, like land forces, relied mostly on hand-to-hand fighting to defeat an enemy. Tactics required warships to ram or grapple each other, then send across assault troops to attack the enemy’s crew. Fighting Read More