british navy vs us navy british navy vs us navy war of 1812

As a British 18-pounder ball bounced harmlessly off the Constitution’s live oak frame, one crew member remarked: “her sides are made of iron!” Though the victory had little strategic effect on the war, the battle provided the U.S. The effect of the barrage made a wreck of the Guerriere and a legend of the Constitution. Once abeam, Hull gave the order to fire the broadside. British sailors expected to get the best of every engagement they fought.Īs the Constitution came within range, Captain Hull ordered his gunners to hold their fire until their ship came directly alongside the Guerriere. The veteran Royal Navy was renowned as the world’s most powerful, while the small American navy consisted of fewer than two dozen ships. Commanding the American vessel was Captain Isaac Hull, the nephew of the disgraced General William Hull, who had only a few days before had ignominiously surrendered Fort Detroit to British General Isaac Brock.Īs the ships closed, the Guerriere’s outgunned commander nevertheless pronounced that he would take the Constitution within thirty minutes. 21, 1797.Īlmost fifteen years later, in August 1812-just a month after the declaration of war-the Constitution sighted the British warship Guerriere about 750 miles east of Boston.

The 44-gun USS Constitution was launched on Oct. Eventually, after numerous delays and cost overruns, enough live oak to supply the shipyards made its way up the coast to Boston. Enslaved African-Americans, more accustomed to working in dreadful conditions, were brought in from the mainland to help build roads. Most of the oxen used to haul the timbers succumbed as well. The first group of cutters from New England fell sick from malaria within days. Though shipbuilders found it extremely difficult to work with because of its hardness, American designers foresaw huge potential in the wood.īut because most of the live oak stands were located on the swampy coastal islands of Georgia, obtaining the timber was costly, time consuming, and difficult. A dense wood that weighed as much as 75 pounds per cubic foot, live oak was extremely strong and resistant to rot and salt air. America’s embryonic navy, which included the USS Constitution and several other frigates, was fashioned in part from a remarkable species of wood called southern live oak. Our Country in War by Murat Halstead (1898)īecause naval warships took so long to construct, the vessels that fought the War of 1812 were built during the 1790s. Action between USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere, August 1812

British navy vs us navy british navy vs us navy war of 1812