USN & RN:
USS Constitution (44) vs HMS Guerriere (38) in action on the 19th of August, 1812, by Tom Freeman.
During the afternoon of 19 August 1812, about 400 miles (640 km) southeast of
Halifax, Nova Scotia, a sail was sighted on the weather beam bearing down on them. She was soon made out to be a
man-of-war and
Guerriere prepared for action, mustering 244 men and 19 boys at quarters. When the enemy hoisted American colours, Captain Dacres permitted the Americans in his crew to quit their guns.
The two ships exchanged broadsides for half an hour before the American ship closed her starboard beam and sent
HMS Guerriere's mizzen mast overboard. Switching to the other bow, the American ship raked
HMS Guerriere, which included sweeping her decks with
grapeshot and
musket fire, and then attempted to board. Samuel Grant,
master's mate commanding the
forecastle, was badly wounded and at about the same time Robert Scott, the master, was shot through the knee and the Captain severely wounded. Captain Dacres ordered
Lieutenant Bartholomew Kent to lead the marines and boarders from the main deck towards the forecastle but the two ships parting at that moment meant that they were able to bring some of the bow guns to bear on the
Constitution. William J. Snow, master's mate, commanded the fore-most main deck guns and John Garby, acting
purser, the after quarter-deck guns.
The two ships were clear of each other when
Guerriere's fore and main-masts went over the side, leaving her an unmanageable wreck. The crew managed to clear the debris, but while they were rolling enough to put the main deck guns under water, the American ship came within pistol range to rake them. At this point, Captain Dacres called his remaining officers together and they agreed to strike the colours to avoid further loss of life. Fifteen men had been killed, including the second lieutenant, Mr Henry Ready; six were mortally wounded, 39 severely and eighteen slightly. Lieutenant Kent was wounded by a splinter early on.
They found that the enemy was the heavy frigate
USS Constitution under Captain Isaac Hull armed with thirty 24-pounders on the main deck, twenty-four 32-pounders and two bored out 18-pounders on the upper deck. Out of 476 men, nine were killed and thirteen were wounded. Captain Dacres was surprised and shocked to find a large proportion of British seamen amongst her crew, a number of whom had joined in the boarding party.
Hull wanted to take
Guerriere as a prize but by the next morning it was clear that the ship was too badly damaged to salvage. The next day, she was set on fire by her captors;
Constitution returned to
Boston, Massachusetts. Dacres wrote a report of the action to the commander of the
North American Station, Vice-Admiral
Herbert Sawyer. A
court-martial was held on board
HMS Africa at Halifax on 2 October. It found that Captain Dacres was justified in surrendering his ship to save the lives of his remaining crew. The court also found that the masts going overboard was due more to their defective nature than the fire of the enemy.
