uss frolick

Thanks, Grsjax! I just checked your website, but they came up empty too.

I know. I wonder why that is. Bios of Hull, Porter, Decatur, Perry and Blakeley are commonly found in the usual places. I read "Ready to Hazard" on an interlibrary loan copy years ago. It was good, but not so special, as to warrant collecting or hoarding by the naval history community. Perhaps fewer than the usual number of copies were printed. Bainbridge was a real SOB too, so I don't think he has a devoted following. I am in SW Florida. WA is beautiful. You are a fortunate fellow.

I would like to buy the biography of Captain William Bainbridge, "Ready to Hazard" by Dr. David Long, 1981. If anyone would like to part with their copy, I would be grateful.

I wonder what remains of the British whale-ships burned and scuttled by Captain Porter of the Frigate Essex in the Galapagos and the Marquesas Islands in 1813.

HMS Charon was a two-decker 44, and a sister ship to Harold Hahn's HMS Roebuck, and John Paul Jones's prize, HMS Serapis.

Yep. And the Yankee blockaders too.

I checked Darcy Lever's "A Young Sea Officers Sheet Anchor", 1819, but I didn't see it depicted. So, I'll make up a suitable name. How about "Mermaid Scooper"?

When I read the word Charon, I always think of the 44-gun British ship sunk at Yorktown. When I read the word Styx, I am reminded of: "Come Sail Away ..." and "Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto ..." Oh well, sounds like I got "Too Much Time On My Hands ..."

I would go with the later armament. But I think you might have to build up a solid forecastle bulwarks, and re-space the quarterdeck and forecastle gun-ports so that they fall into the shroud spaces made by the gun deck ports. This was becoming standard practice in American, France and England by 1810. This was done as much to protect the tarred shrouds from the carronade's flash, as it was to protect the crew. Look at the Renomme model of 1806 for examples of both. American Naval Constructor Josiah Fox described the new practice in 1807: " .... All the Fore Castle and quarterdeck ports in out frigates (the Chesapeak [sic] excepted) are equally spaced between the ports on the Gun-deck; This mode (though uniform) is attended with great disadvantage to the direction of those guns, particularly Carronades, where the Ports are in the wake of the Channels; It is usual with all Nations to place their Fore Castle and quarterdeck ports in their frigates between the same Shrouds that are spaced for the Main-Deck ports, by which means the shrouds have less spread fore and aft, and being more abreast of the Mast, afford more support to the Masts than they do now; and at the same time enable the Guns to range clear of the Shrouds, and point to more advantage than in the former mode ..." I also like the French mounting better than the English, with its four casters instead of two, and the breach rope that passes all the way through the bulwarks. By 1810, the French carronade looked like a real British carronade, but back in 1793, the French 36-pounders were shorter brass howitzers (French model 1787 Obusier de Vaisseau) used mostly to toss grape and canister. In the later period, according to British Historian William James, French forty-gun 18-pounder frigates were commonly armed with fourteen 24-pounder carronades and just two long eights.

Thank you for your kind words. But you actually built it, and I just went "blah, blah ..."

I really like your stern carvings and figurehead reconstruction!

Warships are considered military graves, as was the Spanish frigate that blew up off the Azores, and they may not be salvaged without permission. Were treasure galleons warships, or were they more like the English armed East India Company merchant ships?

I hope they salvage some of the artifacts, as well as the gold. To me, objects of everyday, early 18th-century naval life, are the real treasure.

Tom, apple wood has a lot to offer, and you're lucky enough to be living in part of the country (Connecticut) where it is cheap and plentiful. Although the heartwood is darker, the sap wood is nice and light, and the grain is tight. Makes a sweet smell when you saw it, too!

That's a solid hull project, yes? And what is your scale? I know it's only one photo, but the lines and sheer look very smooth. I noticed you penciled the position of every frame on the lower hull. I see a lot of good in that hull, and nothing bad. Just remember, we are our own worst critic.

Huzzah! I'll be watching too.

Until I saw the Carnot, I never thought any 19th century warship was ugly. What are all those square openings in the hull side, if not broadside ports? But they can't be broadside ports on a ship built that late. Windows for the crew? Why even put them in the side turret blisters, so close to the waterline?

Bad Mark. No cookie.

Please Ancre, make the next Frigate monograph a 24-pounder ship like La Forte/Eqyptienne, La Resistance/Vengeance, L'Immortalite, etc.

OK! No more dry stuff! From here, the following will be the accounts of several battles, in which the Frigate John Adams engaged, in as part of Commodore Morris's squadron battling the Tripolitan pirates. The John Adams was under the command of Captain John Rogers, and the the officer in charge of the quarter deck guns was none other than Midshipman Johnston Blakeley, who was later the Corvette John Adam 's first lieutenant under the above recited cruise to Europe under Captain Evans ... In this incident, the Frigate John Adams, in company with the Schooner Enterprize, destroys a 22 gun polacre-rigged corvette of the Tripolitan navy, a tribute gift from France, thought to have been built around 1786. Report of Captain Rogers in his after action letter to Commodore Richard Morris, dated June 30th, 1803. "The Squadron having this moment arrived from the coast of Tripoli, I take the earliest opportunity to inform you in what manner they were employed during your absence, and which I hope may meet you approbation, Previous from the return of the Enterprize from Malta, the John Adams was stationed to the eastward of the town, and the Adams to the westward, at such distance to enable us to distinguish each others signals, and join our operations if it had been necessary. After the Enterprize's return, she was stationed to the Eastward, and the John Adams in the center, abreast the town, and in justice of Captain [Hugh] Campbell and Lieutenant [isaac] Hull, permit me t observe that their vigilance could not be excelled, of course such as to merit your commendation, however, the enemy having only two cruisers at sea, and those in port so closely watched that nothing of importance after your departure, except the destruction of the Bashaw's finest Cruiser, for the particulars of which, I refer you to the extracts of my journal: 'On the 22nd instant, at 1/2 past 7 AM, wind ENE, the Town of tripoli bearing WSW, distant 6 or 7 leagues, , observed the Enterprize in the SSE, with a signal flying, its signification not distinguishable, made sail and stood toward her, at 8 ditto spoke the Enterprize, spoke the Enterprize when Lieutenant Hull informed me that the large ship of the enemy had anchored close in with the shore., at 1/2 past eight ditto, shortened sail and prepared to anchor with springs on our cable, discovering the enemy anchored with springs on his cables in a deep narrow bay, about 7 or 8 leagues to the eastward of town, a situation advantageous to defending their ship, and the same time observed the enemy gunboats beating up to their assistance, and a vast number of cavalry and armed men on the beach.. At 7 minutes before 9 AM, being in 7 fathoms water, and supposing we were in point blank shot of the enemy, commenced firing which they returned, and a constant fire was maintained for forty-five minutes, when the enemy's fire was silenced, at which instance the crew abandoned the ship in the most confused and precipitate manner, for those men as her boats could not carry, jumped overboard and swam to the shore. At this moment, being in a 1/4 less 5 fathoms water, and the rocks appearing under our bottom in every direction round us, I thought it prudent to ware and lay the ship's head off shore, and in meantime ordered Lieutenant Hull to stand close in, as consistent with safety, and amuse the enemy on the beach, until our boats could be hoisted out to take possession. At 1/4 before 10 AM, discovering one of the enemy's boat's returning to the ship (whilst we in the act of hoisting out our boats) [we] tacked and renewed our fire, and in a few minutes after had the satisfaction to see the enemy's colors hauled down, at the same time, firing both their broadsides, which was accompanied by the ship's blowing up with a heavy explosion which burst the hull to pieces, and forced the main and mizen masts perpendicularly into the air 150 0r 160 feet, with all the yards, shroud, stays, etc, belonging to them, This ship was polacre-rigged mounting 22 guns, the largest cruiser belonging to Tripoli, and to appearance, a very fine vessel. From the number of persons land, her crew must have consisted of more than 200 men, and from the advantageous position which she held, added to the shoal-less water outside her, she ought to have annoyed us very much, and have done very considerable damage, yet to the disgrace of Tripoli, we have received no injury. All the men which returned to the ship in the boat were blown up in her, and I have reason to believe the Captain was among that number, several men , which were wounded on the beach, were seen to be carried off by the others, and vast numbers of others must have been killed previous to their abandoning the ship.' ... The loss of [the Bashaw's] most valuable cruiser, must of course do him great injury, and from appearances , I am in hopes that none of our merchant vessels will fall into their hand this summer. The destruction of the aforementioned vessel, altho awful, was one of the grandest spectacles I ever beheld. After a tremendous explosion, there appeared a huge column of smoke, which a pyramid of fire darting vertically through its center, interspersed with masts, spars, sails, rigging, different parts of the hull, etc, and the vessel in an instant dashed to atoms."

" ... on sending on shore to the Post Office, I received a letter from Captain Fenwick ( to whom I had written the same day I had written General Armstrong), stating that the general had expressed much astonishment at my not announcing my arrival to him. As I had written three different letters to Captain Fenwick and the one I received from him seemed to be a reply to the second, which had been put into the Post Office I was apprehensive that those had sent on shore had been detained. I therefore immediately sent for the commissary, who had promised to forward them, to know why they had not been received, and to request a passport for one of my officers to Proceed to Paris, as I had determined, on the receipt of Captain Fenwick's note, to send an officer with a letter to General Armstrong without delay. The commissary answered that he could not in any manner account for the letter not having been received, and he repeated his assurance, that he had duly forwarded them with his own. He without hesitation granted the passport, and the following morning, I dispatched Mr. Chew to General Armstrong, stating to him the manner his letters were forwarded, and as I had been obliged to enter the harbor, and might possibly meet with some detention, I desired him to furnish Mr. Chew with [illegible] of money for use of the ship. On this letter, Mr. Chew received from him one thousand dollars. About One O'clock the same day, Captain Fenwick arrived with dispatches, as he had passed the carriage, with Mr. Chew in it about 15 miles from Havre, but it was closed and Mr. Chew did not see him. Here it may be proper to observe, that it is only about the full, and the change of the moon, that vessels drawing more than 12 feet, can enter the Harbor of Havre, for one day [illegible] and sometimes for three days subsequent to these periods, the tide in the entrance flows so as to admit vessels drawing only two fathoms. The channel however is so narrow that, it is absolutely necessary to have a fair wind to sail in or out. From the day of our entrance, until the arrival of Captain Fenwick, we had employed every favorable moment endeavoring to get out without success, and the day after his arrival, in which was the only one in which we could entertain the smallest hope of getting out, until the full of the moon. Every effort was again made, but after hauling the ship to the entrance of the gates, the Pilot said it was impossible to get out, as there was not sufficient water, and upon sending Lieutenant Pettigrew to sound the channel, he found but fourteen feet. and the shallowest part being two feet less than we drew." [Note: The only known draught of water by the John Adams was measured on her departure from Messina, Sicily, on November 21, 1804, while fully laden for a return voyage to the United States, and was found to be 15', 10" forward, and 16', 6" aft. She was still a frigate at that time.] "Here we found we must remain until the next full moon, and it was not until the second day after that, that we were able to get out, although we made several attempts, one of which, after being nearly clear, we were run aground by the Pilot and obliged to return. On the night, however, of the 20th of april, we got out, and the following day, after recovering, the anchor and cable we had slipped in the Roads, we sailed for America From that, until the present period, nothing has transpired worthy of note. Indeed, I should have not troubled you with this tedious statement respecting La Havre, had I not understood General Armstrong disapproved of my going there. During our absence, we have boarded and been board by several British cruisers, without anything occurring worthy of mention. Mr. Dupont du Nemurs, to which you directed me to afford a passage, has declined coming to America. Captain Fenwick was with him in Paris, and he will be able to inform you more fully of the particulars. The ship will require a little overhauling and she will want some running rigging, and caulking, and as we have had such tempestuous weather since we have left America, that it is now a year since we have been able to paint. I could wish to land a few tons of Kentledge, as I think she will sail better, and is a more safe sea boat now than when we sailed three months previous in on leaving America.. Could it be done conveniently I beg leave to recommend giving her a new gun deck, the one she has now is so thin, that it is impossible to keep from leaking. There are also a few alterations that might be made with a trifling expense in Washington, which, I think, would improve her greatly. I am happy to inform you that since our arrival, the health of our crew is re-establishing daily, out of a sick list of [illegible] on the day I left the ship for washington, 21 have recovered, and indeed a great proportion of the others, are in a state of convalescence. We will require a number of men to complete our crew; the terms of service of most of those we received from the different ships in New York have expired to or three months past, or will expire shortly, we have likewise lost several by death, and four by desertion. Lieutenant Blakeley has request leave of absence from the ship in consequence of indisposition, which as there are five lieutenants on board, I have granted him. He repairs to washington in the Morning. Respectfully, I have the honor to be, Sir, your obedient servant, Captain Samuel Evans."

The letter from Evans to Hamilton of June 19, 1810 continues ... "The evening of the 25th, we had the satisfaction to receive Mr. Elliot on board with Mr. Pinkney's dispatches, and the next evening sailed for La Havre, where I had determined to proceed [illegible]. From thence I could have the most speedy communication with General Armstrong. We arrived off Havre about noon of the 28d, and I immediately sent Mr. Chew on board on shore to forward a letter I had written to General Armstrong announcing my arrival, and a letter and package from Mr. Pinkney to the general, which the former had told Mr. Elliot was not of sufficient consequence to justify the expense of sending an officer to Paris with it. Mr. Chew got on board too late for the post, and he deposited the letter with the commissary of Police, who assured him they should be sent to Paris the following day with his own. In my letter to General Armstrong, I informed him that the Harbor of Havre was not a fit place for the ship, and the Road too much exposed, to remain in them, with safety, at that season. I had determined to stand off and on the town, until I could her from him. I likewise stated to him that it was my wish to proceed to Cherbourg with the ship, should he be deemed proper to detain her, as in that port I could moor with safety. This letter, the commissary informed Mr. Chew, was sent on the next dat (the 29th). As the distance from Havre to Paris was not more than a 36 hour ride, I soon expected to hear from General Armstrong. On the 3rd of April we [illegible] in the Roads and sent a boat on shore for intelligence, that evening the airs were light and the Pilot advised our anchoring to avoid being drifted by the tide near the shoals. This I consented too, and at four in the afternoon, we anchored. About four O'Clock in the morning of the 4th, the wind came in from the NE and by daylight it blew quite a gale. By 7, the sea had risen so high, that it made a breach over the ship on almost every pitch. The tide, as well as the wind, was directly on [illegible] and if we did not avail ourselves of the tide before 10 O'Clock, we could not enter that day, be the event, what it would. It seemed to me therefore necessary to chose one of two alternatives, that to let go all the anchors we could to advantage, and endeavor to ride it out, at all events, or to prepare to immediately run into the harbor. In both of these alternatives, I did believe there might be some danger. The gale blew heavy, and there was every appearance of its' increasing. The sea was then high, we were exposed to the whole range of the channel, and although the cables and anchors could possibly hold her until she foundered, I had not the greatest confidence in those furnished at Washington, and saw clearly that if we parted from our anchors, it would next next to an impossibility to save the ship. On the other hand, I had been informed that the entrance was very narrow, and must consequently be dangerous to attempt with the wind, and the tide, then there was. I determined however to attempt the latter, after receiving assurance from the Pilot that he could carry her in with safety. Accordingly, at [illegible] O'clock we had everything prepared, and shortly after slipped our cable and stood for the harbor, on luffing around the entrance, we were [illegible] running on one side of it, owing to the Pilot not giving her sufficient room. In fact, we grazed the wall, but the ship received minimal injury, and by his further bad management, in directing the anchor to be let go too soon, we were obliged to cut the cable, to enable us to get with in the gates, before the tide left us. Soon however, we were within the gates, without further accident and moored alongside two French frigates." Notice that Captain Evan sent Mr. Chew, the ships purser, on shore, instead of a midshipman or a lieutenant. He probably needed every able sea officer on board to work the ship. To be continued ...

At the completion of the cruise, Captain Evans compiled what was a long and detailed letter to Secretary Hamilton, dated June 19, 1810, from Baltimore: "Sir, I had the honor to address you on the 11th March last from Portsmouth, but I was obliged by indisposition to limit my latter to a few lines. I now have the honor to inform you that agreeable to your instructions, of the 5th December, I weighed anchor from New York on the 15th of that month, and on the same day discharged the pilot from Sandy Hook. On the 3rd January, we struck soundings on the coast of England, and on the 7th, we were compelled by the setting of the current to Anchor in the Road of La Hague which is about 18 leagues to the westward of Havre. On making inquiry, I found that Captain Fenwick could reach Paris from thence in forty-eight hours, I considered it more proper to forward the dispatches for General Armstrong immediately, than to run the risque of being a day or two on our passage to Havre, from whence it would take him nearly the same time to deliver them, I accordingly landed him with the approbation of the Government of the town that evening, and the next morning he proceeded to Paris. On the evening of the 8th, the tide answering, we weighed from La Hague, and as I was of the opinion that the voyage would be facilitating going to the downs, I availed myself of the latitude given me in your instructions and proceeded to that place, in preference to Portsmouth, here we arrived the following morning, and immediately sent Mr. Elliott London with the dispatches for Mr. Pinkney. I would have left the Downs the same night for Holland, had I not been able, from indisposition to stand the deck in tempestuous weather, we almost daily experienced, fro which cause I deemed it necessary to engage a pilot, this detained us and the following day, we weighed for the Texell, but on the 14th weighed anchor for the Downs, for which we had bourn up for the proceeding evening, in an easterly gale by the urgent advice of the Pilot. We were here detained by adverse winds, until the 17th when we again weighed anchor, and on the 19th arrived and moored in the Helder having struck several times on a bank off Camperdown through neglect of the Pilot, the ship however received no perceivable injury, on the following morning I dispatched Mr. Chew to Amsterdam, with the letters I had in charge of the Treasury Department, and directed him to make arrangements with the agent to receive the specie as nearly as possible. It was not until the 24th that the permission was obtained and the specie landed, it was not until the [?]th of February that Mr. Crew obtained the receipts for it and returned to the ship. Adverse winds prevented our leaving the Helder until the [?]th, the passage out of which was so narrow that the leading wind [only?] will admit this ship sailing out. On the evening of the 14th, we ran through the Downs, from whence I found Mr. Pinkney, I expected to be in Portsmouth the following day and would be in readiness to receive Mr. Elliott with his dispatches, we anchored near Portsmouth on the 16th. Here it appears necessary to mention that while I was in Holland, I received a letter from General Armstrong directing me not to wait there for Captain Fenwick to proceed to England, and after I concluded my business there to return to Havre or some other convenient port in France, for his dispatches. On my arrival in England, i communicated this order to Mr. Pinkney, and as I believed it would be the cause of detaining the ship for some time, I provisioned her Portsmouth, for the period I supposed would be necessary, and availed myself with the credit you honored me with, on Messers james McKenzie and A. Glennie, to draw on them for disbursements, I however, I did not anticipate the long detention we were to experience in England, and the reports were so frequent and the dispatches were all to leave London, and the provision [priced] so extremely high, that I did not judge it prudent to procure large supplies, but furnished the ship at several different times, and drew for the whole amount of disbursements, including the supplies before mentions, [enclosed are] the following bills .... " Letter to be continued. This was only about a quarter of it so far ...

Looks like the 1840's Constitution with the Andrew Jackson figurehead. Love that quarter gallery window!

Captain Evans next wrote to Secretary Hamilton On March 11, 1810, from Portsmouth, England: "Sir, but just recovering from a severe indisposition that has confined me for upwards of two months, I have scarcely strength to inform you that I have executed your orders of the 25th of December last, so far as, to have arrived here, where we have been waiting upwards of three weeks without anything of note occurring. i was handed a letter yesterday of Mr. [Jessie Duncan] Elliot, of this ship. who I charged with the dispatches for Mr. Pinkney, in which he mentions that, the latter has determined that he should leave London today, in which case we shall leave France tomorrow, or the morning after, where I received orders from General Armstrong to repair and take on board Captain Fenwick with his dispatches on our having concluded our business in England. But as I see the arrival of the Packet from New York announced in the London papers of yesterday, I think it probable he might detain Mr. Elliot a day or two longer. I must beg you in consequence of my debility to excuse for the present entering into any details of our proceedings since we left America." Oh, but there was one interesting detail that Evans omitted to ever mention ... this from Moses Smith's Narrative "Naval Scenes of the Last War, etc.", Boston, Gleason's, 1846: "About this time [the date of the telling was July, 1811, more than a year after the corvette returned] the John Adams arrived off Annapolis from a foreign cruise, and from her men, we learned a striking case of heroism, which is worthy to be told. A colored seaman belonging to New York had been pressed into English service and when the [John ] Adams was lying off their coast, he got the opportunity to come aboard her, as one of the boat's crew, sent with an officer on some errand. Thinking now his time had come to escape from the British, he determined if possible not to return. Accordingly, as he stood upon the deck of the [John] Adams, he suddenly seized a boarding axe, and in the presence of the crew, , cut off the fingers of his right hand at a single blow. Then with the left hand holding up the bloody stump, he exclaimed: 'Now let the British take me if they want me. However, disabled as he was, they took him back, our officers having no power to interfere. " [Warning! A politically incorrect statement ahead!] "If patriotism be anything but a name, then surely this noble African deserved a better fate, there are exalted qualities concealed beneath a darkened skin ..."