USS ''Scorpion'' was a

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoo ...

of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It ...

. She was the second USN ship to be named for the scorpion. The British captured her on 6 September 1814 and took her into service as HMS ''Confiance''. She was placed in

Ordinary Ordinary or The Ordinary often refer to: Music * ''Ordinary'' (EP) (2015), by South Korean group Beast * ''Ordinary'' (Every Little Thing album) (2011) * "Ordinary" (Two Door Cinema Club song) (2016) * "Ordinary" (Wayne Brady song) (2008) * ...

in 1817 and broken up in 1831.

Career

''Scorpion'' was launched in the spring of 1813 at Presque Isle (now

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 ...

), probably by Noah Brown of New York, for service on the upper

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five la ...

during the

. ''Scorpion'', commanded by Sailing Master

Stephen Champlin Stephen Champlin (17 November 1789 – 20 February 1870) was an officer in the United States Navy during the War of 1812. Born in Kingston, Rhode Island, Champlin entered the Navy as a sailing master 22 May 1812. He commanded the schooner in her ...

, first cousin to Oliver Hazard Perry, operated with Commodore Perry's squadron on

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...

during the summer and fall of 1813. On 10 September 1813, she participated in the battle off Put-in-Bay, Lake Erie, which resulted in the defeat and capture of the British fleet (see

Battle of Lake Erie The Battle of Lake Erie, sometimes called the Battle of Put-in-Bay, was fought on 10 September 1813, on Lake Erie off the shore of Ohio during the War of 1812. Nine vessels of the United States Navy defeated and captured six vessels of the B ...

). ''Scorpion'' had the distinction of firing the first and last shot in the battle in which she lost two men. At the close of the action, she and pursued and captured the fleeing British schooners and . After Perry's victory, ''Scorpion'' assisted General

William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was an American military officer and politician who served as the ninth president of the United States. Harrison died just 31 days after his inauguration in 1841, and had the shortest pres ...

's forces operating in the Thames River area, by transporting troops as well as stores and ammunition captured from the enemy. During the winter of 1813 and 1814, she was laid up at Erie, Pennsylvania. From May 1814 to September 1814, ''Scorpion'' cruised on Lake Erie and

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Straits of Ma ...

, cooperating with the army in the Detroit area by transporting troops, staking out the flats through the St. Clair River, and blockading the enemy at the Nottawasaga River and Lake Simcoe.

Capture and fate

On 6 September 1814, while on blockade duty on Lake Huron, ''Scorpion'', under command of Daniel Turner, was surprised and captured by the former American schooner, , which also had been taken by the British a few days earlier. Both vessels and prisoners were taken to Fort Mackinac. ''Scorpion'' was subsequently taken into the British Navy as the four-gun schooner ''Confiance'', which along with ''Tigress'', according to local legend, was later sunk in Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, off Penetanguishene, Ontario. In fact both vessels were laid up and dismantled at Colborne Basin, Ontario.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scorpion (1813) Schooners of the United States Navy War of 1812 ships of the United States Great Lakes ships War of 1812 ships of the United Kingdom Ships built in Erie, Pennsylvania Vessels captured from the United States Navy 1813 ships