* Chesapeake Bay * Alexandria * Baltimore * Hampden * Fort Peter
GREAT LAKES / SAINT LAWRENCE RIVER
* Lake Ontario * 1st Sacket\'s Harbor * York * Fort George * 2nd Sacket\'s Harbor * Lake Erie * Fort Oswego * Lake Huron * Lake Champlain
WEST INDIES / GULF COAST
* James Island * Charles Island * Nuku Hiva * Downes Expedition * Porter Expedition * Typee Valley * Valparaiso (Capture of USS Essex) * Seringapatam Mutiny * Action of 9 May 1814
On 23 March 1815 USS Hornet captured HMS Penguin in a short battle
Tristan da Cunha . It was one of several engagements that took
place after the
War of 1812
* 1 Background * 2 Battle * 3 Aftermath * 4 References * 5 Printed sources
Late in 1814, the
On 15 January, Decatur took advantage of a north-westerly gale to break out alone in President, but the frigate went aground on the bar at the harbour mouth and received damage which delayed it for two hours and slowed it. Decatur was unable to turn back as the gale was still blowing, and President was captured after being pursued by the four frigates of the blockading British squadron.
The commanders of the other American vessels were not aware of Decatur's fate. When another gale blew up on 22 January, they sailed out in broad daylight under storm canvas and evaded the blockaders through their speed and weatherliness. They made for a pre-arranged rendezvous with President off Tristan da Cunha . This island was being used by the Americans as a cruiser base. During the voyage, Hornet lost touch with the other two vessels. Peacock and Tom Bowline reached the rendezvous first, on 18 March, but were then driven off by a gale. Hornet reached the island on 22 March.
Biddle, commanding Hornet, was about to drop anchor when a strange sail was sighted to the southeast. Biddle at once made for the stranger. This was the Cruizer-class brig-sloop HMS Penguin , commanded by Captain James Dickenson. Penguin was a new vessel, which had first sailed in September 1814. It carried roughly the same armament (sixteen 32-pounder carronades , one 12-pounder long gun and two 6-pounder guns) as Hornet (eighteen 32-pounder carronades and two 12-pounder guns). Some time earlier, Penguin had been sent from Cape Town to hunt an American privateer (Young Wasp) which had been attacking homeward-bound East Indiamen .
As soon as Hornet was sighted, Dickenson steered for the sloop and prepared to engage. Penguin had the weather gage and for a time, Hornet ran before Penguin, yawing occasionally to avoid being raked. Then Penguin turned up-wind to port at almost the same moment as Hornet turned to starboard. The two vessels exchanged broadsides for 15 minutes, with the range gradually closing from "musket shot".
Dickenson turned downwind, to close with Hornet in an attempt to board and capture Hornet, but was mortally wounded. Penguin's bowsprit ran across Hornet's deck between the main and mizzen masts, badly damaging the American rigging. Penguin's crew made no attempt to board Hornet and Hornet's crew prepared to board but Biddle stopped them, to continue the gunnery duel. Biddle believed that the British had surrendered at this point and prepared to step aboard Penguin but was wounded by musket balls.
As the two vessels separated, Penguin's foremast fell, breaking off the bowsprit. The brig had already been severely battered by American shot, and with the brig unable to manoeuvre, Lieutenant McDonald, now in command of Penguin, surrendered. The British had lost 14 men killed and 28 wounded. The brig was "riddled through" and most of the starboard side carronades had been dismounted. By comparison, the Americans had lost only one man killed, one mortally wounded and seven wounded, mostly to musketry. (Penguin had embarked twelve extra Royal Marines in Cape Town.) Strikingly, not a single British carronade shot had hit the hull of Hornet.
USS Hornet captures HMS Penguin
Penguin was too badly damaged to be repaired and put into service, so the Americans prepared to destroy the brig after removing the stores. Another sail was sighted and the Americans hastily set the Penguin on fire, but the strange sails proved to be Peacock and Tom Bowline.
Tom Bowline was sent to a neutral port (
Rio de Janeiro
Since Hornet no longer had any fighting strength, Biddle had to turn
home. He reached the
Cape of Good Hope
* ^ Forester, pp.205-209 * ^ Forester, p.217 * ^ Mackay, Margaret (1963). Angry Island: The Story of Tristan da Cunha, 1506–1963. London: Arthur Barker. p. 30. * ^ A B Roosevelt, p.236 * ^ "Almanac of American Military History, p.562". * ^ A B Roosevelt, p.237 * ^ Roosevelt, p.238 * ^ Elting, p.234 * ^ Forester, pp.219-220
* Elting, John R. (1995). Amateurs to Arms: A Military History of
the War of 1812. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80653-3 .
* Forester, C.S. The Age of Fighting Sail. New English Library. ISBN
* Roosevelt, Theodore (1882). The Naval
War of 1812
* v * t * e
Conflicts of the
War of 1812
Battles of the
War of 1812
Battle of New Orleans
Battle of Big Sandy Creek
* Battles of
Battle of Fort Dearborn
* Battle of Rock Island Rapids
Siege of Prairie du Chien
Battle of Burnt Corn
BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Battle of the Chateauguay
Battle of Beaver Dams
Battle of Chippawa
* Battle of Pensacola
Capture of HMS Boxer
* Battle of La Guaira
* Action of 13 December 1814
Battle of Lake Borgne
See also: American Indian Wars