Decatur (Illinois) Named After War of 1812 Hero-- Part 1

From the May 10, 2021, Decatur (Illinois) Herald and Review "City bears name of a hero, Decatur" by John Reidy.

When Stephen Decatur lead a successful raiding party into Tripoli Harbor to burn the captured U.S. frigate Philadelphia, it was called "the most daring act of the age" by none other than Britain's Admiral Horatio Nelson.

On that night in February 1804, the United States had a new hero as well, 21-year-old Lieutenant Stephen Decatur.

In 1829, nine years after his death in a duel at the hands of another rival in the Navy, a new city was founded in Central Illinois which bore his name.

Decatur was our country's first post-Revolutionary War  national hero, leading by example in the Quasi-War vs. France, the Barbary  Wars of North Africa before reaching legendary status when his frigate USS United States defeated the British frigate HMS Macedonian in the War of 1812.

He was swiftly promoted to captain then commodore.

--Brock-Perry

HMS St. Lawrence-- Part 5: "The Mightiest Ship To Never Sail the Seas"

From Military History Now.


This site refers to the HMS St. Lawrence as "The Mightiest Ship To Never Sail the Seas."   That would refer to the fact that the ship never sailed in an ocean.

The St. Lawrence was a ship of the line, the most powerful warship during the Age of Sail.  She was five feet longer than Horatio Nelson's more famous HMS Victory and two feet wider.  It mounted 112 cannons, eight more than the Victory.

It was built, launched and served its whole short career on a fresh water lake, Lake Ontario.

It was the proverbial "Big Fish in a Small Pond."

--Brock-Perry

Back to Peter Parker: His Family

From Wikipedia.

Peter Parker's grandfather (father's father) was Sir Peter Parker, 1st baronet, a British Naval admiral (1721-1811)  He was probably born in Ireland and made a lieutenant in the Royal Navy in 1743 and captain by 1747.  In 1761, he commanded the HMS Buckingham.

During the American Revolution he was sent to South Carolina to aide the loyalists and while commanding the HMS Bristol, June 28, 1776, led the naval attack on what later became Fort Moultrie at Charleston, SC.

Later he was involved in the capture of New York City and Newport, Rhode Island

While commanding the Bristol he acted as patron on friend of Horatio Nelson and was Chief Mouner at Nelson's funeral in 1806.

That's British Navy Royalty.  --Brock-Perry