Name USS Growler Name HMS ShannonHMS Chub Length 20 m | Acquired Purchased, 1812 Acquired 3 June 1813 | |
Fate Captured by the British, 3 June 1813 Fate Re-captured by the Americans, 11 September 1814 | ||
USS Growler (1812-2), was a 112-ton sloop, armed with ten 18-pounders and one 6-pounder, during the War of 1812. Growler was purchased on Lake Champlain in 1812. The British captured her in 1813 and renamed her HMS Chub or Chubb. The Americans recaptured her at the Battle of Lake Champlain. She was sold in 1815.
Contents
American service and capture
Growler cruised under the command of Lieutenant Sidney Smith as part of Commodore Thomas Macdonough's squadron. Major George Taylor of the 100th Regiment captured Growler on 3 June 1813 on the Sorrell River near Ile aux Noix on the Canadian side of the lake and took her into the Royal Navy as HMS Shannon. They later renamed her HMS Chubb or Chub.
British service and recapture
Chub was under the command of Lieutenant James McGhie on 11 September 1814 at the Battle of Lake Champlain. McGhie was ordered to support HMS Linnet in her attack on the USS Eagle. Chub reached her station relatively unscathed and anchored. In the engagement Chub lost her main boom and bowsprit, and had her anchor cable severed. She drifted into the American line where she struck her colors to the USS Saratoga. She had lost six men killed and 16 wounded. At McGhie's court martial for the loss of his ship, the board severely reprimanded him for not coming into action properly and for failing to anchor properly.
Fate
After the Americans recaptured Chub/Growler she saw no further service. The Americans sold her at Whitehall, New York, in July 1815.