The USS Scourge

From Wikipedia.

Wednesday, I wrote about sailors from the USS Scourge and USS Hamilton which sank in a storm in Lake Ontarion, being honored.

I never heard of either ship, so Wiki here I come.

The USS Scourge was converted into a warship from a captured merchant schooner. It had been boarded and taken by the USS Oneida June 5, 1812 and confiscated under the Embargo Act of 1809.  This was two weeks before war was declared.

It was taken to Sackets Harbor and refitted with four 6-pdr guns and joined Captain Isaac Chauncey's squadron on Lake Ontario.

On Aug. 18, 1813, it was sunk in a sudden squall that hit at 2 AM near Fourteen Mile Creek near present-day Hamilton, Canada.  More than 80 died between it and the Hamilton.  Only 16 survived, eight from the Scourge.

In 1976, the wreck was designated a National Historic Site of Canada.

Of interest, the original owners of the ship when it was captured by the Oneida demanded compensation for its seizure and on July 11, 1817, the Court of the Northern District of New York decided that it was seized illegally, but the money to pay for it was embezzled by the clerk of the court and the owners got nothing.

Ninety-five years later, the owners' descendants again pursued compensation and received $50,000 plus 93 years interest.

Never Give Up the Ship.  --Brock-Perry