USS Sea Horse (1812)

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 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]

For other ships of the same name, see USS Seahorse.
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]

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] 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

Citations
  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. 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
  • This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
  • Brannan, John, ed. (1823). Official letters of the military and naval officers of the United States : during the war with Great Britain in the years 1812, 13, 14, & 15. Washington, D.C.: Way & Gideon. OCLC 1083481275.
  • Brown, Wilburt S (1969). The Amphibious Campaign for West Florida and Louisiana, 1814–1815. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 0-8173-5100-0.
  • Daughan, George C. (2011). 1812: The Navy's War. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-02046-1.
  • Reilly, Robin (1974), The British at the gates – the New Orleans campaign in the War of 1812, New York: Putnam, OCLC 839952
  • Roosevelt, Theodore (1900). The Naval War of 1812. Vol. II. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press.


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