On November 13th, 1812, the American 18-gun ship-sloop Wasp, Captain
Jacob Jones, with a crew of 137 men, sailed from the Delaware, and ran
off southeast, to get into the track of the West India traders. On
the next day she encountered a heavy gale, and lost her jib-boom and
two men who were upon it. On the 17th, the weather having moderated
somewhat, she discovered several sail, which were part of a convoy
of merchantmen from Honduras, bound for England, under convoy of the
British 18-gun brig-sloop Frolic, of 19 guns and 110 men, commanded by
Captain Whinyates. They had been dispersed by the gale of the 16th, in
which the Frolic had lost her main yard. The Frolic had spent the next
day in repairing damages, and by dark, six of her missing convoy had
rejoined her. On Sunday, the 18th, which was a fine day, the convoy was
discovered ahead and to leeward of the American ship, Captain Jones not
choosing to close during the night, as he was ignorant of the force
opposed to him.
The Wasp now sent down top-gallant yards, close reefed her top-sails,
and bore down under short fighting canvas. The Frolic lashed her
damaged yard on deck, and hauled by the wind, under her boom main-sail
and close reefed fore-top-sail, hoisting Spanish colors to decoy the
stranger down, and permit her convoy to escape. By half-past eleven the
ships were close together, and running on the starboard tack, parallel,
and not more than sixty yards apart. They then commenced firing, the
Wasp her port, and the Frolic her starboard battery. The latter fired
very rapidly, delivering three broadsides to the Wasp’s two, both crews
cheering loudly as the ships wallowed through the water, abreast of
each other. There was a very heavy sea running, left by the gale, which
caused the vessels to roll and pitch heavily. The Americans fired as
the engaged side of their ship was going down, aiming at the Frolic’s
hull, while the English fired while on the crest of the seas, their
shot going high.
The water flew in clouds of spray over both vessels, which rolled so
that the muzzles of the guns went under, but in spite of this the
firing was spirited and well directed. In five minutes the Wasp’s
main-top-mast was shot away, and fell across the port fore and
fore-top-sail braces, rendering her head yards unmanageable. Ten
minutes after her gaff and mizzen-top-gallant mast came down, and by
eleven o’clock every brace and most of her rigging was shot away, so
that it was impossible to brace her yards.
But in the meantime the Frolic had suffered dreadfully in her hull
and lower masts, and her gaff and head braces were also shot away.
The slaughter among her crew was also very great; but the survivors
kept at their work with the dogged courage of their race. At first
the two vessels ran side by side, but the American gradually forged
ahead, throwing in her fire from a position in which she herself
received little injury. By degrees they drew so close together that the
Americans struck the Frolic’s side with their rammers, in loading, and
began to rake the British vessel with dreadful effect.
The Frolic then fell on board her antagonist, her jib-boom coming in
between the main and mizzen-rigging of the Wasp, and passing over the
heads of Captain Jones and Lieutenant Biddle, who were standing by the
capstan, on the quarter-deck.
This forced the Wasp up into the wind, and she again raked the Frolic,
Captain Jones trying to restrain his crew, who were anxious to board,
until he could put in another broadside. But they could not be held
back, and Jack Lang, a seaman from New Jersey, leaped on the Frolic’s
bowsprit. Lieutenant Biddle then mounted the hammock-cloth, to board,
but got his feet entangled in some rigging, and one of the midshipmen
seizing his coat-tails, to help himself up, the Lieutenant tumbled
back on the deck. As the ship rose to the next swell he succeeded in
getting on the bowsprit, on which were one or two seamen of his ship.
But there was no one to oppose them. The man at the wheel stood grim
and undaunted, and there were two or three more about the deck, among
them Captain Whinyates and his First Lieutenant, both so severely
wounded that they could not stand without support. There could be no
more resistance, and Lieutenant Biddle hauled down the flag himself,
at a quarter-past twelve--just forty-three minutes after the action
commenced. Almost immediately both the Frolic’s masts went by the board.
Of her crew not twenty men escaped unhurt. Every officer was wounded
and two were killed. Her total loss was thus over ninety, about thirty
of whom were killed outright or died of wounds.
The Wasp suffered severely in her rigging and aloft generally, but only
two or three shots struck her hull. Five of her men were killed--two in
her mizzen-top, and one in her main-top-mast rigging, and five were
wounded, chiefly aloft.
The two vessels were practically of equal force. The loss of the
Frolic’s main-yard had converted her into a brigantine, and as the
roughness of the sea made it necessary to fight under very short
canvas, her inferiority in men was fully compensated for by her
superiority in metal. She had been desperately defended; no men could
have fought more bravely than Captain Whinyates and his crew. On the
other hand, the Americans had done their work with a coolness and
skill that could not be surpassed. The contest had been mainly one of
gunnery, and had been decided by the greatly superior judgment and
accuracy with which they fired. Both officers and crew had behaved well.
The French Vice-Admiral Jurien de la Gravière, commenting on this
action, says: “The American fire showed itself to be as accurate as it
was rapid. On occasions, when the roughness of the seas would seem to
render all aim excessively uncertain, the effects of their artillery
were not less murderous than under more advantageous conditions. The
corvette Wasp fought the brig Frolic in an enormous sea, under very
short canvas, and yet, forty minutes after the beginning of the action,
the Americans who leaped on board the brig found on the deck, covered
with dead and dying, but one brave man, who had not left the wheel, and
three officers, all wounded, etc., etc.”
The characteristics of the action are the practical equality of the
contestants in point of force, and the enormous disparity in the damage
each suffered. Numerically the Wasp was superior by five per cent., and
inflicted a ninefold greater loss.
Captain Jones was not destined to bring his prize into port, for a
few hours afterward the Poictiers, a British 74, hove in sight. Now
appeared the value of the Frolic’s desperate defence; if she could not
prevent herself from being captured, she had at least ensured her own
recapture, and also the capture of her foe. When the Wasp made sail
they were found to be cut into ribbons, and she could not make off with
sufficient speed. The Poictiers soon overtook her, and carried both
vessels into Bermuda. Captain Jones and his officers and men were soon
exchanged, and Congress voted them prize money for their capture; while
the Captain and Lieutenant Biddle were both deservedly promoted.