HMS St. Lawrence-- Part 6: The Proverbial "Big Fish In a Small Pond"

It took master shipbuilder John Dennis just ten months to build the St. Lawrence.  It took the British Navy six years to build the HMS Victory.

The sole purpose of the St. Lawrence's construction was to assert the Crown's naval superiority on Lake Ontario.  Both the United States and Britain realized that whoever controlled the water would control the war.

As such, both sides "embarked on a naval arms race."  This took place both on Lake Ontario (and Lake Champlain) as well as Lake Erie.

Building warships is difficult at best, but doing it in areas considered to be frontier and isolated was a much bigger task.

This was true especially of the St. Lawrence.

And, the Americans were also building frigates and even had two ships of the line under construction as well.

--Brock-Perry