R&D of Rigging Plan for Model of the General Hunter (Brig, 1812 era, Great Lakes)

[trippwj]

Herewith begins my first extended journey into the esoteric art of developing a set of rigging plans pretty much from scratch.  On the MSB forum there is an ongoing project to develop plans and build a prototype of the British brig General Hunter (referred to hereafter as the GH).  I have, perhaps naively, agreed to tackle the development of a rigging plan for the model.  I enjoy a challenge, and particularly enjoy research and analysis, as well as the whole concept of understanding the masting and rigging of a ship is, to me, highly fascinating, so here I go. 

 

What I intend to do, since this is research and development rather than actually building the vessel, is to document my research process and decisions here in the same manner as a build log, but likely with fewer pictures.  At least, few that represent the output (or input) of spars on a model. 

 

I would like this to be a contributory endeavor - please feel free to interject suggestions, ideas, recommendations, or other critical analysis of the process and results.  My goal is a set of plans that is representative of the type of rig that the GH may have carried, realizing that the 100% benchmark is not attainable.

 

I will be drawing heavily on research already conducted by Daves, Winston and several others at MSB, as well as information in a set of unpublished manuscripts by Joshua Humphreys and his son from the Pennsylvania Historical Society (transcription from handwritten ye' Olde English into searchable documents is currently well underway by a team at MSB), and archival information both by the archeological team that is excavating and studying the wreck as well as by others such as Stevens of Parks Canada.  At some point, may even be touching on Australia and other regions as well - hint hint!).

 

Upcoming topics include (but are by no means limited to) the following:

 

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

 

Current Knowledge related to the GH

 

Pictorial Analogs and Similar Vessels

 

Dimensions of Masts

 

Dimensions of Yards

 

Furnishing the yards

 

So, pull up a seat, grab some popcorn (I think Sjors was bringing it) and hang on for what could be a fun journey into the Great Lakes and 1812!

 

Best wishes -

 

Wayne

 

[trippwj]

Update# 1 – History of the General Hunter

The General Hunter was a British Warship which fought in a numerous actions during the War of 1812 before being lost to the U.S. Navy in the famous Battle of Lake Erie.  In August of 1816, sailing as the U.S. transport ship Hunter, it was caught in a gale and wrecked on the Southampton beach.

 

Early in the 19^th century, British North America became a bit of a magnet for shipbuilders with many Scotsmen amongst them. Numbering among these individuals was William Bell who hailed from Aberdour in Fifeshire.  By 1799 he had hired on as a shipwright at the naval yard in Amherstburg. This was just the start of his career with the Provincial Marine.  He soon became the Master-Shipwright and was responsible for the draughting and construction of all the major vessels produced there until the British burned the yard during the War of 1812 (Garcia, 2000).

 

In 1803 Bell drew up plans for the General Hunter.  Initially rigged as a schooner, but later as a brig, the Hunter reflected the dual role of the Provincial Marine.  The hold accommodated troops, with partitions so that any cargo carried would be safe from theft.  The railings were to be strong enough to take ringbolts for gun breechings.   Bell's draughts show a relatively shallow draft vessel, of single deck, which would be capable of replacing two smaller vessels, the Francis and Maria (Library and Archives of Canada).  Construction began on the Hunter in 1804 and the vessel was launched the following year. The dimensions of the vessel upon launching were reported as length of 54 feet, 18 feet at the beam and a displacement of 80 tons.  Armament carried varied, but it was envisioned that she would have eight 18 pounder carronades and four 4 pounder long guns (Fort Malden National Historic Site Resource Centre Files).

 

The dimensions cited for the General Hunter are of particular interest, and will be revisited several times during the course of this research.

 

The General Hunter, as noted above, was originally rigged as a schooner.  It is uncertain the exact date that the rig was changed to a brig, although the first references to a brig are made during 1812.  In Select British documents of the Canadian War of 1812, (Wood, William (ed), 1968) there are numerous references to the vessel during the 1811 to 1813 time period.

 

30 August 1811 -        Proposed Marine Establishment for the year 1812 - Described as 60 Tonnage Schooner with 19 officers and men (Vol. I pg 246).

16 September 1811 -  Schooner General Hunter carries ten 12 pound carronades (Vol. I pg 239).

7 December 1811 -     Reported as fast falling into decay and needing to build a replacement (Vol. I pg 241).

9 March 1812 -          Undergoing repairs and being equipped with six 6 pounders (Vol. I pg 254).

16 August 1812 -        Transported 80 returned prisoners of war (Vol. I pg 49).

2 October 1812 -        Lake Erie Proposed Manning - General Hunter listed as desired to have 25 officers and men plus 9 marines. Actual complement at the time was 8 officers and men plus 17 marines (Vol. I pg 557).

10 September 1813 -  Captured - two 6 pounder long guns, four 4 pounder long guns, two 2 pounder long guns, and two 12 pounder carronades (Vol. II pg 276 & 315).

Works Cited

• Fort Malden National Historic Site Resource Centre Files. (n.d.). General Hunter Files. 
• Garcia, B. (2000, September 16). The Provincial Marine at Amherstburg 1796-1813. Retrieved May 2, 2013, from   The War of 1812 Website: http://www.warof1812.ca/provmarine.htm
• Library and Archives of Canada. (n.d.). 'C' Series, Record Group 8. Volume 726 page 75-76.
• Wood, William (ed). (1968). Select Documents of the Canadian War of 1812 .

 

 

[Jim Lad]

This sounds like it will be an interesting project, Wayne.

 

John

[trippwj]

Update# 2 – The Wreck of the General Hunter

 

This information is drawn from a variety of News Reports and Public releases related to what has been identified as the wreck of the General Hunter. 

 

After her launch in 1806 the General Hunter became part of the Provincial Marine squadron involved in transport and patrol on the Upper Lakes. The historical record confirms the General Hunter/Hunter operated as a British military vessel for about seven years and as a U.S. vessel for around three years.

 

In 1812, with the onset of the war with the United States, the vessel is recorded as taking part in a number of actions on Lake Huron and Lake Erie. After a lengthy and bloody engagement in the September, 1813, "Battle of Lake Erie," the General Hunter, with the five other vessels in the British squadron, surrendered to the U.S. Navy.

 

Once in U.S. hands, the General Hunter may have been left idle during the remainder of the war. There is a possibility she accompanied the U.S. squadron on the July-August, 1814, action on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. This action included the failed attempt to recapture Fort Mackinac from the British on August 4, 1814. The General Hunter may have participated, but this remains uncertain.

 

It is certain that she was sold by the U.S. Army into the hands of a private owner, John Dickson, in Presque Isle (now Erie), Pennsylvania July 8, 1815. During the remainder of that summer the vessel, with its name now shortened to Hunter, made at least three or four voyages, carrying private merchandise and U.S. military stores and troops between Buffalo, Detroit and Mackinac.

 

Sometime in the late fall or early winter of 1815, the U.S. Army purchased the Hunter for use as a transport vessel. During the spring and summer of 1816 the vessel made several trips carrying U.S. military supplies, troops and passengers to Mackinac. The final voyage of the Hunter, returning from Mackinac to Detroit, began on August 15, 1816.

 

Original documents concerning the loss of the Hunter have been found in the U.S. National Archives in Washington. The documents include a letter from General Alexander Macomb to U.S. Secretary of War William Crawford notifying Crawford of the loss the Hunter, accompanied by an account from crew members giving specific details of the events leading to the wrecking of the ship. The letter is dated September 7, 1816 and the attached legal declaration, was sworn on August 29, 1816.

 

In General Macomb's letter he tells Crawford of the loss of the Hunter on "...the Canadian shore..." and further states, "...I have dispatched two boats to save the rigging, anchors and cables and to burn the wreck so as to secure the iron of the hull...".

 

In the legal declaration by John Davis, the master of the Hunter, and two other crew members, there are a number of points pertinent to the Southampton wreck. Davis states, the ship left Michilimackinac for Detroit on August 15th, 1816, "...having taken on the necessary ballast....there being no lading on board...".

 

The Davis declaration describes the storms and winds which struck the vessel on August 17 and continued through the next two days, pushing them toward the east side of Lake Huron. As they struggle to stay off the shore Davis says, "...our mainmast being sprung and very rotten...". On March 24, 1815, seventeen months before the shipwreck, U.S. Navy Commodore Arthur Sinclair describes the Hunter as "...very old and rotten and unfit for service. Sails and rigging equally bad...". While some repairs may have been done on the vessel during the intervening time, Sinclair's description is interesting in light of the 1816 words by Davis.

 

As the storm continues to force them toward the Canadian shore, Davis states, "...at twelve of the clock of midnight...it being very dark...we found ourselves in among the breakers....(we decided) to put the helm hard a weather and head in foremost....when she struck in a few minutes...".

 

After the ship beached on the sand, Davis, the seven other crew members, and two young passengers, got ashore by crawling down the mainmast which had gone over the side. The crew and passengers spent two-and-a-half days on the beach, struggling to recover some food from the wreck--which already had filled with water—and presumably waiting for the wind and waves to abate. They left in the ship's boat at 4:00 p.m. on August 21, heading for Detroit, "...compelled to leave said brig...about one hundred miles in a northern and eastern direction from the rapids of St. Clair, surrounded by rocks, buried in the quick sands, her seams open and as such a situation as being rotten above the light water mark, as to render any probable efforts to save her useless...".

 

In April of 2001, low water levels in the lake and a spring ice scour uncovered about a dozen wooden ships frame tips, pushing up through the sand of the beach.  Preliminary excavations in 2001 and 2002 revealed a mast step, essentially the bracket that helps secure the mast to the bottom of the boat. Arrayed around it were stones used as ballast — 472 stones, to be exact, weighing 10,246 pounds in a subsequent tally.

 

A full excavation was completed in 2004, carried out by roughly 200 volunteers and spearheaded by the Southampton Marine Heritage Society and led by Ken Cassavoy, Marine Archaeologist and Project Director Southampton Beach Shipwrecks Project, who has graciously provided a number of unpublished field notes and research data to this project.

 

The vessel itself, fashioned out of oak, would have originally measured about 54 feet long at the keel by 18 feet wide at midship, with two masts.  Buried in the sand with it were a small cannon, four cannon balls meant for larger cannons, military buttons from the likes of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, parts of a musket, a bayonet, an officer’s walking stick, a wooden deadeye used in the ship’s rigging, and pieces of a shoe. Spread among all that were 194 ceramic shards from plates, cups, saucers, soup bowls and a tankard.

 

The dimensions of the wreck were confirmed during this excavation work at a remaining hull length of 53 ft 10 in with a remaining breadth of 16 ft 10 in. The General Hunter is believed to have been built with a length on the keel of 54 ft and a breadth of 17 to 18 ft.

 

The hull dimensions and numerous construction features recorded during the excavation of the Southampton Beach Shipwreck confirm it was an early Great Lakes vessel, built in a shipyard to strict naval standards. The General Hunter was built in a British naval yard and the dimensions of the shipwreck are a good fit with those accepted for the General Hunter.

 

The artifacts--ordnance, miscellaneous and especially buttons--indicate the ship operated as a military vessel over an extended period of time - a time which clearly includes the War of 1812 years. They also confirm the presence of specific units of both the British and U.S. military on board the vessel at some period in time. The records also indicate, of all the Upper Great Lakes military vessels of the period, the only clear candidate for the identity of the wreck is that of the General Hunter.

 

The September 7, 1816, letter written by General Alexander Macomb provides explanations for several important excavation details--few artifacts, no cargo, a large ballast pile, burned ship timbers--recorded during the 2004 excavation work.

 

The August 29th, 1816, legal declaration by the master and crew members from the Hunter, provides compelling evidence on a number of points, especially for both the general Southampton location ("100 miles north of the St. Clair rapids") and the specific beach location and environment between Morpeth and Palmerston Streets (inside the breakers and "surrounded by rocks and buried in the quick sands").

Edited May 9, 2013 by trippwj

[realworkingsailor]

You may be able to get some additional information here: http://www.discoveryharbour.on.ca/dh/index.htm

 

Have a look at the two "contemporary" replica vessels, especially the HMS Tecumseth...

 

Andy

[trippwj]

You may be able to get some additional information here: http://www.discoveryharbour.on.ca/dh/index.htm

 

Have a look at the two "contemporary" replica vessels, especially the HMS Tecumseth...

 

Andy

 

Thanks, Andy - was not aware of that group.  Nice looking vessels.  Near you?

[realworkingsailor]

About an hour and a half drive north, so yeah, relatively close. Been there a few times when I was a kid. Although at that time they only had the HMS Bee....

 

Andy

[JohnE]

Pulled up a comfy chair and got some popcorn. Excellent research project, Wayne. Rarely see much about the Provincial Marine, but they certainly were the other half of the Tango.

 

If 54 feet is length on the keel, is it possible to get length between perps/length on deck from Bell's draughts? It might help better determine size/dimensions of her sail plan.

 

Looking forward to seeing your progress on this.

 

Regards, John

[realworkingsailor]

Actually... Wayne, looking again at the dimensions you gave, the HMS Bee would probably be a closer example of the GH in schooner form...

 

Andy

[trippwj]

Well, I am finally back with an update!  Been wicked busy the past two months between business travel and getting ready for the move home.  With the shipyard all packed (along with more stuff than i ever thought we owned!), I finally had a chance to sit down and craft the next installment on this project.

 

Update# 3 – Reconciling the Wreck of the General Hunter to the available plans

In parts 1 and 2 of this series, I discussed the history of the Brig General Hunter, and the archeological survey of the wreck that has now been identified as the General Hunter.  Reaching this conclusion was no simple leap, and required extensive archival research and re-examination of previous assumptions.  In this installment, I am going to go over the key aspects of the debate and the basis for the ultimate identification of the wreck as the General Hunter.

 

As noted in the first installment, in 1803 William Bell drew up plans for the General Hunter and submitted them to the Quarter-Master General’s Office as a proposed schooner for operations on Lake Erie. Bell's draughts show a relatively shallow draft vessel, of single deck, which would be capable of replacing two smaller vessels, the Francis and Maria (Library and Archives of Canada). 

 

According to John Stevens, Bell’s plan in the Canadian National Archives shows a shoal draft hull with a long, low beak and no quarter badge of 93 tons burthen.  Construction began on the Hunter in 1804 and the vessel was launched the following year.

 

Stevens has provided a significant amount of research into the history and architecture of the General Hunter for Parks Canada.  His recreation of the plan for the Hunter is shown below.

 

 

The following plans, thought to be of the Hunter by Wm. Bell, are believed to be the source used by Stevens in creating his reconstruction (above).

 

 

The dimensions provided on both plans are as follows:

Length of keel ----- 54 feet

Breadth moulded – 18 feet

Depth of hold ------- 8 feet

Tuns ---------------- 93

 

The dimensions of the vessel upon launching were reported as length of 54 feet, 18 feet at the beam and a displacement of 80 tons.  Armament carried varied, but it was envisioned that she would have eight 18 pounder carronades and four 4 pounder long guns (Fort Malden National Historic Site Resource Centre Files).

 

The measured dimensions on the wreck are as follows:

Remaining hull length 53 feet 10 inches

Remaining breadth 16 feet 10 inches.

Remaining Length on keel about 46 feet.

 

 

Reconstruction of section along starboard side keel/keelson by the archeological team (unpublished manuscript courtesy of Ken Cassavoy, Marine Archaeologist and Project Director Southampton Beach Shipwrecks Project.

 

 

Profile reconstruction based on wreck dimensions courtesy of Dave Stevens and Winston Scoville, MSB.

 

Reconciling these discrepancies proved the greatest challenge to a firm identification of the wreck.

 

The wreck dimensions result in a vessel with a tonnage of about 60 tuns (using the method described by David Steel, 1805), as opposed to the 93 tuns on the Bell plans and the historical report of 80 tuns when launched.  Looking into other reported information on the vessel is not of much help.  In Select British documents of the Canadian war of 1812 (1920), the Hunter is listed as having a tonnage of 60 tuns in 1811 with a crew of 19 officers and seamen. 

 

It is possible that Bell did not use any plans when he built the Hunter, but rather used the Hunter and the earlier General Hope as the model when he drafted his plans.  The lower part of the stem on the wreck is nearly an exact match to the lower part of the stem on the Bell plans, leading to a high degree of confidence that the wreck was built by Bell.

 

An additional set of plans, signed by Bell, are also to be found at Archives Canada.  The problem with these plans, however, is readily apparent in that the keel length on these plans is 48‘. On examination we can see that there is a space in the midship section framing. Typically in a drawing this is to indicate that all frames for that section of the ship are to be the same.

 

 

On closer examination however it can be seen that these are clearly not the original drawing.

 

 

These plans were discussed in detail in the MSB Journal in May, 2011.  The analysis and conclusions are supportive of the plans representing the Hunter. 

 

In considering that these drawings may have been used to build the HMS General Hunter the first logical step was to return the drawings to their original condition by removing the added mid-ship section and compare them next to the wreck profile drawings. Here‘s what we find.

 

 

 

There is a great deal of agreement between the two sets of plans.

 

When the existence of a set of plans that is closer to the measured dimensions of the wreck is added to the archeological evidence, the case is very strong.

 

Original documents concerning the loss of the Hunter, have been found in the U.S. National Archives in Washington by the Archeological team.  The documents consist of a letter from General Alexander Macomb to U.S. Secretary of War William Crawford notifying Crawford of the loss the Hunter, accompanied by an account from crew members giving specific details of the events leading to the wrecking of the ship. Selected portions are discussed below in the context of the identity of the Southampton shipwreck.

 

In General Macomb's letter he tells Crawford of the loss of the Hunter on "...the Canadian shore..." and further states, "...I have dispatched two boats to save the rigging, anchors and cables and to burn the wreck so as to secure the iron of the hull...".

 

No rigging, anchors or cables, and very little else of any size was found during the excavation, and . examination of the hull showed clear evidence of burning in all upper sections, especially on the frame ends. As well, the appearance of many of the iron fasteners found on the wreck, indicated they had been exposed to extreme heat.

 

Although we have no historical documentation yet, it seems apparent the "two boats" sent by Macomb arrived back at the wreck and carried out his orders to salvage and burn the vessel.

 

Ultimately, the wreck has been confirmed to be the General Hunter.  A set of model plans based on the wreck measurements has been developed and a prototype build is underway.  Based on the wreck data and the model plans, a masting and rigging plan is being developed to reflect the Hunter as a brig at the time of the battle of Lake Erie.  The dimensions being used to develop the plans (which will be based on Steels The Elements and Practice of Rigging, Seamanship & Naval tactics (1794)) are shown below.

 

Beam – 17 feet 8 inches

Length on deck – 54 feet 8 inches

Length on keel – 46 feet 8 inches

Sixth class of 10 guns

 

The 1794 method uses the beam, class, guns and lower deck lengths in calculating the dimensions of the spars and the rigging. The following is the preliminary dimensions of the masts for the General Hunter.

 

 

[druxey]

Very interesting information, Wayne. Thanks for posting all this!

[trippwj]

Very interesting information, Wayne. Thanks for posting all this!

 

Thanks, druxey.  While the next update is going to be delayed due to the move, it will eventually show up!  it is an interesting process - there are only a couple of models of the Brig, and they are based on the stevens plan, which doesn't match the wreck.  my biggest delay right now is finding anaolgs (similar dimension and era) Brigs that are well documented so that I can use them as references.  Closest i have found thus far is the Lady Nelson which, even having a drop keel, is very similar both in dimensions and date built.  Not done searching yet, though!

[trippwj]

there is a build log on model ship builder forum with this model and also some u tube footage. 

 

Good afternoon, Brian. The purpose of this research is to develop the masting and rigging plan for that prototype that Winston is building.