USS Saratoga (1814)
Saratoga
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | USS Saratoga |
Builder | Adam and Noah Brown |
Laid down | 7 March 1814 |
Launched | 11 April 1814 |
Fate | Sold, 1825 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Corvette |
Displacement | 734 long tons (746 t) |
Length | 143 ft (44 m) |
Beam | 36 ft 6 in (11.13 m) |
Draft | 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m) |
Propulsion | Sail |
Complement | 212 officers and men |
Armament |
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USS Saratoga was a corvette built in Vergennes, Vermont, for service on Lake Champlain in the War of 1812.[1] She was named for the Battles of Saratoga.
Service history
Saratoga was laid down on 7 March 1814, launched on 11 April 1814 and she was christened April 6, the day that
However, the completion of Saratoga put the United States ahead in the naval construction race on Lake Champlain; and Sir
Meanwhile, Master Commandant
Battle of Plattsburgh
Master Commandant Macdonough, commanding officer of Saratoga as well as of the other American forces on the lake, had sailed back south. He had proceeded around Cumberland Head, New York; and entered Plattsburgh Bay. There, he deployed his ships across the mouth of the harbor in a strong defensive position where when the British fleet would attack them, they would be at a disadvantage of having to slowly and laboriously approach the line of American broadsides, against the wind and unable to bring most of their guns to bear.
As Master Commandant MacDonough awaited the arrival of the enemy, he dropped kedge anchors and arranged spring lines, which afforded his ships maximum maneuverability. He then had the crews practice turning their ships so that alternately starboard and port guns would face south.
During the construction race, crack British troops — veterans hardened in
Macdonough, himself, aimed a long 24-pounder at the bow of Confiance, pulled the lanyard firing Saratoga's first round, and gave the signal, "close action." The shot cut the British flagship's anchor cable, ripped up her deck, and smashed her helm. Then, all the American ships opened fire.
Confiance's first broadside struck Saratoga from point blank range, and the American flagship reeled from the blow. Half of her men were felled by the shock; but most of the sailors picked themselves up, carried their dead and wounded comrades below, and returned to the fray. Since Confiance's green gunners failed to reset the elevation of their barrels, each of her subsequent volleys tended to be higher than its predecessor and, while shredding Saratoga's rigging, did little structural damage to the ship.
After almost two hours' fighting, Saratoga's last serviceable starboard gun, a carronade, broke loose from its carriage and hurtled down the main hatch. Macdonough then dropped a stern anchor; cut his bow cable; and, with the help of tars hauling on lines to kedge anchors, swung the ship around bringing her fresh, port, broadside guns to bear on the enemy.
The badly battered British flagship, with Downie and her first lieutenant dead, also attempted to wind ship but was unable to do so. Helpless to do further harm to her adversary, Confiance struck her colors.
Then, by pulling on her starboard kedge line, Saratoga's sailors turned the corvette's guns toward Linnet and opened fire. The British brig, although severely damaged and unable to move, gallantly kept up the fight for about an hour before surrendering. At that time, Finch and Chub, the other two relatively large warships in the British squadron, were already in American hands; so the surviving English gunboats fled toward Canada.
Macdonough's victory in Plattsburgh Bay left the United States unchallenged on Lake Champlain and forced Prevost to retreat to Canada. This weakened the British position in negotiations at Ghent and enabled American commissioners to secure a favorable rather than a humiliating peace. It also helped to restore American morale after the recent burning of Washington, D.C.
After the war, Saratoga was laid up until sold at Whitehall, New York, in 1825.
Saratoga Passage, a body of water in Puget Sound, was named after the ship.
References
- ^ Lou Varricchio (July 11, 2017). "Made in Vermont: Building America's first USS Saratoga, Part 1". suncommunitynews.com. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.