In 1812, the small American navy, led by the ships USS Constitution and USS United States would shock the Royal Navy.
When the United States declared war on Britain in 1812, it was assumed by everyone on both sides that US Army would rule the land while the Royal Navy would command the seas. As it turned out, in the first year of the war, the exact opposite happened. In the land campaigns, the poorly organized and poorly led United States army was thrashed in its attempts to launch offensive strikes into Canada. Meanwhile, a fleet of American privateers took to the seas in numbers which overwhelmed the Royal Navy. That said, privateers were but an annoyance. They were quick and agile and left a path of destruction, but when they came up against a British warship of almost any size or class they were no threat.
But the United States was not without its own warships, including a small group of brand new frigates which included the famous ships USS Constitution and USS United States. In the first year of the war, both of these ships would engage and defeat a Royal Navy Frigate in one-on-one fights.
On the 18th of August 1812, USS Constitution had taken up a post off of Cape Race on the main Atlantic traffic path when it received word that the HMS Guerriere was nearby. Taking up the chase, the Constitution found the Guerriere the next day. Although a frigate like the Constitution, the Guerriere was outclassed in every way. It was an older, slower ship, with a weaker broadside, and around 2/3 as many crewmen. To make matters worse, the ship had been recently struck by lightning which had damaged the mainmast. The fight was quick and brutal. After a few exchanges of fire, the British mainmast came down, leaving the ship dead in the water. When the Americans managed to board the ship, they decided it was beyond saving and let it sink into the sea, after transferring the surviving Brits to the Constitution. It was during this fight that one sailor saw a cannon ball bounce off the side of the Constitution and is said to have declared “Her sides are made of iron!”. Thus the ship was nicknamed, “old ironsides”.
Later that year, on October 12, the frigate USS United States scored another surprise victory for her country. Encountering the Royal Navy frigate HMS Macedonian, the two ships squared off. Once again, the heavier broadside and the better seamanship of the American’s proved decisive. Such was the damage sustained by the Macedonian that it took the American’s two weeks to get her ready to sail again after the battle.
Although these losses sent shockwaves through the Royal Navy and the British Public, it was not indicative of a decline in power of the British. Although the American’s showed great skill in the battles, they were fighting against a navy whose cream was elsewhere, concerned with the final and absolute defeat of Napoleon. Once that occurred, and the Royal Navy turned her full strength toward America, the American ships quickly ran home and hid.
Primary Information for this article was obtained from 1812: War in America by Jon Latimer, Harvard University Press, London, 2007
