Name Essex Junior Captured 12 January 1814 Tons burthen 355 (bm) | Namesake USS Essex Fate sold on 26 August 1814 | |
Acquired 29 April 1813 by capture | ||
The sloop Essex Junior, formerly the British whaler Atlantic, Captain Obadiah (or Obed) Wier (or Wyer, of Nantucket), was captured by the frigate Essex, Captain David Porter, off the Galapagos Islands on 29 April 1813. Porter took Atlantic to use as a tender, named her Essex Junior, and placed her under the command of Commander John Downes. The British recaptured her on 28 March 1814 when they captured Essex. They then sent Essex Junior to New York as a cartel.
Contents
Atlantic
From 1804 to August 1806 Obadiah Web had sailed the whaler Fame to the Pacific, returning to Nantucket with 1000 barrels of sperm oil. On this voyage, Atlantic had left Nantucket earlier in 1813.
Atlantic was already pierced for 20 guns though only mounting six, so Porter augmented her existing armament with 6-pounder guns and additional 18-pounder carronades. He also put on board a crew of 60 officers and men.
Encounter with the Royal Navy
After cruising in the waters off the western coast of South America Essex Junior accompanied Essex to the island of Nuka Hiva in the Marquesas Group where repairs were made. Essex Junior returned with Porter in Essex, leaving on 12 December and reaching the coast of Chile on 12 January 1814.
On 8 February 1814 HMS Phoebe and HMS Cherub arrived at Valparaíso, a neutral port, where Essex and her prizes were anchored. Having trapped Essex in the harbour, the British waited six weeks for her to come out and thwarted all her efforts to escape. Eventually, on 28 March, Porter attempted to break out of the harbour. A squall took off his main topmast and he attempted to return to harbour but Phoebe and Cherub drove Essex into a nearby bay and defeated her in a short engagement. Phoebe and Cherub also captured Essex Junior.
In the engagement, Phoebe had four men killed, including her first lieutenant, and seven men wounded. Cherub had one killed and three wounded, including her captain. The British reported that Essex had 24 killed and 45 wounded, though the Americans reported higher casualties. Lieutenant Pearson of Phoebe commanded the prize crew that sailed Essex back to Britain, where he was promoted to Commander.
Her captors used Essex Junior as a cartel to transport their prisoners of war to New York. Just outside New York, a British warship detained them overnight. Porter took the view that the detention abrogated the cartel he had signed with Hillyer of Phoebe, and contrived to escape on shore. The British released Essex Junior, and she sailed into harbour, past various forts that mistook her for an enemy ship and fired on her, without effect.
When she arrived at New York in July 1814, the marshal of the district seized her. She was condemned, and sold for US$25,000 on 26 August.