| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
| Career | |
|---|---|
| Launched: | 2 December 1799 |
| Commissioned: | 1800 |
| Fate: | Captured by British, 1 June 1813 |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1,244 tons (1129 t) |
| Length: | 152.7 ft (46.5 m) |
| Beam: | 41.3 ft (12.6 m) |
| Depth: | 20 ft (6.1 m) |
| Complement: | 340 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: | 30 × 18-pounders 12 × 32-pounder carronades |
The USS Chesapeake was a 36-gun sailing frigate of the United States Navy during the Quasi-War with France and the War of 1812.
She was launched 2 December 1799 by Gosport Navy Yard and commissioned early in the following year, Captain James Barron in command.
Chesapeake sailed from Norfolk, Virginia 6 June 1800 to join the squadron patrolling off the southern coast of the United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in and in the West Indies during the Quasi-War with France. During this cruise, she took as prize the French privateerA privateer is a private ship (or its captain) authorized by a country's government to attack and seize cargo from another country's ships. Prior to the development of international law among European nations, there was no legal recourse for minor grievan La Jeune Creole on 1 January 1801. One of the handful of ships retained in the Navy at the close of the war, Chesapeake was in ordinary at Norfolk during most of 1801, then was readied for her departure from Hampton Roads on 27 April 1802, bound for the Mediterranean as flagship for Commodore Richard V. Morris . Here she led in the Blockade of Tripoli and convoyed American merchantmen until 6 April 1803, when she departed Gibraltar for America. Arriving at Washington Navy Yard 1 June, Chesapeake was placed in ordinary.
main article Chesapeake Leopard Affair
As tension mounted over violations of American neutrality and the practice of impressment of American seamen by the British, Chesapeake was prepared for patrol and convoy duty, and late in June 1807 stood out of Hampton Roads, passing a British squadron operating in the area to intercept French ships then at Annapolis. One of the squadron, HMS Leopard followed Chesapeake to sea, and on 22 June, when Chesapeake's captain refused to allow a search for British deserters, Leopard fired on the Chesapeake, killing three men, wounding 18 (including the captain) and damaging the ship severely, before proceeding to carry off four men. The frigate returned to Norfolk for repairs, and then with Captain Stephen Decatur in command, cruised off the New England coast enforcing the embargo laws.