Dueling Frigates-- Part 3: The Shannon Versus Chesapeake

Proud of their ships and eager to fight them, captains sometimes went to the extreme of issuing an outright challenge  for a ship-to-ship duel.

One of the most famous ones of these took place between the HMS Shannon and USS Chesapeake on June 1, 1813.

British Captain Philip Bowes Vere Broke had such a well-trained crew on the HMS Shannon that he was really looking for a fight with an American frigate.  His counter-part, Captain James Lawrence, formerly of the USS Hornet, was also looking for a fight on his USS Chesapeake.

Both ships were rated at 38-guns, but both had  about 50, mostly 18-pounders.  The Chesapeake had a crew of 379 and Shannon 330.

On June 1, 1813, Captain Broke sent a challenge to Captain Lawrence, but he didn't get it as he was already on his way out of Boston Harbor and looking for a fight.  Late that afternoon, about 18 miles off of Boston, the Chesapeake, flying a large white banner reading "Free Trade and Sailors' Rights," came across the Shannon.

--Brock-Perry