USS Wasp (1807)

Type

Sloop of War

Period

19th Century

Nation

United States

Overview: USS Wasp was a ship-rigged sloop-of-war of the United States Navy, best remembered for her single, dramatic action of the War of 1812 in which she defeated the British brig-sloop HMS Frolic before herself being captured hours later by a passing British ship of the line. Specifications: USS Wasp was a 14-gun sloop-of-war of the United States Navy captured by the British in the early months of the War of 1812. She measured about 105 ft 10 in overall with a 30 ft 10 in beam, roughly 450 tons burthen, and in U.S. service carried 16 x 32-pounder carronades plus 2 x 12-pounder long guns with a complement of 140 officers and men. Interestingly, she was originally laid down and launched as a brig before being altered to a ship-rigged sloop-of-war prior to commissioning, a design detail worth noting for anyone building her from plans. Service History: She was constructed in 1806 at the Washington Navy Yard, was commissioned sometime in 1807, with Master Commandant John Smith in command. In 1812 she captured HMS Frolic, but was immediately herself captured. The British took her into service first as HMS Loup Cervier and then as HMS Peacock. She was lost, presumed foundered with all hands, in mid-1814. Prior to the war, in 1808 Wasp was heavily involved in supporting Jefferson's Embargo, including delivering an army garrison from New York City to Passamaquoddy, patrolling Casco Bay, Maine, and by the close of 1810 was operating from the ports of Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia. In 1811 she joined a squadron under Commodore Stephen Decatur at Hampton Roads alongside frigates United States and Congress and the brig Nautilus. Notable Facts: The famous Frolic action began when she caught the enemy convoy and discovered six merchantmen under the protection of HMS Frolic, an 18-gun brig sloop of the Cruiser class; the two ships closed for battle and, in a short but sharp fight, Wasp prevailed over her adversary by boarding her. Ironically, having won this fight, Wasp herself was captured by a British ship of the line shortly afterward, and under her new name HMS Peacock she vanished at sea in 1814, echoing the fate of her sister-named USS Wasp (1814), which was also lost with all hands the same year. Naval architect Howard I. Chapelle produced detailed hull-line drawings of the vessel in 1932, which remain a valuable reference for scale modelers. A period painting attributed to Thomas Birch depicting the Wasp-Frolic engagement survives in museum collections and is a useful visual reference for the ship's appearance and rigging during the action.