德拉克講美英1812年戰爭 護衛艦決鬥 美英1812年戰爭 護衛艦決鬥 - 英國香濃號VS美國切薩皮克號
4 觀看·2025年8月4日
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接著是主題
1812年
非常惡名的戰爭
已經是1813年
Frigate USS Chesapeake
正在準備再次嘗試旅程
由於船長Samuel Evans的指令
她在1812年12月中旬登陸
並在六個獎項中
在船上的一艘74槍航母
陪伴著一艘Frigate
這些航程只結束
當Chesapeake在4月9日
完成了她在波士頓的最後一趟旅程
在這裏她正在重組
她的船員被撤離
由於船被付款
並被重新負責
正如當時常見
船長Evans也感到不適
並要求重組
於是船長就交給
船長James Lawrence
他一直在戰爭的過程中
經歷了各式各樣的冒險
船上的Frigate USS Hornet
我們最後遇到它
試圖把HMS Boncita Yen
撤離港口
然後被另一艘船
撤離港口
自此之後
它成功擊敗Frigate HMS Peacock
後來因戰損傷而撤離港口
從那次成功的旅程中
Evans是一個明顯的選擇
去推動HMS Peacock
在她的下一個任務中
但我再詳細一點
介紹一下背景
HMS Peacock
是原來的六艘Frigate
但只是一個小例子
美國總統
和當然是共和黨
是大型的
大約44艘船
而共和黨
Constellation和HMS Peacock
是較小的規格
HMS Peacock是最小的
只有153公尺
最初被評為
36艘船
此前曾經增加到38艘
與共和黨和Constellation的
武器在一致
如同Frigate一般
她當然擁有
更多的武器
在這場戰爭的階段
她擁有
根據大多數報告
50艘
共有28個18公斤的長槍
在主要的槍架
24公斤的輕型武器
在三艘大Frigate
和18個32公斤的長槍
在Spa Deck
而追擊槍
共有18公斤
12公斤的長槍
和12公斤的長槍
在海上
航行的是38枚
HMS Shannon
由Captain Broke指導
我們最後看到
這艘船
是一隊不成功
想要追擊共和黨
在戰爭的最初階段
Broke曾經擔任Shannon的船長
自1806年她入伍
而船長和船長
都曾經對法國進行廣泛的行動
獲得至少三個獎項
而在這場戰爭的最初階段
她取得了航母
USS Nautilus
再獲得另一艘航母
是由一名美國公民
然後再獲得另一名美國公民
在恢復貨幣運輸
從一艘航空母艦中
Broke再獲得
另一艘美國公民
然後再獲得另一艘貨幣運輸
直到他發現
這艘船的國會
總統和憲法
都在波士頓港
Shannon和陪伴這艘船的Tenedos
已經出發
通知剩下的隊伍
他們屬於
而是在這段時間
Chesapeake已經到達
Shannon和Tenedos
在剩下的隊伍中
同時進行了近攻
包括至少一艘船
和一艘航空母艦
在1813年4月
Broke發了一項英文挑戰
給總統的John Rogers
挑戰他進行一場2對2的戰鬥
總統和國會
對抗Shannon和Tenedos
但在早期的5月
Rogers選擇逃離港口
隱藏著重型蜘蛛
後來的一夜
另一艘航空母艦
被美國國旗發現
被追擊
被迫逃走
在避免附近的軍隊
發射炮彈
Shannon派了船進去
修復了航空母艦
變成了CORVETTE INVINCIBLE
另一艘美國私人航空母艦
由於總統
還在修復航空母艦
在與Java的戰鬥後
Chesapeake成為了
波士頓港的唯一航空母艦
在這個階段
Evans仍然在任務
雖然他也感染了
羅倫茲在修復航空母艦時
被派到波士頓港
首先指揮紐約航空母艦
然後很簡短的
指揮了總統
Chesapeake在4月底
被命令到波士頓港
而Evans則在
轉航到布魯克林航空母艦
這就是導致羅倫茲的死亡
他的任務不僅是
在波士頓港準備航空母艦
還要確保他有足夠的船員
波士頓港航空母艦
的船員有許多
試圖表現
波士頓港航空母艦
在Chesapeake上的
綠色船員的不公平
但這其實只是一個謬論
當她來到波士頓港時
波士頓港的航空母艦
有387人
根據波士頓港航空母艦
在她抵達的日子
與她抵達的日子相比
我們可以看到
波士頓港航空母艦
295人
有97個新改動
老實說
許多的Chesapeake航空母艦
對於付出不足的獎金
但羅倫茲
其實直接在
她自己的資金上提出了稅
以藉此解決問題
當然她的目的
是要補償美國的股票
從97個新改動
其中包括羅倫斯
一群士兵從法律上轉移
更期待遲一點的行動
另一群19人的替代人是海軍
因此不會影響船上的戰鬥和航行能力
或任何其他航行行動
剩下的大約50人
也並非沒有經驗
船員清單顯示
船上沒有任何有經驗的海軍
雖然船上的船員都是新人
但有些船員其實在之前的航行
但不在最近的航行
羅倫斯接著
將新來的船員
融合在同一組
進行多次測試
例如測試離岸
測試武器
甚至測試航行
兩週的激烈測試
已經有經驗的船員
幾乎已經準備好
當然
大多數船員
只會在船上測試一次
所以
除了不確定的綠色船員
赤壁的船員
其實是東海岸
最有可能找到的
在1813年5月和6月
在海岸上
只剩下Shannon
Tenedos已經被解僱
來儲存她的水和食物
和其他東西
Shannon只有三公尺矮
比赤壁還要矮
如果你想知道
後代船員的樣子
仍然有兩艘
在英國的博物館
HMS Unicorn在丹甸
和HMS Trincomalee在哈爾特
雖然他們已經
稍微改造了
因為他們
仍然在儲存
或者在新船上
儲存了幾十年
Shannon擁有52枚武器
像赤壁
其中有28枚18公尺
在主艦艇上
而在上艦艇上
她擁有16枚32公尺的轟彈
兩枚比她的美國對手少
還有3枚12公尺的轟彈
4枚9公尺的導彈
和一個6公尺的轟彈
全部都由330名人員負責
然而
兩艘船和裝備
都被美國海岸
經歷了幾乎不斷的運作
自從戰爭爆發
布魯克很想進行好戰鬥
才被迫離開
於是
1月1日
他召喚了一名美國船員
被囚禁在船上
並允許他在海岸上運載
一封挑戰信
送給羅倫斯在赤壁上
信中說
赤壁現在出現了
準備出海
請你幫我
和她一起
從艦艇到艦艇
嘗試我們的相同的旗幟
您的角色的船員
需要一些道歉
來進行更多的分析
請確保
這不是因為任何疑問
我可以威脅您
想要結束我的提議
只是為了提供答案
對任何有疑問的問題
以及非常合理的
對於我們得到的不公平支援的機會
經過我們付出了
慷慨的關注
給羅倫斯的船員
我付出的苦勞
是把所有力量
除了珊妮和蒂妮多
離得太遠
導致他們無法參與
任何行動
在艦艇的監視下
以及各種語音信息
被發送到波士頓
對此有影響
我們非常失望
得知科摩多
誤導了我們
航行第一次機會
在東方風暴
迫使我們
保持離岸服務
他或許
希望有更強烈的
確認和公平的會議
我因此
強烈鼓勵您
更特別地
確定
我所寫的
我宣誓
以最大力量
珊妮
搭載了24枚槍
在她的大船
和一枚輕型船槍
18公斤的
在她的主船
32公斤的
鋼彈
在她的四方船
和輻射
並與
300名男性和男性
其中
大部分
除了30名
船員
男性和乘客
他們最近
被取出
重新捕獲的船
我此時此刻
因為
一份報告
在某些
波士頓報紙中
我們從
150名
更多的船員
這真的
從來沒有發生過
Lahogue
現在已經
離開了
Halifax
為了提供服務
我會派遣
所有其他船員
遠離
和我們
互相干擾的權力
並與你們見面
無論你們同意
在
提到的
約會的
從
Cape Cod燈塔
3-10離岸
在
Cash's Ledge
在
Latitude 43 North
在任何
你願意
離岸和遠離的地方
修復
南吐克的南端
聖喬治銀行的
如果
你願意
向我提供
任何訊號
或電話
我會警告你
如果
遵守這個承諾
任何
我的朋友
太近
或
任何
在目的地
直到
我可以
把他們
你認為
最安全的
從
我們
航班
下降
當
開始
仇恨
你必須
知道
我的提議
對你非常有益
因為
你無法
單獨
在
Chesapeake
不允許
被
英國
軍隊
的
在
國外
在
你所有的努力
在
紅色的
雙方
雖然
堅強
但也
完全
沒有
希望
我
請你
不要
想像
我對
遇見
Chesapeake
的
或
我只
依賴
你的
個人
意圖
為
你的
邀請
雙方
有
榮耀
如果
我
說
我們的
會議
是
我
感謝
我的
國家
我
不
懷疑
你
同樣
有
成功
只
在
你
所有的
只
依賴
個人
意圖
為
你的
邀請
雙方
有
說
我們的
會議
同樣
有
在
你
所有的
你
不
懷疑
我
和
你
同樣
有
如果
我
說
我們的
會議
是
不
懷疑
我
和
你
同樣
You may yet oblige me by keeping my proposal a secret
And appointing any place you'd like to meet us within 300 miles of Boston
In a given number of days after you sail
As, unless you agree to such an interview
I may be busied on other service
And perhaps be at great distance from Boston when you go to sea
Choose your terms, but let us meet
After having sealed this letter
Broke remembered something else and wrote on the outside of the envelope
With an offer to exchange 13 captured American privateers
For an equal number of British prisoners
Before battle was commenced
Unfortunately, the letter never reached Lawrence
For he had independently decided to sail the same morning
And so Chesapeake was actually already at sea
When Broke's letter reached Boston
In the end though, the outcome was to be pretty much the same
Chesapeake and Shannon were about to meet in single combat
Thus, both sides had reason to be confident
Although roughly matched in size and firepower
Chesapeake's crew was good, as was Shannon's
As one source would write some decades later
That the Shannon's guns were all carefully sighted
And moreover, every day for about an hour and a half in the forenoon
When not prevented by chase or the state of the weather
The men were exercised at training the guns
And for the same time in the afternoon
In the use of the broadsword, pike, musket, etc.
Twice a week the crew fired at targets
Both with great guns and musketry
And Captain Broke, as an additional stimulus
Beyond the emulation excited
Gave a pound of tobacco to every man
Who put a shot through the bullseye
He would frequently have a cask thrown overboard
And suddenly order some gun to be manned
In order to sink the cask
Just before Chesapeake left dock
Lawrence sent out a final pair of letters
One was a quick last will and testament, just in case
Leaving his family to the care of his brother-in-law
The other, to the Secretary of the Navy, read
I am now getting underway to carry into execution
The instruction you have honored me with
An English frigate is now in sight from my deck
I have sent a pilot boat out to reconnoiter
And, should she be alone
I am in hopes to give a good account of her before night
My crew appear to be in fine spirits
And I trust they will do their duty
Aware that his American counterpart
Could not possibly have received his letter yet
When he spotted Chesapeake making ready for sea
Broke took Shannon in close
And fired a single gun in challenge
He then ran his men through one last exercise
At action stations before standing them down for lunch
Just after 12 noon
Chesapeake fired an answering gun
In response to Shannon's challenge
And then hoisted a large flag
Upon which was written
Free trade and sailors' rights
Broke quickly dashed off another challenge
And sent it ashore with a fishing boat
This copy would also not reach its recipient
As the fishing boat captain
Instead of heading straight into the harbour
Landed at Marblehead
And just posted it
Coming off of the victories
Against Gurrier, Macedonian and Java
The inhabitants of Boston
Seem to have decided that the battle
Was as good as won in their favour already
As the wind filled Chesapeake's sails
And she trailed a comet's tail
Of smaller craft on her way out
With a celebratory dinner
Being arranged for the evening
Complete with a place setting
For the presumed prisoner and guest of honour
Captain Broke
Shannon made sail
And steered to pace Chesapeake
Eving too
Would hand the American ship the advantage
And give the chance for various gunboats
To come out of Boston in support
Short sail was deliberately set
To allow Chesapeake to overtake them
And the guns were loaded
Broke was very particular
About his opening salvo
Whilst Lawrence had taken aboard
A good number of chain, bar and other shot
That were designed to take out
An enemy's rigging at close range
Broke ordered his 18-pounders
To be loaded with two solid shot in one gun
And a single ball
And then a canister of grape shot in the next
Alternating in this way
As you went along the gun deck
Three buckets were set out next to each gun
One was dry and held a matchlock
Just in case the flintlock on the gun failed
The other two were full of water
One was for putting out fires
And cooling down the guns with sponges
The other was for refreshing the crew in battle
The 32-pounder carronades above
Were loaded similarly
And all sorts of small arms
Were laid out for easy access
If it came down to boarding or counterboarding
The yards were secured with chains
To prevent them from falling to the deck
If they were broken
Unless of course the masts themselves
Happened to fall
And an anti-boarding net
Was rigged well above head height
At this height it wouldn't prevent boarders
From coming over the side
Assuming the two ships were roughly equal
Free board
But it would catch
Larger bits of falling debris
That might otherwise injure the crew
At around 1600
Both ships were about 15 miles out of Boston
And well into open sea
On a converging course
Less than four miles apart
The American ship
Was flying three ensigns
Plus of course its banner
And at 1710
Action seemed imminent
So Broke summoned the crew
Reminding them that it was on them
To reverse the tide of American victories
In various frigate actions
Before giving his final orders
Don't try to dismast her
Fire into her quarters
Main deck to main deck
Quarter deck into quarter deck
Kill the men and the ship is yours
Don't hit them about the head
For they have steel caps on
But give it them through the body
Don't cheer
Go quietly to your quarters
I feel sure you will all do your duty
And remember
You have the blood of hundreds of your countrymen
To avenge
Broke for his part
Insisted he only needed to fly one ensign
Which hung at the mizzen peak
Although he had three spares on hand
Just in case it got shot away
One of the last sets of men
To be sent to their stations
Were those crewing the nine pounder
Bow chase guns
These were some of the best gunners on the ship
And Broke had not only trained them hard
But given them a special assignment
Which would require them to use
The medium artillery pieces
Like sniper rifles
At 1725
Chesapeake set battle sail
And steered straight at Shannon's
Starboard aft quarter
The British crew admired
The American ship handling
It was coming in just aft enough
That had Shannon's starboard guns
Wanted to engage it in a long range bombardment
It was just out of the firing arc
Double loaded as they were
They didn't actually have any intention to do so
But there was no way for Lawrence to know that
As it was
Not only was Chesapeake out of the line of fire
But the course meant that
Whilst there was a possibility
That Chesapeake would pass astern and rake Shannon
She could equally pull up at the last minute
For a broadside exchange of fire
Lawrence however
Had ordered his own guns to be double shotted
But with bar and canister shot
Atop the round shot
He intended to repeat his victory over the Peacock
Firing a shattering broadside
To cripple the enemy's rigging
Before then circling and raking at will
Once he had the freedom to maneuver
For that
He needed to retain the weather gauge
And fight broadside on
Dismantling shot
As it was known at the time
Would not pass through
Three sets of masts and rigging
One after the other
Which a raking salvo would force it to do
Just in case
Chesapeake decided to go for the aft rake though
Broke split his gun crews
Ready to fight on either side
And bore slightly to starboard
Which threatened to turn across
Chesapeake's bow and rake her first
If Lawrence made to pass astern
Because of course
Much as Lawrence didn't know what
Shannon was carrying
Neither did Broke know what
Chesapeake was carrying
At 1740
With both ships still eerily silent
Chesapeake hauled over to starboard
Only 50 yards from Shannon
And pulled in parallel
Her crew gave three cheers
As they waited for the British ship's rigging
To come fully into their arc of fire
As the American ship
Slowly overhauled her target
Shannon's crew for their part
Remained dead quiet
Their own orders were to let
The Chesapeake's first manned gunport
Come directly into view
Of Shannon's aft post main gun
Before they opened fire
At 1750
As Chesapeake's bow edged up Shannon's side
The mark was reached
For Shannon's gun crews
And the aft most 18 pounder
Fired at scarcely 40 yards range
Its two round shots
Smashed through Chesapeake's hull
In the vicinity of the first manned gunport
The Chesapeake carried forward
And the next British gun
Sent its grape shot
Straight into the same gunport
Wiping out most of the gun crew
As Chesapeake progressed
Up the Shannon's starboard side
A rolling broadside of cannon and carronade fire
Shattered the forward part
Of Chesapeake's battery
In the fighting tops
The Royal Marines poured fire
Onto Chesapeake's decks
They had been ordered
To pick off the officers
But they could barely see anything
Forward of the main mast
In the haze of shattered wood dust
Canvas and other debris
That was flying up from their target
Broke was standing close to the ship's wheel
And he had procured
A bucket of hand grenades
And was busily trimming the fuses
With a pocket knife
Before igniting and hurling them
In between issuing occasional orders
Now however
Broke's secret weapon came into play
The nine-pounders up in the bow
In this case particularly
The one on the starboard bow
Was a relatively small gun
But it could be loaded
And fired quite swiftly
And with a good crew
Very accurately
They now commenced their task
And calmly blew away
The man who was standing
At Chesapeake's wheel
The wheel itself remained
If it was destroyed
Several dozen men would have been
Sent down to the tiller
To steer the ship
But that was out of sight
And honestly out of reach
Of a nine-pounder
Instead seeing the wheel unattended
The American crew did their duty
And another man stepped up
Within a minute
He too had been taken out
By the nine-pounder
The ship's fourth lieutenant
The ship's master
And the bosun amongst others
Would all go the same way
In the next few minutes
The Chesapeake was not slow in replying
With her own broadside
But with the wind coming from starboard
As the two ships drew level
Chesapeake created a wind shadow
This stole the air
From Shannon's sails
And thus increased
The speed differential
As the American vessel
Suddenly seemed to race ahead
Even though it was actually
Shannon falling back
The guns had to be ordered
To let fly sooner
Rather than later
With the weather gauge
Chesapeake's port side
Was most often rolled
Somewhat downwards
And the ship's full broadside
Was forced to be let go
On a down roll
Lest it not be discharged at all
Most of the 18-pounders
And their carefully prepared
Dismantling shot
Thus hit just above
Shannon's waterline
Causing a few holes
Which the ship's carpenter
Had to get to immediately
From the round shot
But missing the bulk
Of Shannon's gun crews
Whilst the lighter
Dismantling shot
Either just bounced off
Or embedded itself in the hull
To no real effect
The carronades did slightly better
They'd been aimed
For the mid to upper rigging
And instead hit the lower rigging
Which was still roughly
In keeping with Lawrence's objectives
Further aft
Where the haze of splinters and dust
Was less choking
The American senior officers
Had almost been wiped out
Killed or wounded to a man
Only Lawrence remained on deck
And he was leaning heavily
On the compass pinnacle
With a musket ball
Having shattered one of his legs
Just below the knee
Some of the upper gun deck fire
From Shannon
Had cut some of the lower rigging
On Chesapeake
And as she surged ahead of Shannon
The loose spanker sail
And the slight delay in orders
That was caused by the elimination
Of most of the command crew
Saw the wind start to bring
Chesapeake slightly around to starboard
Which exposed her stern to Shannon
Who in turn bore to port
Very slightly
In order to take advantage
Of the situation
And let fly with another broadside
With the ships drawing further apart
The nine pounder crews
Chose this moment
To finally destroy
Chesapeake's wheel
Then either they
Or the general fire
Severed the tiller ropes
And cut down the last
Of the ship's quartermasters
It wasn't all one-sided
The amidships and aft guns of Chesapeake
Had been returning fire
And would continue to do so
As Shannon bore up again
Now firing more on the level
Men began to drop
All across Shannon's bow
A thirty-two pounder carronade ball
Scored a direct hit
On one of the troublesome nine pounders
Badly injuring the gun captain
And mortally wounding
Another one of the gun crew
Broke had just arrived
From further off
To order those two small guns
To switch targets
To Chesapeake's yards
In order to stop it escaping
Now out of control
Chesapeake continued
To swing gently into the wind
Losing way
And then beginning to drift back
Stern first towards Shannon
The British ship obliged
By systematically destroying
The aft section
Of the American gun batteries
And a box of cartridges
On Chesapeake's quarter deck
Exploded
Most survivors attested
That they were set off
By a hand grenade
And the only one
Throwing hand grenades
At the time on Shannon
Was broke
Who was hauling
His diminishing bucket
Of explosives around with him
As he continued
To give fine orders
He now meant
To stay close
And finish the fight
With close range gunnery
From a position of advantage
But as the ship made to do so
American fire
Shot away the lines
To the jib stay and fore sails
And the Shannon
Answered the helm sluggishly
The ships were now
On a collision course
And then suddenly came
To a relative halt
About halfway overlapped
With Shannon's fore quarter
And Chesapeake's aft quarter
Overlapping
As Shannon's starboard anchor
Had hooked into one of the
American ship's gun ports
Neither side was particularly keen
On the idea of boarding in general
Compared to gunnery and maneuver
With such elite crews
Boarding was much less predictable
In outcome
But both captains
As the ships bore onto it
Could see what was about to happen
And so they both called
For boarding parties to assemble
Demoralized by the hail of shot
And musketry
That was sweeping their decks
A good chunk of the crew
Who were left on Chesapeake's
Exposed upper decks
Fled below
Which caused a bit of a traffic jam
With the amid ship gunnery crews
The only body of men
Left on the ship
With any real numbers
Of unwounded men fit for action
Acting lieutenant William Cox
Led those answering the captain's call
Managing to reach Lawrence
Just in time for a Royal Marine
On Shannon's quarter deck
To spot Lawrence
And shoot the American captain
At close range
Hit a second time
This time in the abdomen
Lawrence must have realized
He was mortally wounded
Cox sent his men aft
For the British led by Broke
Had attained Chesapeake's quarter deck
And Cox took Lawrence below deck
As he left
Lawrence called out the now famous phrase
Don't give up the ship
Shannon's bosun
Went to tie the ships together
Only to lose his right arm
To either an American cutlass
Or gunfire
Accounts vary
But he apparently then
Killed his attacker
And completed the job one-handed
Before heading below for treatment
Up on the quarter deck
Only the ship's chaplain
Offered any resistance to the British
The men from the gun deck
Tried to make a final stand
Along with the remaining
Chesapeake Marines on the spar deck
But of the 44 Marines
Who started the battle
British gunnery had killed
Or wounded every single officer
Bar one corporal
And every other marine
Bar nine slightly dazed survivors
The US sailors in the fighting tops
Fired down into the British boarding party
Managing to kill and wound some of them
But were themselves
Soon cut down by their opposite numbers
Aboard the Shannon
Joined in by one of the nine-pounders
Which had swivelled around
Loaded with grape or canister shot
And elevated itself high enough
To clear out at least one of these positions
Chesapeake was swinging away
From the collision
And there was a brief hope
That the isolated British
Could be overwhelmed
But before the twisting of the ships
Could snap the lines
Holding them together
About 70 of Shannon's crew
Had made it over
An American counterattack
Was rapidly beaten back
With the British taking control
Of the spar deck
And the remaining resistance
Falling back to the foc'sle
With the boarders
Rapidly securing the hatches
And dispatching a few men
Who tried to climb up and out of them
To join the fight
It was less than two minutes
Since the boarding had begun
And about 12 minutes
Since the first shots were fired
It seemed that it was all over
There now comes a serious
And somewhat irreconcilable difference
Between British and American accounts
Of the action
According to the American version
Broke was leading the final attack
On the foc'sle
When he was wounded in the chest
By a cutlass
Having just parried a thrust from a pike
And killed its wielder
A gunner saw this
Killed the cutlass wielder in turn
Before the British pulled back
And then with a volley of gunfire
And a final coordinated charge
Wiped out the last resistance on the foc'sle
But according to the British version
The Americans in the foc'sle stood down
Seeing the odds stacked against them
And Broke interposed himself
Between the boarders and the boarded
To ensure that their surrender was honored
As everyone's blood was up at this point
At this stage
Three of the men who had surrendered
Snatched up their weapons again
And attacked Broke
Who in a similarity with the American account
Parried a pike thrust and killed its wielder
But then had his heavy leather top hat
Worn as a protection against debris
Knocked off by a musket
That was being wielded as a club
Before he was struck again in the head
By a man wielding a cutlass
The accounts come together again
To agree that a gunner then saved Broke
By cutting down the cutlass wielder
Seeing the surrender dishonored
The boarding party then finished off
The three in question
Who were later identified as men
Who deserted from the Royal Navy
And thus would likely have been executed
For desertion in the aftermath of the battle
In any case
Either way
Despite his ill fortune
Broke's luck almost immediately turned
As he collapsed into a heap of quicklime
Which was used as a disinfectant
On American ships
And had probably had its barrel smashed earlier
By a cannonball
A fine coating of the caustic substance
Probably saved Broke's life
As the head wound
Had gotten down to the brain cavity
But the quicklime
Would have wiped out any and all bacteria
Which sought to capitalize on the wound
Broke was helped understandably
To unsteady feet
And Chesapeake's colors were struck
A small blue ensign
For such was Shannon's affiliation
Within the Royal Navy squadrons
Was hoisted
But a final tragedy occurred
As one Lieutenant Watt
Who had brought a large white ensign with him
Made to hoist this instead
As he saw it as a far more fitting flag
Unfortunately
The two ships had at this stage drifted apart
And upon sight of someone
Hauling down the blue ensign
One of Shannon's gun crews
Thought that the Americans
Were retaking their ship
And opened fire
The deadly precision of the Shannon's crew
Working against them
As a hail of grapeshot
Immediately killed Watt
And either killed or wounded
Five other men in the boarding party
The blue ensign
Was rather quickly re-hoisted
To prevent further confusion
It was now five minutes
Since the boarding action had started
And only fifteen
Since the battle had begun
Broke, his work done
Allowed himself the luxury
Of passing out from blood loss
With every American officer
Dead or wounded below
The Chesapeake had been taken
But not formally surrendered
And there was discontent
From below the decks
The British solved that issue
By taking the ship's
Eighteen pounder bow gun
Double loading it with grapeshot
And then aiming it
Down the main hatchway
With a threat to discharge it
If there was any further
Attempt at resistance made
A boat from Shannon then arrived
With further Royal Marines
To help keep order
And the boat returned
Bearing Broke
Who was taken below
To have his wound dressed and cleaned
Which was about all the surgeons could do
Along with some of the
Identified ringleaders
Amongst the American crew
Who were also put below
Except as prisoners
Worried that so close to the U.S. coast
Other U.S. ships might come out
To try and recover the situation
Shannon's crew scrambled
To make good the damaged rigging
On both ships as fast as possible
With a mast secured
The two ships were slowly sailed
Towards Halifax
As further repairs were conducted
The bilges were pumped
And the dead were committed to the deep
Examination of the ships
Showed that Shannon had landed
About 130% more hits on Chesapeake
Than she had received in return
362 hits on the American ship
Compared to 158 on the British hull
Albeit a large number of these
On both sides were grapeshot
And of course hits that
Severed rigging, killed men, struck guns
Or entered gun ports
Or in some other way
Passed through the ship
With little remaining evidence
Of their passage
Could not be counted
Casualties amounted to around
147 or 148 for the Americans
And 83 or 84 for the British
Sources vary on the total
And also the nature of the casualties
With the two best sources
I could find
Stating that either
61 or 48 dead or mortally wounded
Were on Chesapeake
With another 85 or 99
Wounded but would live
Whilst crediting Shannon
As having suffered
33 or 26 dead or mortally wounded
With 50 or 58 others
Wounded but surviving
As Theodore Roosevelt
Would write
Almost a century later
It is thus seen
That the Shannon received
From shot alone
Only about half the damage
The Chesapeake did
The latter was thoroughly beaten
At the guns
In spite of what some
American authors say
To the contrary
And her victory
Was not in the slightest degree
To be attributed to
Though it may have been
Slightly hastened by
Accident
Training and discipline
Won the victory
As often before
Only in this instant
The training and discipline
Were against us
At daylight
On the 2nd
The two ships encountered
Two large warships
And Shannon's crew worried
That these might be
The USS President and Congress
But it turned out
They were actually
The 74-gun HMS Scepter
And the frigate HMS Loire
Fog then delayed entry
Into Halifax
And so
Coasting off the Canadian coast
On the 4th of June
Captain James Lawrence
Succumbed to his wounds
Chesapeake and Shannon
Finally entered the harbor
On the 6th
Broke's health
Was incredibly fragile
So much that
When the two ships arrived
Visitors were instructed
To tour Chesapeake
Lest the noise of their passage
Affect Broke
He seemed to live on
Through sheer force of will
The surgeons could do little
But redress the wound periodically
Through which they could see
Gently pulsing brain matter
He was soon moved ashore
To the Commissioner's house
On the 8th
Lawrence was laid to rest
With full military honors
In Halifax
A service attended by
Shannon's surviving officers
Minus Broke, of course
The local army garrison
And any American officers
From Chesapeake
Who were able to make it
Under their own power
However, Lawrence
Would not rest easy
Buried alongside
His executive officer
Who had been recovering
From wounds before
Suddenly dropping dead
On the 13th
Both men would be exhumed
A couple of months later
And reburied in Salem, Massachusetts
Then exhumed again
Shortly thereafter
And moved one final time
To New York
Where, thankfully
They had been allowed to rest since
Broke gradually fought his way back
To some semblance of health
He and his senior
Most surviving officers
Would be granted
A naval gold medal
The lieutenants would be
Promoted to commanders
And Broke was also made a Baron
And Knight Commander
Of the Order of the Bath
Alongside various other awards
Whilst he would manage to recover
To a fair degree
It was judged
His wounds ruled him out
Of further active duty
Although he barely resisted
The prospect in early 1814
Of taking command of a new
50-gun frigate
That had been built
Specifically to hunt down
The big American frigates themselves
Instead
He remained ashore
As a gunnery specialist
And would eventually reach
The rank of Rear Admiral of the Red
The senior most
Of the Rear Admiral positions
Prior to the abolition
Of the Royal Navy's
Colour squadrons
And would live
To the age of 64
Passing away
At the start of 1841
Of course
With this battle reversing
The previous trend
Of American victories
In frigate duels
Both sides
Sought to use propaganda
To either enhance
Or diminish the battle
According to
Who was on the winning or losing side
On the British side
That led to some
Painfully jingoistic speeches
And a bunch of overweening pride
Mostly from men
Who were almost certainly
Nowhere near the caliber
Of broke
Who'd actually won it
On the American side
A truly bizarre court martial
Took what was in fact
A noble defeat
That was nothing to be ashamed of
And promptly tried to trash
Anyone and anything
Associated with it
It was here
That various myths
Such as Chesapeake
Being unlucky or cursed
That Chesapeake
Had actually won the gunfight
Only to be disabled by accident
That Shannon was somehow larger
More heavily armed
Or more heavily manned
Or that the foreign and black
Crewmen were to blame
Or that poor Lieutenant Cox
Was at fault for taking Lawrence below
Somehow expecting him to realize
In the smoke and confusion
That every single officer above him
In rank had been killed or wounded
And various others like these
All ultimately began
With this inquiry
Fortunately for both sides though
Enough first-hand accounts
And records survived
To put together what
Actually happened that day
For the most part
Which is the account
That you've just heard
Both sides had gone in
With experienced captains
Well-trained crews
And good ships
Of about equal fighting power
What decided victory that day
Simply came down to choice of tactics
And as it so happened
Broke's tactics turned out to be
The almost perfect counter to Lawrence's
Such are the vagaries of war
But the men of both sides
Certainly earned the honor
Of doing their utmost
In a very well-fought battle
