#uss scourge

[clove-pinks]

Someday when I am long gone, at my eternal rest, 

As other men find other ways for power to contest,

Think on the Scourge and Hamilton, warships among the best,

Who battled what they could not win: both time, and nature's test.

— Lee Murdock, "The Ballad of Ned Meyers" (Doused the Royal Ensign playlist)

Hamilton and Scourge Wreck Site, Lake Ontario

[ltwilliammowett]

USS Hamilton and USS Scourge: The Ghost Ships of Lake Ontario

Originally built as merchant ships under the names Diana/Hamilton and Lord Nelson/Scourge, the two schooners sailed Lake Ontario. But in October 1812 it was over for both of them. The Lord Nelson an English ship was confiscated due to missing papers and the Diana was taken up without closer reason into the american navy. They were called Captain Isaac Chauncey's fleet at Sackets Harbor, N.Y. and rebuilt and renamed armed vessels. From the Diana the Hamilton was named after Secretary of the American Navy Paul Hamilton. The Lord Nelson became the Scourge.

Illustration of an ROV picture made of the Scourge in the Lake Ontario

Once at Sackets Harbor, the Hamilton and Scourge were armed. Ned Myers, a young American sailor, was there and wrote concerning the Lord Nelson that, "This craft was unfit for her duty, but time pressed, and no better offered. The bulwarks had been raised on her, and she mounted eight sixes (guns), in regular broadside."

Figurehead of the Hamilton, 1982

Figurehead of the Scourge, 1982

Problems with converted merchant ships were obvious: the bulwarks often offered only a limited protection for gun crews, and Myers said that the Lord Nelson's "accommodations were bad enough, and she was so tender that we could do little or nothing with her in a blow. It was often prognosticated that she would prove our coffin....We must have had about forty-five souls on board, all told."   Ultimately, the 76 ton Hamilton was armed with eight 18-pound carronades and one 24- or 32-pound cannon, while the 45-ton Scourge had four 6-pound cannons and four 4-pound cannons.

Long gun with crossed naval cutlasses, of the Scourge, 1982

The Sinking of the USS Scourge and USS Hamilton

On the night of August 8, 1813 the waters were smooth and the winds were calm, the English were in sight. The captain of the Scourge, Mr. Osgood, told his crew to eat and rest at their gun stations for they may be in battle in little time. Ned Myers had awoken during the night due to a rain drop falling on his face. Myers went to the lower deck to grab something and heard a loud rushing wind, at this point he knew they were in the middle of a sudden squall (storm). Myers then rushed to the upper deck to try and secure the main sails but was too late since water was already rushing over the deck. Once realized that the Scourge was not going to right itself, Myers decided to jump ship to try avoiding being pulled down with it. After hitting the water Myers swam as far and as fast as he could away from the sinking Scourge until he felt a large wooden object in his path. Myers ended up running into the small rowboat being pulled by the Scourge and climbed aboard. Luckily, someone aboard the Scourge had cut the rope attached to the boat so it would not get pulled down with the ship. A few survivors were found near the wreckage and were brought aboard the row boat. After a little paddling, a large schooner appeared in front of them and took them aboard. This schooner was the USS Julia, another ship in the Chauncey squadron. The Julia was able to find four more survivors of the wreckage as a result of the squall; however these survivors were from the USS Hamilton. The USS Governor Tompkins was also part of the Chauncey squadron and picked up four Hamilton survivors as well. Out of the 100 or so crew members between the Scourge and the Hamilton only sixteen of them survived, eight from each ship.

One of the 12-pounder carronades mounted on its characteristic pivot at the rail of the Hamilton, 1982

The wrecks of both the USS Scourge and USS Hamilton were found in 1973 off the shore of Hamilton. The City of Hamilton is trying to preserve the wrecks by claiming it a National Historic Site of Canada. This preservation is under the Ontario Heritage Act because they contain human remains.

More and even more detailed informations here