Stephen Champlin-- Part 18: A Letter From Champlin

On January 14, 1814,  Champlin wrote a letter to Captain Jesse D. Elliot, commander of the American fleet in Lake Erie.

"Put-In-Bay, January 14, 1814

"Sir: I have  everything in complete order at this place.  I have the guns mounted in the blockhouse.  I have mounted on board the Queen Charlotte 19.    I have mounted those 32 pounders and 24 pounders that were left on board the Detroit.   I can bring 12 guns to bear in any direction.

"The ice is constantly kept open.  I think if they attack us they will meet with a pretty warm reception.  The sailors are all well, the soldiers very sickly.

"We have provisions to last till the 1st of April.  The beef is very bad.

"I have the honor to be
Your ob'dt Humble Servant
Stephen Champlin

Stephen Champlin-- Part 17: A Put-In-Bay Winter

"After this, he was given many small jobs to perform until December 15th, at which time he was ordered by Elliot to return to Put-In-Bay and take charge of the captured vessels Detroit and Queen Charlotte.

"In addition to his own men, General Cass sent 200 men there from Detroit to assist.

"Champlin remained in the frozen bay aboard these ships for the duration of the winter, defending them against attack by looters or by the British, who in January 1814 would set fire to nearby Buffalo.

"In the spring of 1814, Champlin and Lt. Packet sailed the British vessels to Erie.

--Brock-Perry

HMS/USS Detroit-- Part 2: Essentially a Hulk After the Battle of Lake Erie

It was classified as a corvette and was originally planned for twenty 24-pdr. carronades but those cannons were captured when the Americans attacked York, Upper Canada.  As a result, the HMS Detroit was armed with an assortment of guns, some taken from British Fort Amherstburg.

Many of these were long guns, which could fire further than carronades, but were lighter shot.  This made an initial big difference in the Battle of Lake Erie.

After their capture at the battle, the badly damaged Detroit and HMS Queen Charlotte were used as hospital ships.  A gale struck a few days later, further damaging the ships.  After the wounded were taken off, the two British ships were essentially nothing more than hulks.


They were taken to Put-In-Bay to prevent sinking.  In May 1814, the USS Ohio assisted in fitting out the two ships at Put-In-Bay and then convoyed them to Erie, Pennsylvania where they were laid up until sold in 1825.

--Brock-Perry

HMS/USS Detroit-- Part 1: Actually, Not Much of a Career

I have been writing about the six ships by the name USS Detroit in my Cooter's History Thing blog the last several days.  The very first one was a War of 1812 ship so will write about it here,

From Wikipedia.

The first USS Detroit was a captured British vessel at the Battle of Lake Erie, the HMS Detroit.  It was a 20-gun sloop of 305 tons and had a very short career in the Royal Navy.  It was launched in August 1813 and captured by the Americans in September 1813 at the Battle of Lake Erie.

After capture, it became the  USS Detroit, but was so badly damaged from the battle that it was laid up until sold in 1824.

--Brock-Perry