HMS Prince Regent (1814) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids History |
|
|---|---|
 United Kingdom |
|
| Name | Prince Regent |
| Builder | Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard, Kingston |
| Launched | 14 April 1814 |
| Renamed | Kingston on 9 December 1814 |
| Fate | Ordered to be sold in January 1832 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Fourth-rate frigate |
| Tons burthen | 1,293 50⁄94 bm |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 43 ft 1 in (13.1 m) |
| Draught | 17 ft 0 in (5.2 m) |
| Depth of hold | 9 ft 2 in (2.8 m) |
| Propulsion | Sails |
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
| Complement | 280 |
| Armament |
|
HMS Prince Regent was a powerful British warship that sailed on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812. This ship was built in Kingston, Upper Canada, and was launched on April 14, 1814. It was known as a fourth-rate frigate, which means it was a medium-sized warship with many guns. The Prince Regent played a part in the Raid on Fort Oswego in 1814. After the war, on December 9, 1814, its name was changed to HMS Kingston. In 1817, the ship was put into storage because of the Rush-Bagot Treaty. This treaty helped to remove warships from the lakes along the United States-Canada border. The ship was ordered to be sold in 1832, but no one bought it. It later sank in Deadman Bay near Kingston.
What Was the Prince Regent Like?
The Prince Regent was a fourth-rate frigate, a type of warship used by the Royal Navy. It weighed about 1,293 tons burthen, which is a way to measure a ship's size. The ship was about 155 feet (47.5 meters) long from front to back. It was also about 43 feet (13.1 meters) wide. The deepest part of the ship, called the draught, was about 17 feet (5.2 meters) underwater.
The Prince Regent was a full-rigged ship, meaning it had three masts with square sails. When it was first launched, it had many guns. On its lower deck, it carried 28 large long guns that fired 24-pound cannonballs. On the upper deck, it had four very powerful carronades that fired 68-pound cannonballs, plus 24 smaller 32-pound long guns. By 1830, the ship's weapons were changed a bit. It then had 30 long guns on the lower deck, and on the upper deck, it had two 24-pound long guns, six 68-pound carronades, and twenty-two 32-pound carronades. The ship needed a crew of 280 sailors to operate it.
The Ship's Adventures
In September 1813, the British leader in North America, Sir George Prevost, decided to build more ships. This was because the Americans were building new warships. Work on the Prince Regent began in October 1813 at the Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard in Kingston, Upper Canada. Building the ship was a big job, and there were sometimes delays because of a lack of workers or materials. The Prince Regent was finally launched on April 14, 1814.
.jpg)
The Prince Regent became the main ship, or flagship, for Commodore Sir James Lucas Yeo's British squadron on Lake Ontario. A squadron is a group of warships. On May 4, the squadron left Kingston with soldiers and Royal Marines to attack Fort Oswego. They arrived on May 5, and the attack began the next morning. The British captured the town and the fort, taking many supplies before returning to Kingston.
On May 11, the squadron sailed again, this time along the southern shore of Lake Ontario. On May 19, Yeo started a naval blockade of Sackett's Harbor. This trapped the American squadron inside their main naval base. The Prince Regent was part of this blockade. However, a British force was defeated at Sandy Creek on May 29. This made the British squadron much weaker. Yeo ended the blockade on June 5 and went back to Kingston. After this, the Prince Regent mostly stayed in Kingston's harbor for the rest of the summer.
Later, a very large warship called St Lawrence arrived on Lake Ontario. This new ship became the flagship. On October 16, the squadron sailed again, carrying more soldiers to Niagara. On October 19, the Prince Regent was hit by lightning during its journey. The next day, the ships arrived and the soldiers got off. Because of the powerful St Lawrence, the American squadron stayed hidden in Sackett's Harbor for the rest of the war. On November 1, the Prince Regent helped escort a convoy of ships carrying more soldiers to Fort George. A convoy is a group of ships traveling together for protection. The ship then went to York, Upper Canada to pick up troops returning to Kingston.
After the war, on December 9, 1814, the frigate was renamed Kingston. In 1817, the Kingston was put out of service because of the Rush-Bagot Treaty. This treaty helped to remove warships from the Great Lakes. The ship was ordered to be sold in January 1832. But no one wanted to buy it, and it eventually sank in Deadman Bay in the mid-1830s. The place where the Kingston sank, along with the wrecks of St Lawrence and Princess Charlotte, was named a National Historic Site of Canada in 2015.
See also
