Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard |
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| Kingston, Ontario | |
Naval shipyard, Point Frederick, July 1815. Watercolour by Emeric Essex Vidal. Commodore's house and two ships under construction, the Canada and the Wolfe, can be seen in the background
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| Coordinates | 44°13′44″N 76°28′07″W / 44.22889°N 76.46861°W |
| Type | Shipyard, dockyard |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | Royal Navy |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1788 |
| In use | 1788–1853 |
| Battles/wars | Active during the War of 1812 |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | Royal Navy base for Lake Ontario |
| Official name: Kingston Navy Yard National Historic Site of Canada | |
| Designated: | 1928 |
The Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard was an important naval base in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. It was used by the Royal Navy from 1788 to 1853. Today, the Royal Military College of Canada stands on the same spot.
Contents
The British had naval forces on the Great Lakes called the Provincial Marine. They were similar to the Royal Navy but had some differences. The army controlled the Provincial Marine. Its members included sailors from the navy, soldiers, and local Great Lakes sailors. They used lightly armed ships called topsail schooners for transport.
In 1783, a government dock was built on the eastern side of Lake Ontario. Major John Ross oversaw this project. He was in charge of settling Loyalists in Cataraqui, which is now Kingston.
By 1785, government supplies were moved through Cataraqui instead of Carleton Island. Merchants who handled these supplies built docks and warehouses. These were located near the old Fort Frontenac.
Point Frederick became a naval supply center in 1789. This is where ships began to be built. From 1789 to 1813, Point Frederick was the main base for the British navy on Lake Ontario. It was also the headquarters for the top naval officer on all the Great Lakes.
By 1792, the army's transport department built schooners for the Provincial Marine at Point Frederick. As relations with the United States worsened, a powerful warship was needed. So, HMS Royal George, a three-masted ship, was built in 1809. It was launched in Navy Bay for fighting on the lakes.
Commodore Hugh Earle commanded the Provincial Marine. He led the Royal George in attacks on the American dockyard at Sackets Harbor in 1812. He also defended the ship from American gunboats near Kingston.
The Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard was the only Royal Navy base on Lake Ontario. It was a key location during the War of 1812. It stood against the American naval base at nearby Sackets Harbor, New York.
The Dockyard During the War of 1812
During the war, British naval actions on Lake Ontario focused on Point Frederick. This spot is where the St. Lawrence and Cataraqui Rivers meet Lake Ontario. In 1812, the Provincial Marine had only four ships with 20 guns.
In May 1813, the Royal Navy took over under Commodore Sir James Lucas Yeo. The dockyard quickly grew. By late 1814, Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard had the largest naval fleet on the Great Lakes. It had 1,600 personnel and many ships, totaling 518 guns.
Attacks were launched from the dockyard on American bases. These included Sackets Harbor and Oswego. In November 1812, American ships chased HMS Royal George into Kingston harbour. Shore batteries helped defend the ship.
Commodore Sir James Lucas Yeo led the Royal Navy's operations on the Great Lakes from May 1813. Kingston became his main headquarters. Yeo and the American commander, Chauncey, tried to build more ships than each other. They avoided battles unless they had a clear advantage.
Yeo captured Oswego and then blocked Sackets Harbor in May 1814. He was joined by two new frigates built at Point Frederick. Before the war ended, Yeo had launched the 112-gun St. Lawrence. This was a huge, three-deck warship. Two more were being built.
After the Rush–Bagot Treaty of 1817, the dockyard's role changed. It mainly transported troops and supplies to distant posts. A stone building from around 1813 was a naval hospital. It is now known as the ordnance storekeeper's quarters.
A blacksmith shop was built in the dockyard in 1823. Today, the Royal Military College of Canada uses it. Half of the Royal Artificer's cottages, built in 1822, were destroyed by fire in the 1880s.
The War of 1812 was known as the "shipbuilders' war." Ships were built at Point Frederick by Captain Richard O'Conor and Sir Robert Hall. The Rush–Bagot agreement of 1817 limited naval forces on Lake Ontario to one gunboat.
Sir Robert Hall kept the fleet's ships in storage until his death in 1818. His replacement, Captain Robert Barrie, built a stone frigate. This building stored the gear and rigging from the ships. The ships themselves were taken apart and stored in Navy Bay.
After the wood barracks burned in 1816, the Stone Frigate became the main building at Point Frederick. Captain Robert Barrie was later called back to England. The old warships, which were just empty hulls by the 1830s, were sold off.
Dockyard Closures and Reopenings
In August 1827, the Cockburn became the first treaty gunboat. In 1831, Barrie was told to sell the old warships and prepare to close the dockyard. He was ordered to stop commanding the Cockburn in 1834.
The St. Lawrence was sold for $9925. However, other warships remained as hulls in Navy Bay. Naval supplies were sold or sent to England. Barrie left for England in 1834.
The dockyard closed in 1835 but reopened in 1837. This was due to the Rebellions of 1837. Ships were quickly bought, armed, and staffed by sailors. In 1838, Captain Williams Sandom, R.N., stationed his Royal Marines in the Stone Frigate.
He bought back the Netley, an old ship from 1812. It was renamed HMS Niagara and served as his headquarters until 1843. Sandom commanded fleets of armed steamships. He used them to transport militia to defeat rebels at the Battle of the Windmill.
Lieutenant Philip John Bainbrigge painted a view of the area in 1841. It showed the Naval Cottages, the Hospital, Stone Frigate, and Fort Henry. The flag on the Stone Frigate showed it was Sandom's headquarters.
After 1838, the British government restarted naval operations on the lakes. They built the Minos (1840) and the Cherokee (1841). The US saw these steam warships as breaking the Rush-Bagot Agreement.
In 1843, a small iron steam warship was assembled and commissioned. Although Sandom returned to England, other officers stayed. They patrolled Lake Ontario with the new steamships. The dockyard officially reopened in 1845.
Commander William N. Fowell took command of all naval vessels on the lakes. He lived in the "Commodore's Cottage" at Point Frederick. The Oregon boundary dispute in 1845 increased the need for naval readiness.
Ships were quickly bought, armed, and manned by sailors. In 1846, Mohawk went to Lake Erie. Cherokee was commissioned for the first time. One of the towers, Fort Frederick, was built by Royal Engineers near the old dockyard.
By 1850, Cherokee was laid up, and Mohawk returned to Kingston. Lt. Commander Frederick Charles Herbert was the last naval officer to command at Point Frederick from 1850 to 1853. He was ordered to sell Mohawk in 1852.
Herbert returned to England when the dockyard closed in 1853.
The Fenian raids of 1866 brought another need for naval power. Ships were quickly bought, armed, and manned by sailors. They used the facilities at Point Frederick and Navy Bay. They patrolled from Montreal to Kingston. When the danger passed, no permanent naval base was set up.
Final Closure and College Conversion
On July 1, 1867, the gunboat Hercules took part in Canada's Confederation celebrations. It fired its guns at the fort during combined exercises. In the evening, fireworks were launched from the dockyard.
In 1870, British troops left Canada. The remaining naval supplies in the Stone Frigate, worth $357,000, were sent to England. The land in Kingston, including the dockyard, was given to Canada. This was on the condition that it would only be used for naval defense.
In 1871, the militia camped on Point Frederick. In 1875, it was chosen as the site for a new Military College. Students lived in the Stone Frigate starting in 1876. An old wooden commodore's house was still standing when the Royal Military College of Canada opened.
By the 1860s, only the Stone Frigate and one dock were kept in good repair. The old ships from the War of 1812 were stuck in the mud. They were broken by the freezing and thawing of Navy Bay.
The site was named a National Historic Site of Canada in 1928.
Key Commanders
Many important officers commanded the naval forces at Kingston.
- Commodore Rene Hypolite Pepin de Laforce led the Provincial Marine from 1780 to 1786.
- Commodore David Betton commanded from 1786 to 1802.
- Commodore Jean-Baptiste Bouchette led from 1802 to 1804.
- Commodore John Steel commanded from 1804 to 1812.
- Commodore Hugh Earle commanded the Provincial Marine from 1812 to 1813.
- Commodore Sir James Lucas Yeo led the Royal Navy's takeover from 1813 to 1815.
- Sir Edward W. C. Owen commanded briefly in 1815.
- Sir Robert Hall commanded from 1815 to 1818. He was ordered to build a "respectable naval force."
- Robert Barrie commanded from 1819 to 1820. He built the Stone Frigate to store ship gear.
- Captain Williams Sandom, R.N., commanded the reopened dockyard from 1838 to 1845.
- Commander William N. Fowell took command of naval vessels in 1845.
- Lt. Commander Frederick Charles Herbert was the last naval officer to command from 1850 to 1853.
Museum
Fort Frederick now operates as the Royal Military College of Canada Museum. It holds many items and records about the Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard.
A detailed model of HMS St. Lawrence (1814) is on display. This ship had 102 guns and was the only 1st Rate Royal Navy Ship-of-the-Line on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812. The model is about 1.4 meters long and took over 4000 hours to build.
Ships Built at the Dockyard
The following ships were built and launched at the Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard:
- Buffalo – gunboat 1792
- Catherine – gunboat 1792
- Sophia – gunboat 1792
- Governor Simcoe – schooner 1793
- Swift – gunboat 1798
- HMS Speedy 1798
- HMS Royal George 1809
- HMS St Lawrence 1814
- HMS Prince Regent 1814
- HMS Princess Charlotte 1814
- HMS Duke of Gloucester
- HMS Earl of Moira – brig 1805
- HMS Sir George Prevost – schooner 1813
- HMS Lord Melville – schooner 1813
- Psyche – frigate 1814
- Niagara – gunboat 1814-1843 (formerly known as Netley 1812)
- Queenston – gunboat 1814
- Crystler – gunboat 1814
- Kingston – gunboat 1814, steam vessel 1838
- Canada – unfinished 1815
- Wolfe – unfinished 1815
- Beckwith – transport 1816
- HMS Sir Isaac Brock – burned on stocks 1813
- Minos – steam vessel, 1840
- Cherokee – wooden paddle-wheel steam vessel 1841
- Mohawk – steam vessel 1843-1852
- Watertown – passenger vessel 1864
Images for kids
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Attack on Fort Oswego (May 1914), War of 1812
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View of Kingston Naval Dockyard from Fort Henry 1820s.
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Map of Point Frederick Peninsula, c. 1870 now grounds of the Royal Military College of Canada
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Fort Henry, Point Frederick and Tete du Pont Barracks, Kingston, from the old redoubt (1841) by Lieutenant Philip John Bainbrigge
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