USS Wasp (1807)
USS Wasp captures HMS Frolic
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
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| Name: | USS Wasp |
| Builder: | Washington Navy Yard |
| Launched: | 1806 |
| Commissioned: | 1807 |
| Fate: | Captured, 15 October 1812 |
 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Loup Cervier |
| Acquired: | 15 October 1812 (by capture) |
| Commissioned: | 1813 |
| Renamed: | HMS Peacock (c. March 1814) |
| Fate: | Foundered July 1814 off Virginia Capes |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Sloop-of-war |
| Tonnage: | 450 (US measure) |
| Tons burthen: | 434 24⁄98 (bm) |
| Length: | 105 ft 10 1⁄2 in (32.271 m) (overall); 85 ft 10 1⁄2 in (26.175 m) (keel) |
| Beam: | 30 ft 10 in (9.40 m) |
| Draft: | 14 ft 2 in (4.32 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 14 ft 0 in (4.27 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sail |
| General characteristics (US Service) | |
| Complement: | 140 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: | 16 × 32-pounder carronades + 2 × 12-pounder guns |
| General characteristics (British service) | |
| Complement: | 121 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: | 14 x 32-pounder carronades + 2 x 6-pounder chase guns |
USS Wasp of the United States Navy was a sailing sloop-of-war captured by the British in the early months of the War of 1812. She was constructed in 1806 at the Washington Navy Yard, was commissioned sometime in 1807, Master Commandant John Smith in command. In 1812 she captured HMS Frolic, but was immediately herself captured. The British took her into service first as HMS Loup Cervier and then as HMS Peacock. She was lost, presumed foundered with all hands, in mid-1814.
In 1808 Wasp was heavily involved in supporting Jefferson's Embargo, including delivering an army garrison from New York City to Passamaquoddy in June, patrolling Casco Bay, Maine, in the winter of 1808-1809, and remaining at Portland until May, 1809. In the final weeks of 1810, she was operating from the ports of Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia, presumably patrolling the waters along southern Atlantic coast. In 1811, she sailed to Hampton Roads, Virginia, where she and the brig Nautilus joined frigates United States and Congress in forming a squadron commanded by Commodore Stephen Decatur.
On 9 March 1812 Wasp sailed from New York for France to deliver an adventurer named John Henry who had sold correspondence to President Madison indicating Britain's interest in determining if the New England states wished to secede from the union. The correspondence, known as the Henry Papers, helped build outrage in Congress against Britain that led to the declaration of war.
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Wikipedia