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The USS Chesapeake was a 36-gun sailing frigate of the United States Navy during the Quasi-War with France and the War of 1812. It was one of the six original United States frigates. She was launched 2 December 1799 by Gosport Navy Yard and commissioned early in the following year, Captain James Barron in command.

Chesapeake sailed from Norfolk, Virginia 6 June 1800 to join the squadron patrolling off the southern coast of the United States and in the West Indies during the Quasi-War with France. During this cruise, she took as prize the French privateer La Jeune Creole on 1 January 1801. One of the handful of ships retained in the Navy at the close of the war, Chesapeake was in ordinary (out of commission) at Norfolk during most of 1801, then was readied for her departure from Hampton Roads on 27 April 1802, bound for the Mediterranean as flagship for Commodore Richard V. Morris. Here she led in the Blockade of Tripoli and convoyed American merchantmen until 6 April 1803, when she departed Gibraltar for America. Arriving at Washington Navy Yard 1 June, Chesapeake was placed in ordinary.

Career

• Launched: 2 December 1799
• Commissioned: 1800
• Fate: Captured by British, 1 June 1813

General Characteristics

• Displacement: 1,244 tons (1129 t)
• Length: 152.7 ft (46.5 m)
• Beam: 41.3 ft (12.6 m)
• Depth: 20 ft (6.1 m)
• Complement: 340 officers and enlisted
• Armament: 30 × 18-pounders and 12 × 32-pounder carronades

Chesapeake–Leopard Affair

As tension mounted over violations of American neutrality and the practice of impressment of American seamen by the British, Chesapeake was prepared for patrol and convoy duty, and late in June 1807 stood out of Hampton Roads, passing a British squadron operating in the area to intercept French ships then at Annapolis. One of the squadron, HMS Leopard, followed Chesapeake to sea, and on 22 June, when Chesapeake's captain refused to allow a search for British deserters, Leopard fired on the Chesapeake, killing three men, wounding 18 (including the captain) and damaging the ship severely, before proceeding to carry off four men. The frigate returned to Norfolk for repairs, and then with Captain Stephen Decatur in command, cruised off the New England coast enforcing the embargo laws.

War of 1812

With the outbreak of the War of 1812, for which Chesapeake's encounter with HMS Leopard was one of a number of emotional preparations, Chesapeake was outfitted at Boston for a lengthy Atlantic cruise. Between 13 December 1812 and 9 April 1813, she ranged from the West Indies to Africa, taking as prizes five British merchantmen, and through skillful seamanship, evading the pursuit of a British 74.

At Boston, Captain James Lawrence took command of Chesapeake 20 May 1813, and on 1 June, put to sea to meet the waiting HMS Shannon (38), the crack frigate whose written challenge had just missed Chesapeake's sailing. With a new untrained crew, Lawrence courageously but unwisely engaged Shannon. The Chesapeake suffered early in the exchange of broadsides, having its wheel shot away so she lost maneuverability. Lawrence himself was mortally wounded and was carried below. The crew struggled to carry out their captain's last order, "Don't give up the ship!", but were overwhelmed. Chesapeake was taken to Halifax, Nova Scotia for repairs, and was later taken into the Royal Navy. She was sold at Plymouth, England in 1820 and broken up.

Fictionalized accounts of the battle appears in the novel The Fortune of War by Patrick O'Brian, and The Key to Honor by Ron Wattanja.

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