In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

{ 86 } Echoes of a Naval Race The Royal Navy Schooners Tecumseth and Newash LeeAnne Gordon, Sara Hoskins, and Erich Heinold Introduction In August 1953, the tangled, skeletal remains of a ship were raised from the harbor in the Lake Huron town of Penetanguishene, Ontario. Excavations at the nearby War of 1812–era naval base inspired town leaders to raise a contemporary wreck for exhibition. It was only after the salvaging that historians identified the hull as the armed transport Tecumseth, one of a pair of Royal Navy schooners built on the Upper Lakes in 1815. Recent research on Tecumseth and its sister ship Newash (still sunk in the harbor) has illuminated the ships’ shadowy past. Conceived and built in the immediate aftermath of the War of 1812, the vessels sailed for only two years before being rendered obsolete by the Rush-­ Bagot disarmament agreement. Despite their short service, these vessels offer a unique perspective from which to view the postwar period on the Great Lakes. “Ready to Repel Any Act of Insult or Aggression” At the close of 1813, the British situation on the upper Great Lakes looked bleak, even unsalvageable. Oliver Hazard Perry’s sweeping victory over the Royal Navy on Lake Erie in September left the British with only a handful of small supply vessels. The defeat of Gen. Henry Proctor’s army in October resulted not only in the death of the powerful Native American leader Tecumseh but the weakening of the British-­Indian alliance and the disorganization of military forces in the west as well. The loss of mobility on the lakes and lack of adequate roads greatly hampered British efforts to maintain the small garrison of Fort Michilimackinac at the western end of Lake Huron.1 Despite these daunting circumstances, British lead‑ ers were unwilling to cede naval control of the Upper Lakes. Plans to launch an incendiary raid on the US base at Erie during the winter of 1813–14 came to naught, but over the following year a series of oppor4 Royal Navy Schooners Tecumseth and Newash { 87 } tunistic attacks deprived the US squadron of most of its smaller warships. A British foray on Buffalo, New York, in December 1813 resulted in the burning of the schooners Chippewa and Ariel and the sloops Little Belt and Trippe. In August and September 1814, boarding parties in small boats captured the US Navy schooners Somers, Ohio, Scorpion, and Tigress. Although three small British transports—including Nancy—were taken or destroyed in 1814, the garrison at Fort Michilimackinac was sustained with supplies and successfully repelled an American attempt to capture the island in August 1814. British forces on the western frontier held on in 1814, and there was promise of greater things to follow . A naval yard was established in November 1814 at Penetanguishene, a remote harbor at the southern end of Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, and men and supplies were sent to construct a 44-­ gun frigate.The new vessel surely would have initiated a new round of building by both sides, but shortly before construction began news of peace reached Canada and the frigate was cancelled .2 The war may have been over, but supply and communication were still vital to British forces. In the spring of 1815, the Royal Navy’s commissioner of the dockyards on the Great Lakes, Capt. Sir Robert Hall, ordered the building of two 150-­ton schooners to serve as transports and gunboats on Lake Erie. Shipwright Robert Moore was appointed to design the vessels and to construct them at Streets Creek, a tributary of the upper Niagara River.3 Moore’s task was daunting: due to the pressing need for transports, he had to convert standing timber to sailing vessels as quickly as possible .4 MooreenlargedHall’sproposedshipstoslightlyover 166 tons. Admiralty plans show a vessel 70 feet 6 inches (21.49 m) long on deck carrying two 32-­ pounder carronades and two 24-­ pounder long guns (fig. 4.1). The schooners were given moderate deadrise, considerable rake to the stem and the sternpost, a fine entrance, a full run, and noticeable drag to the keel—features that suggest Moore was seeking a balance between capacity and sailing speed. Moore brought a number of craftsmen to the frontier shipyard and was joined by those who had been sent to Penetanguishene in 1814 to build the frigate.5 A commander and several lieutenants were appointed to the renascent squadron by Comm. Edward Owen, commander-­ in-­ chief of the British naval forces...

Share