HMS General Hunter facts for kids
Quick facts for kids History |
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 United Kingdom |
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| Name | HMS General Hunter |
| Ordered | 1806 |
| Builder | Amherstburg Royal Naval Dockyard, Upper Canada |
| Laid down | 1806 |
| Launched | 1807 |
| Captured | By U.S. Navy 10 September 1813 |
 United States |
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| Name | U.S. Army Transport Hunter |
| Acquired | 10 September 1813 |
| Fate | Forced ashore in a violent gale on 19 August 1816 |
| Notes | Hull still buried under the sand of Southampton beach in Ontario. Fully excavated in 2004 with all artifacts - and ship replica - now on display in the Bruce County Museum and Cultural Centre, Southampton, Ontario |
| General characteristics as brig | |
| Type | 10-gun brig |
| Tons burthen | 93 tons |
| Length | 54 ft (16 m) |
| Beam | 18 ft (5 m) |
| Draught | 8 ft 6 in (2.6 m) |
| Depth of hold | 8 ft (2 m) |
| Propulsion | Sail |
| Sail plan | Brig-rigged on two masts |
| Complement | 28 |
| Armament |
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The HMS General Hunter was a small but important ship during the War of 1812. It started as a 10-gun brig for the Upper Canada Provincial Marine. Later, in 1813, it joined the Royal Navy fleet on Lake Erie.
This ship was built in 1806 to replace another vessel called Hope, which had gotten stuck in the mud. General Hunter was launched in 1807 and began its service. When the War of 1812 began, it was changed from a schooner to a brig and got new weapons.
General Hunter was part of the British fleet that fought in the Battle of Lake Erie. In this battle, the United States Navy won, taking control of the lake. General Hunter was captured by the Americans and then used by them as a transport ship. After the war, it was sold and later wrecked in a storm on Lake Huron in 1816. Its remains were found and studied by archaeologists in 2004.
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Building the General Hunter
In 1805, a ship named Hope was damaged. To replace it, a new ship was ordered in 1806. This new ship, General Hunter, was built at the Amherstburg Royal Naval Dockyard in Amherstburg, Upper Canada.
It was launched in 1807. The ship weighed about 93 tons burthen. It was about 54 feet (16 m) long and 18 feet (5 m) wide. Its draught (how deep it sat in the water) was about 8 feet 6 inches (3 m).
Life of the Ship: Service History
When General Hunter was first launched, it didn't have any weapons. Eight carronades (a type of short cannon) were planned for it and another ship. For its first six years, it patrolled and carried supplies on the Great Lakes for the Provincial Marine.
In 1810, General Hunter helped move cedar wood from Pelee Island. This wood was used to build a new ship called Queen Charlotte. After Queen Charlotte was built, General Hunter became the only Provincial Marine ship that could sail on Lake Huron.
The War of 1812 Begins
When the War of 1812 started, General Hunter was commanded by Lieutenant Frédérick Rolette. On July 3, 1812, his crew captured an American ship called Cuyahoga Packet. This ship was carrying important papers belonging to an American general. The Americans didn't even know the war had started! This capture was one of the first big actions of the war.
General Hunter also helped attack and capture Detroit on August 16, 1812. It fired its guns at the American defenses.
In 1813, General Hunter was changed into a brig. It received 10 new guns: two 6-pounder, four 4-pounder, and two 2-pounder long guns, plus two 12-pounder carronades. Commander Robert Heriot Barclay took charge of the British fleet on Lake Erie in June 1813. He thought General Hunter was "miserably small." Most of its crew of 30 were soldiers, not sailors.
The Battle of Lake Erie
At this time, the Americans were building bigger, stronger ships at Erie. They wanted to take control of Lake Erie. Barclay wanted to attack Erie and burn these new ships before they were ready. But the army wouldn't give him enough soldiers. So, Barclay decided to blockade Erie instead, hoping to stop the ships from leaving.
On July 30, 1813, Barclay's fleet left the blockade to get supplies. While they were gone, the American commander Oliver Hazard Perry launched his new ships. When Barclay returned, he saw the powerful American ships. His fleet went back to Amherstburg to wait for their own new ship, Detroit, to be finished.
By the end of July, Perry started his own blockade. This stopped supplies from reaching the British at Amherstburg. It also prevented guns from reaching Detroit. Once Detroit was ready, Barclay had to move guns from his other ships to arm it. On September 9, 1813, with Detroit now part of the fleet, Barclay sailed out to break the American blockade.
General Hunter had a crew of 45 and was third in Barclay's battle line. It was behind Detroit and in front of Queen Charlotte. The ship, now led by Lieutenant George Bignell, fought in the Battle of Lake Erie on September 10. During the battle, the American ship USS Caledonia fired heavily at General Hunter. The British ship couldn't fight back very well.
After two other British ships surrendered, General Hunter and the other smaller ships also gave up.
After the War: A New Life and a Wreck
After the war, General Hunter was sold to a private owner in the United States. Then, the United States Army bought it to use as a supply ship on the Great Lakes. Its name was shortened to Hunter.
In August 1816, while sailing on Lake Huron, Hunter was caught in a big storm. The crew had to force the ship onto the beach on the Canadian side of the lake, near what is now Southampton, Ontario. The captain, seven crew members, and two young passengers all made it safely to shore.
Finding the Shipwreck
After the wreck, American Army ships quietly came and took what they could from the ship. The rest of the hull was burned and left behind. Over time, it got buried under the sand.
In 2001, parts of the ship's frame started to show through the sand on Southampton Beach. This led to archaeological digs. In 2004, a full excavation inside the hull found hundreds of artifacts. These items, along with a three-quarter-size model of General Hunter's deck, are now on display. You can see them at the Bruce County Museum and Cultural Centre in Southampton, Ontario.
