USS Wasp 1814 (with plans)

[Niagara_1812]

Wasp was a ship-rigged sloop-of-war constructed in 1813 at Newburyport, Massachusetts, by Cross & Merrill. She was commissioned early in 1814, Master Commandant Johnston Blakeley in command. She remained at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, until late spring awaiting sailing orders and, upon receipt of them, put to sea on 1 May 1814 for a war cruise to the western approaches to the English Channel.

 

Here is a list of the ships captured by Wasp during her first raiding voyage in the English Channel.

June 2, 1814, Wasp captured her first vessel, the 207-ton barque Neptune. 

June 13, 1814, she took William, a 91-ton brig.

June 18, 1814, Wasp encountered the 131-ton armed brig Pallas without resistance.

June 23, 1814, 171-ton galiot Henrietta,  

June 26, 1814, Wasp captured the 325-ton ship Orange Boven.

June 28, 1814, Wasp engaged the 18-gun Cruizer class brig-sloop HMS Reindeer.

July 4, 1814, 112-ton brig Regulator  

July 6, 1814, 151-ton schooner Jenny 

 

Second raiding voyage 

August 30, 1814, she captured the brig Lettice

August 31, 1814, she captured Bon Accord.  

September 1, 1814, she captured the  brig Mary and the 18-gun, 391-ton brig HMS Avon.

September 12, 1814, she encountered Three Brothers, a brig,

September 14, 1814, she sank the brig Bacchus.

September 21, 1814, captured the  eight-gun brig, Atlanta  

 

Fate

Wasp was last seen by a Swedish merchantman bound from Rio de Janeiro to Falmouth, England, about three weeks after the Atalanta capture and was said to be headed for the Caribbean. Wasp probably foundered in a storm.

 

Specifications

Tonnage: 509

Length: 117 ft 0 in (35.66 m)

Beam: 31 ft 6 in (9.60 m)

Draft: 14 ft 6 in (4.42 m)

Complement: 173 officers and enlisted men

Armament: 2 x long 12-pounder guns + 20 x 32-pounder carronades

 

        

 

 

USS Wasp had a short but illustrious carer during the war of 1812, capturing 15 enemy ships. She would also be the basis for future American flush-decked sloop of war designs. She would be a nice ship to sail in Naval Action.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Vernon Merrill]

I've always loved the lines of the Wasp.  I picture the "Heavy Rattlesnake" as her "type"...

[LeBoiteux]

As USS Wasp is said to be based on French Corvette La bonne Citoyenne : 

 

 

La Bonne citoyenne

("The good female Citizen")

20-gun french Corvette, 1794

Captured by the Royal Navy in 1796

 

The Furieuse and The Bonne Citoyenne

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Bonne_Citoyenne_and_Furieuse.jpg

 

http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/83820.html

Characteristics

Length: 120 ft 1 in (36.6 m) (overall) ;106 ft 6 ¹⁄₄ in (32.5 m) (keel)

Beam: 30 ft 11 in (9.4 m)

Depth of hold: 8 ft 7 in (2.6 m)

 

Armament :

French service : 20 x 8 lb guns

British service : 18 x 6 lb guns + 2 x 32 lb carronades, then 2 x 9 lb chasers + 18 x 32lb carronades. 

 

Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Bonne_Citoyenne_(1796)

 
Bonne Citoyenne-class Corvettes : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonne_Citoyenne-class_corvette

- La Bonne citoyenne (1794)

- La Perçante (1795)

- La Vaillante (1796)

- La Gaité (1797)

[Talos]

Darn it, I was waiting to get back from vacation before I posted about these ships in the other thread. I'll just post it here instead.

 

Here are the plans for this class in higher resolution. They are the construction plan for the class (as represented by Wasp), Frolic as captured by the British, showing how they looked during the war (though that nearly straight head looks weird!), and Peacock as she existed in the 1820s when they scrapped her (note the poop deck and cabin). They went back and did a complete survey and took her lines off before they took her to pieces. I’m also throwing in her rebuild configuration from 1828, right at the end of NA. Note the round stern on her. This one was too extreme in hull to carry her rated armament, she sailed better later on as an exploration ship with a much lighter battery. The original Peacock, only survivor of her class, was named by Chapelle and others as the perfect long-range cruiser and raider of the time. Fast, stable, long range, good armament, and a sail rig that can handle damage much better than the brigs and schooners she normally went up against.

 

As before on the other thread, I’m attaching them here with larger copies (because the forum software shrinks it) in the Imgur link.

 

http://imgur.com/a/bu72L

 

 

I would also caution against listing Bonne Citoyenne as the direct inspiration for the ships. I've heard it before and I disagree. Great ship (I love her design) and certainly the source of the modern flush-decked 6th rate and ship-sloops in the Royal Navy (like the very short-lived USS Levant, with the Cyrus-class and Hermes based on her lines), but the Wasp-class is a progression of older flush-deck designs back through the previous wars, including the original Wasp. It’s a logical design progression that incorporated aspects of typical American sailing ships of the time, including the Baltimore Clippers.

[Ned Loe]

I love this ship and it's straight lines. Miniature consti

 

Capture of HMS Frolic