In 1808, the British learned that the United States was constructing the brig at
Oswego, New York. Their response was to order the construction of a warship that could match the capabilities of the American ship. The vessel's
keel was
laid down at the
Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard in
Kingston, Upper Canada in February 1809 and
launched in July 1809.
Royal George remained in a non-commissioned state until 1811 after the American
embargo on Great Britain was lifted. The vessel entered service only after the Americans began to ready themselves for war. In 1811, the Provincial Marine underwent a review by Major General
Isaac Brock and command of the force was given to Lieutenant Hugh Earl, who was promoted to Master and Commander of
Royal George, now the
flagship of the Provincial Marine. The
War of 1812 began in July of that year and at the outset of the war, the British fleet on
Lake Ontario was more powerful than their American foe. On 19 July,
Royal George,
Earl of Moira, and and a fifth unnamed ship, appeared off
Sackett's Harbor, New York intent on battling with
Oneida. At 06:00
Oneida sailed out intending to separate the British fleet into groups, but the British kept together and
Oneida returned to port. There it anchored near the naval yard.
Royal George,
Moira and
Prince Regent then sailed into the bay. The wind faltered during the British fleet's approach, allowing time for the carronades aboard
Oneida to be carried ashore and mounted in the fortifications. As the British approached, the Americans began firing, claiming to have hulled
Royal George several times. The British broke off their attack and retreated from the
First Battle of Sacket's Harbor. For the rest of the summer and autumn of 1812,
Royal George would primarily be used as a transport service for men and ammunition for the
British Army. On 1 October, Earl in
Royal George anchored off the
Genesee River and sent an armed party ashore to
Charlotte, New York. The 80 armed men seized the dismantled
sloop Lady Murray and a revenue
cutter. Departing that day, they returned on 2 October to demand the rigging and
masts for the sloop. At the time of the raid,
Royal George was crewed by fifty members of the Provincial Marine with 64 members of the
Royal Newfoundland Regiment augmenting them. This was the only success during the
Engagements on Lake Ontario that took place while the British fleet was under the sole command of the Provincial Marine.
Flight of Royal George In November 1812,
Royal George was the largest warship on the lake, operating under the command of Hugh Earl (or "Earle"). On 9 November 1812, an American fleet of seven vessels under the command of Commodore
Isaac Chauncey surprised
Royal George as the sloop passed near the
Bay of Quinte on Lake Ontario.
Royal George eluded the American vessels by slipping into the North Channel between
Amherst Island and the mainland as night fell, making her way into the safety of her home harbour at Kingston by 02:00. The following morning, 10 November, the American fleet resumed the pursuit, burning a small commercial vessel near
Bath and proceeding along the shore. As they approached Kingston,
they came under fire from shore batteries. Chauncey directed his vessel,
Oneida and the rest of the American squadron to bombard and attempt to seize
Royal George within Kingston's harbour. Artillery fire from the shore batteries along the shoreline, including two batteries on Point Henry, attempted to prevent them from closing on the British vessel.
Round shot from the American vessels penetrated into the town but they were unable to capture
Royal George, which had retreated further into the harbour around 16:00. At the end of the day, they anchored out of sight of Kingston, intending to resume their attack the next day. However, an approaching storm caused Chauncey to withdraw to the American base at
Sacketts Harbor without seizing their prize. One sailor was killed aboard
Royal George, but little damage had been done to the ship beyond torn up rigging. This would be the only American attack on Kingston during the War of 1812 as more personnel were sent to this important military and naval centre and strong fortifications were built on Point Henry to defend the dockyards. It was the only time that shots were fired from Point Henry in its history.
Arrival of Commodore Yeo During the winter of 1812–1813, the condition of
Royal George deteriorated and during an inspection, the vessel was found to be "filthy and disorganized." In November Chauncey ordered the blockade of Kingston by
gunboats which prevented
Royal George and the rest of the British squadron from resupplying garrisons on the
Niagara Peninsula. In May 1813,
Commander Robert Barclay arrived to take command of the Lake Ontario squadron, replacing Earl who was made supervisor of the naval arsenal. Barclay's posting was temporary as
Captain Sir
James Lucas Yeo had been named to take command of the naval forces on the Great Lakes, and given the flag rank of commodore. Yeo arrived at Kingston on 16 May 1813, with Barclay departing to command the squadron on
Lake Erie. The commands of the ships were shuffled, and Commander William Mulcaster was given command of
Royal George, which was now manned by mostly Royal Navy personnel. The remaining Provincial Marine personnel were scattered throughout the squadron. On 27 May,
Royal George was part of the squadron that set out to
attack Sacketts Harbor with elements of British infantry. The squadron arrived on 28 May and promptly captured 115 American troops transiting the lake. Though
Royal George did not directly participate in the following battle, the British managed to succeed in half of their objectives, destroying the American shipyard. Following this, the British withdrew into the lake. On 3 June, the squadron departed Kingston to resupply General
John Vincent's forces in the
Burlington Heights area. After anchoring overnight at
York, Upper Canada, Yeo's force spotted a large American encampment near Forty Mile Creek. Yeo then ordered
Beresford and
Royal George to
bombard the camp while the rest of the squadron resupplied Vincent. Confronted by Vincent's advancing force and Yeo's bombarding ships, the Americans withdrew quickly to
Fort George. The squadron remained off Forty Mile Creek until 11 June and then set sail along the southern shore of Lake Ontario, trading fire with the fortifications at
Fort Oswego and raiding
Sodus. The squadron returned to Kingston on 26 June, transporting some of the Americans captured at the
Battle of Beaver Dams. The squadron returned to Lake Ontario on 31 July. On 6 August,
Royal Georges main powder
magazine was flooded after the vessel sprang a leak. The sloop's store of powder was ruined and was only replenished from the other vessels of the squadron. However, the location of the leak was not found, with the pumps manned at all hours. The American squadron was spotted off Niagara River on 7 August at 04:30. Sailing southwest, the firing began at 07:30, but Chauncey turned east to keep his squadron under the protection of American shore batteries. In response, Yeo turned north, ending the engagement. On 10 August, the two squadrons came together again and
Royal George, along with and , forced the surrender of two American
schooners, and . Following the engagement, the British squadron anchored at York on 11 August. There,
Royal Georges leak was found and repaired. The squadron departed on 13 August for
Fort Niagara before heading for Kingston, arriving on 19 August. On 24 August, Yeo's squadron sailed again. They met the American squadron off the
Genesee River on 11 September. Firing began at 14:30.
Royal George and
Lord Melville were the two British ships closest to the American battle line and suffered torn sails and rigging. Between the two vessels, they endured four killed and five wounded. At 16:00 the British retreated.
Royal George was tasked with taking the schooner
Hamilton under tow as
Hamilton could not keep up with the rest of the squadron. The British returned to Kingston on 12 September. During the dockside period,
Royal George received its circle-mounted 24-pounder long gun. Yeo and his squadron departed Kingston on 19 September, anchoring in Burlington Bay on 26 September. In what would become known as the "Burlington Races", Yeo engaged the Americans on 28 September. Trading shots with the American vessel , the British squadron's flagship
Wolfe was crippled when the vessel's main topmast was brought down. Mulcaster placed
Royal George between the two vessels, allowing
Wolfe time to fix the problem.
Royal George exchanged broadsides with
General Pike, later joined by
Lord Melville and
Earl of Moira, forcing
General Pike to turn away. Unable to fight aboard
Wolfe, Yeo retreated to his anchorage in Burlington Bay, followed by the rest of the squadron. Once there,
Royal George lost its foretopmast as it came into the anchorage. Once repairs were complete, the squadron sailed to confer with the British land forces commander, Major General
Francis de Rottenburg at Four Mile Creek before returning to Kingston on 7 October. On 28 September, William Mulcaster was promoted to
post captain and was awarded command of , under construction at Kingston.
Royal George made one last patrol on 3 December before being laid up for the winter, during which the vessel was
careened.
As Niagara and fate , Lake Ontario,
Niagara is second from right in the picture.
Royal George was renamed
Niagara on 22 January 1814. The vessel was reclassified from a sloop to a
sixth rate and Captain Stephen Popham was awarded command. Once the Great Lakes became clear for navigation, Yeo intended to attack Fort Oswego. The squadron departed on 4 May with 400
Royal Marines and 550 soldiers embarked. They arrived on 5 May and during the night,
Niagara and
Montreal (the ex-
Wolfe) slipped closer to shore, closing within . At 06:00 on 6 May, the two vessels opened fire attempting to enfilade the shore batteries.
Niagara moved even closer to nearly within
musket range and began trading fire directly with the fort.
Niagara caught fire three times in the exchange. In the end, the British captured the fort and settlement, carrying away its supplies. The force returned to Kingston on 8 May. The squadron sailed again on 11 May along the south shore of the lake. On 19 May, the squadron imposed a blockade on Sackett's Harbor. Captain Popham was given command of two gunboats and ordered to intercept a flotilla of boats on 29 May. At Sandy Creek, Popham and nearly his entire command was either killed or captured by the Americans the next day.
Niagara was manned only by a skeleton crew and to fill out the ship's company, personnel were shifted from
HMS Magnet and . The blockade was lifted on 5 June and the squadron anchored in the Bay of Quinte. Captain Henry Davies was then given command of
Niagara. The squadron returned to Kingston on 13 June and
Niagara remained alongside for the better part of the summer. Following the launch of on 10 September, in the resulting command shuffle, Captain Edward Collier was given command of
Niagara with Captain Davies being given command of .
St Lawrence,
Prince Regent, ,
Montreal and
Niagara sailed from Kingston on 16 October and returned on 24 October. Upon the arrival of
St Lawrence on Lake Ontario, the American squadron retired to Sackett's Harbor and did not venture forth again for the remainder of the war. Collier was then ordered to set up a
naval base near
Penetanguishene, Upper Canada.
Niagara departed Kingston on 28 November carrying twenty of
Princess Charlottes long guns to be used on ships constructed in the new base.
Niagara arrived at York, where the supplies and guns were unloaded to be carried overland to the new base. On 24 December 1814, the
Treaty of Ghent was signed, ending the War of 1812. Following the war, the vessel was used as a transport ship and was sold in 1837.
Historical reenactment From 30 June to 1 July 2012, a 3-day
reenactment of the flight of
Royal George was performed from Bath, Ontario to Kingston in recognition of the Bicentennial of the War of 1812. ==See also==