1811 — Oct 5, gale/hurricane, USS Gun Boat No. 2 sinks, off St. Mary’s, GA — 34

— 34 Blanchard estimated death toll.*

— 40 US Dept. Navy. “Casualties: US Navy and Marine Corps Personnel Killed and Injured…”
— 40 US Dept. Navy, Naval Historical Cen. “US Navy Ships Lost in Selected Storm/Weather”
–~35 Savannah Republican and Evening Ledger, GA. “Port of Savannah.” 10-24-1811, p. 7.
— 35 Wikipedia. 1810s Atlantic hurricane seasons. 10-27-2022 edit.)
— 34 Fraser. Lowcountry Hurricanes: Three Centuries of Storms at Sea and Ashore. 2006, pp. 62-63.

*Blanchard note: The most detailed account is Fraser, relying on local reporting. His death toll of 34 is very close to the Savannah Republican report of “about” 35, based on noting “about 25” crewmen onboard. If there were in fact 24 crewmen, then Fraser and the Savannah Republican would be in alignment. We find Wikipedia frequently unreliable, but their death toll of 35 is consonant with what we believe the actual death toll of 34 to be, based on there being a survivor. Though normally reliable, the US Naval Historical Center is clearly not reliable in this instance. In one of their listings they have this loss taking place far north in the Chesapeake Bay, which is clearly inaccurate. In that there is a St. Mary’s City, MD, which is on the S. Marys River, which empties into the Potomac River just above where it empties into the Chesapeake Bay, we speculate that whomever made this entry, saw “St. Marys” and assumed it was a reference to St. Marys City in MD. The other Navy report is correct as to place and date, but lists 40 fatalities. We can only speculate that a gunboat of this size usually carried a complement of 40, and that this explains the death toll of 40.

Narrative Information

Fraser: “As British ships persisted in harassing American vessels and impressing seamen along the coast or on the high seas, American hostility increased. The lowcountry’s privileged classes felt threatened, and local governments at Savannah, Beaufort, Charleston, and Georgetown authorized the construction of fortifications and the drilling of militia, and they asked Congress for gunboats to protect the coasts. It was one of these U.S. gunboats that was caught in a storm off Cumberland Island [GA barrier island] in early October 1811.

“U.S. gunboat No. 2 sailed from Charleston for St. Marys [GA] on September 29 under the command of Lieutenant John J. Lippincott. The vessel, staffed by four midshipmen and twenty-nine crewmembers, carried one civilian passenger, Mrs. R. Smith, who was to join her service-connected husband. [35 in all] The schooner-rigged gunboat reached Cumberland Island on Friday morning, October 4. Unable to enlist a pilot to navigate the tricky local waters, Lippincott ‘stood off’ the island in view of a ‘high sea’ and watched the weather turning ‘very bad.’ By morning the wind was from the northeast and ‘increasing to a heavy gale.’ likely near hurricane force. With part of the crew below deck, Lippincott ordered all hatches secured and trysail rigged. He then headed the gunboat east into the wind in an attempt to stabilize the vessel in the turbulent sea, but with the wind and seas still rising, the vessel was unable to maintain headway, and Lippincott ordered the trysail reefed. The vessel wallowed helplessly. Within minutes a ‘heavy sea broke on board’ and knocked it over. To right the gunboat, Lippincott ordered the mast cut away. Terrified and afraid of drowning, the crew below ‘forced open the hatches’ secured earlier and the ‘Gun-Boat instantly filled [with water] and went down,’ taking with it those who opened the hatches. Those aboard who were lucky enough to be pitched into the heaving sea ‘tried to save themselves from instant death’ by clinging to the great sweeps or oars, spars, or rigging. But after ‘struggling a while with the waves,’ they too ‘shared the fate of those who went down with the vessel.’

“Crewmember John Tier, who had managed to grab and hold to a large oar, soon found himself alone in a rolling sea. He clung to the oar for twenty-nine hours until rescued by Captain Gould of the schooner Dolly out of Rhode Island. Tier was the sole survivor of thirty-five aboard gunboat No. 2. The sinking ranks as one of the greatest sea disasters off Georgia’s coast.”

USN, Naval History and Heritage Command: “Gun Boat #2 sank in gale off St. Mary’s Georgia. 40 died. 5 Oct. 1811.” (USN, Naval History and Heritage Command. “U.S. Navy Ships Lost in Selected Storm/Weather Related Incidents.” 6-3-2005.)

USN, Naval History and Heritage Command: “Gun Boat #2 sank in gale in Chesapeake Bay [sic]. 40 lost. 5 October 1811.” (USN, Naval History and Heritage Command. “Casualties: US Navy and Marine Corps Personnel Killed and Injured in Selected Accidents and Other Incidents Not Directly the Result of Enemy Action.” 1-19-2006.)

Wikipedia: “[Hurricane] III. On October 4 a major hurricane hit near St. Augustine, Florida. Many homes were destroyed, and 35 people drowned in the sinking of a U.S. gunboat.” No source cited. (Wikipedia. 1810s Atlantic hurricane seasons. 10-27-2022 edit.)

Newspaper

Oct 14, Savannah Republican: “Charleston, October 14.

“Arrived, schooner Kitty-Ann, Richardson, St. Mary’s, 1 day. A very severe gale was experienced at St. Mary’s on the 4th and 5th inst. – Two or three houses were blown down, and several ships in the river drove on shore; among them, ship Mary, Forbes, of New York, not expected to be got off; ship Superior, Coffin, of Bath, expected to be got off; and ship Baltic [? unclear], Adams, of Portsmouth, got off without damage. – An American brig from West Indies, put into St. Mary’s on Thursday last, having lost part of her sails and spars in the gale.” (Savannah Republican and Evening Banner, GA. “Port of Savannah.” 10-19-1811, p. 9.)

Oct 24, Savannah Republican: “Charleston, October 22

“Loss of Gun-Boat No. 2. – The United States’ gun-boat No. 2 (schooner rigged) under the command of Mr. Lippincott, of the navy, sailed from this port on the 28th ult. [September] bound to St. Mary’s. On Friday morning, 4th inst. they made Cumberland island, but being unable to procure a pilot, they, at night, stood off, weather very bad and a high sea – on Saturday morning, the wind increasing to a heavy gale from N.N.E. the vessel was hove to under a trysail, with her head to the eastward; about 11 A.M. the gale increasing took in the tri-sail, and in about five minutes after a heavy sea broke on board which hove the boat on her beam ends – they immediately attempted to cut away the mast, but that part of the crew which was below, in their alarm, forced open the hatches, which had been secured early in the gale, and the Gun-Boat instantly filled and went down. Several of the crew attempted to save themselves from instant death by clinging to the floating sweeps, spars, &c. but one only of the number escaped to tell the mournful tale; all the rest, after struggling awhile with the waves, shared the fate of those who went down with the vessel.

“The man saved is named John Tier, and what is very remarkable, he was one of the men saved from the wreck of Gun-Boat No. 157, lost on Charleston bar on the 17th May last. This man was picked up the next day, after having been 29 hours upon an oar, by Capt. Gould, of the schr. Dolly, or Rhode Island, and landed at Amelia island. – the names of the persons lost are: [We break paragraph into separate lines.]

John J. Lippincott, acting master, a native of Pennsylvania;
James W. Gunning, midshipman, of Wilmington, N.C.;
John Todd, do. [ditto]; of this city;
Francis Taylor, do. do.;
Samuel Liber, do. do.’
Samuel Robertson, boatswain;
Wm. Wright, gunner;
Thomas King, purser’s steward;
Samuel Cameron, carpenter;
Mrs. R. Smith, a native of Liverpool, going on to her husband, who is a carpenter in the United States service;
And about 25 seamen.”

(Savannah Republican and Evening Ledger, GA. “Port of Savannah.” 10-24-1811, p. 7.)

Sources

Fraser, Walter J. Jr. Lowcountry Hurricanes: Three Centuries of Storms at Sea and Ashore. Athens and London: University of Georgia Press, 2006. Google preview accessed 8-16-2017: https://books.google.com/books?id=4iDbukwvWL0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Lowcountry+Hurricanes&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj60M2Tgd3VAhXH54MKHfaeC_QQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=Lowcountry%20Hurricanes&f=false

Naval History and Heritage Command. “Casualties: US Navy and Marine Corps Personnel Killed and Injured in Selected Accidents and Other Incidents Not Directly the Result of Enemy Action.” 1-19-2006. Accessed 3-10-2017 at: https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/c/casualties-usnavy-marinecorps-personnel-killed-injured-selected-accidents-other-incidents-notdirectly-result-enemy-action.html

Savannah Republican and Evening Banner, GA. “Port of Savannah.” 10-19-1811, p. 9. Accessed 12-7-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/savannah-republican-and-savannah-evening-ledger-oct-19-1811-p-9/

Savannah Republican and Evening Ledger, GA. “Port of Savannah.” 10-24-1811, p. 7. Accessed 12-7-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/savannah-republican-and-savannah-evening-ledger-oct-24-1811-p-7/

United States Navy, Naval History and Heritage Command. U.S. Navy Ships Lost in Selected Storm/Weather Related Incidents (website). 6-3-2005. Accessed 3-10-2017 at: https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/u/us-navy-ships-lost-in-selected-storm-weather-related-incidents.html

Wikipedia. 1810s Atlantic hurricane seasons. 10-27-2022 edit. Accessed 12-7-2022 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1810s_Atlantic_hurricane_seasons#1811_Atlantic_hurricane_season