HMS ''Sir Isaac Brock'' was a warship which was destroyed before being completed at
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
,
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of th ...
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 bega ...
. The ship was named after the famed hero of the war, Major General Sir
Isaac Brock
Major-General Sir Isaac Brock KB (6 October 1769 – 13 October 1812) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Guernsey. Brock was assigned to Lower Canada in 1802. Despite facing desertions and near-mutinies, he c ...
.
History
At the end of 1812, the British learned that the Americans were building warships at
Sackett's Harbor, New York
Sackets Harbor (earlier spelled Sacketts Harbor) is a village in Jefferson County, New York, United States, on Lake Ontario. The population was 1,450 at the 2010 census. The village was named after land developer and owner Augustus Sackett, who ...
, and
laid down
Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship.
Keel laying is one o ...
two
sloops of war in response. Construction of ''Sir Isaac Brock'' began at York.
The new ship was a
sister ship to , which was constructed at
Kingston. Although construction on both ships began around the same time, as the end of April 1813 approached, ''Wolfe'' was very nearly ready to be
launched while ''Sir Isaac Brock'' was still many weeks away from being complete. She had been partially planked on her starboard side but was not even close to that far along on her port side. Most of the responsibility for the delay in readiness could be laid on the shoulders of shipyard Superintendent,
Thomas Plucknett.
The ship had a registered weight of 637 tons, and was rated as having 24 guns. In fact, the rating system often omitted
carronades, and ''Sir Isaac Brock'' would have had 30 guns or even more in service. (''Wolfe'' was completed with a medley of whatever guns were available).
Late in the afternoon 26 April 1813, the American flotilla was sighted off York, with a strong embarked force of infantry and artillerymen. The next day, the
Battle of York was fought. The outnumbered British regulars and militia were forced to fall back. The
Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada
The following is a list of lieutenant governors of Ontario and the lieutenant governors of the former colony of Upper Canada. The office of Lieutenant Governor of Ontario was created in 1867, when the Province of Ontario was created upon Confed ...
, Major General
Roger Hale Sheaffe, ordered his regulars to retreat to Kingston, but also dispatched Captain Francis Tito LeLièvre (1794-1830) of the
Royal Newfoundland Regiment
The Royal Newfoundland Regiment (R NFLD R) is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. It is part of the 5th Canadian Division's 37 Canadian Brigade Group.
Predecessor units trace their origins to 1795, and since 1949 Royal New ...
to set fire to ''Sir Isaac Brock'' to prevent her falling intact into enemy hands. LeLièvre may have been assisted in this task by Thomas Plucknett,
[Malcomson, ''Capital in Flames'', p. 225] as shipyard superintendent was the man most responsible for ''Sir Isaac Brock'' being in her partially built condition.
The Americans were enraged to find that the ship had apparently been set ablaze while negotiations for surrender with the local militia were still taking place. When eventually, a surrender was arranged, ''Sir Isaac Brock'' had been reduced to charred timbers.
See also
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Engagements on Lake Ontario
Notes
References
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External links
List of Vessels Employed on British Naval Service on the Great Lakes, 1755-1875*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sir Isaac Brock, HMS
War of 1812 ships of the United Kingdom
Great Lakes ships
War of 1812 ships of Canada
Ships built in Ontario
Provincial Marine
Maritime incidents in 1813