USS Sea Horse (1812)

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

History
United States
Name	USS Sea Horse
Acquired	1812 by purchase
Homeport	New Orleans
Fate	Scuttled; December 13, 1814
General characteristics
Type	Schooner
Complement	14 officers and crew
Armament	1 × 6-pounder gun[1]

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^[citation needed] 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]

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]^[self-published source] 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

• USS Tickler
• USS Alligator (1813)
• Battle of Lake Borgne

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.