Mr. Jefferson's Gunboat Navy-- Part 4

These little gunboats could cover more ports and provide defense to a larger area and for much less money than one of the USS Constitution frigates.

It would be expected that the gunboats could be used in conjunction with land-based batteries to help offset the odds.  Even so, still no matvh for a British frigate and definitely not one of their ships-of-the-line.

In 1809, President Madison began moving away from the gunboat navy.  Some 100 that had been authorized to be built never were.  He put most of the existing ones into "ordinary," essentially mothballed for possible future use.

When war was declared in June 1812, the US Navy consisted of 7 frigates, 4 schooners, 4 ketches and 170 gunboats.

According to Wikipedia, Jefferson's gunboats were sometimes called "Jeffs" or referred to as being part of a "Mosquito Fleet," one that could do no real damage to an enemy fleet.

So There You Have the U.S. Gunboats.  --Brock-Perry