1813 — Aug 8, schooners USS Hamilton & Scourge capsize, squall, Lake Ontario off Niagara Riv., NY>80

— ~93 McNeil. “General Hamilton (Schooner), sunk capsized, 8 Aug 1813.” Mar. His. Great Lakes.*
— ~84 Mansfield. History of the Great Lakes, Vol. 1, 1899, pp. 146 and 152.
— >80 US Dept. Navy. “Casualties: US Navy…Marine Corps Personnel Killed and Injured…”
— >80 US Dept. Navy, Naval Historical Center. “U.S. Navy Ships Lost in Selected Storm…”
— >80 Spectre. Mariner’s Book of Days 2007. p. 67.
— 53 Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive.

USS Hamilton.
— “many” Swayze. Shipwreck! 1992, p. 105.

USS Scourge.
— 40 McNeil. “Scourge (Schooner), sunk, 8 Aug 1813.” Maritime History of the Great Lakes.
— >40 Swayze. Shipwreck! 1992, p. 212.

*Mansfield: Our number (Blanchard) based on Mansfield’s note on p. 146 that each vessel had a crew of 50, and on p. 152 that “…a heavy gust struck the Hamilton and Scourge…carrying away the heavy guns through the careening of the vessels, and they both foundered and lost all of their men but 16.”

*McNeil: Our number (Blanchard) based on McNeil’s transcription of a Buffalo Gazette article “Schooners Gen. Hamilton & Scourge Lost on Lake Ontario.” 8-17-1813, in which it is noted that 60 men were on board the Hamilton and 45 on the Scourge when the vessels went down, of whom but “about a dozen of the crews” were rescued. We added 60 and 45, for 105, and subtracted 12, to obtain 93.

Narrative Information

Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News: Fifty-three of the 72 crewmen aboard the Hamilton and Scourge were killed when the ships went down during a squall in August 1813, north of Port Dalhousie. Their gravesite, 90 metres deep, was discovered in 1975 and explored separately by Jacques Cousteau and the National Geographic Society.” (Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive. “Report News. Ontario Government Limits Diver Access to Storied Shipwrecks.” Cites Associated Press.)

Michigan Archaeological Society: “In the early hours of August 8, 1813, the schooners Hamilton and Scourge capsized in a sudden squall, sending them 300 feet to the bottom of Lake Ontario.” (Michigan Archaeological Society. Michigan Archaeologist, Vol. 37, 1991, page 28.)

Swayze: “Hamilton or General Hamilton. Armed schooner of 76 t. [tons] and 112 ft., launched in 1809 at Oswego, NY as the merchantman Diana. Lake Ontario: A War of 1812 veteran, this schooner and her fellow warship Scourge (qv) were anchored off the mouth of the Niagara River when they were blasted by a summer storm. The August 8, 1813 blow sent both ships to the bottom. The exact number of lives lost when the Hamilton went down is not known, but it is said that many sailors and marines stationed aboard were lost. The wreckage was rediscovered by sonar in 1975, explored by camera in 1980 and was the subject of an experimental satellite television show in 1990.” (Swayze. Shipwreck! 1992, p. 105.)

Swayze: “Scourge. Armed schooner of 45 t. [tons] and 110 ft., launched in 1811, near Niagara as the Royal Navy schooner Lord Nelson. Lake Ontario: This small warship was anchored off the mouth of the Niagara River with her fleet-mate Hamilton (qv), when the two vessels were sunk by a storm. They went down on August 8, 1813, the Scourge with the loss of about 40 lives. She had been captured from the Royal Navy during the War of 1812 and was a subject of a live underwater television exploration in 1990.” (Swayze. Shipwreck! 1992, p. 212.)

US Navy: “Schooners USS Hamilton and Scourge capsize in a heavy squall on Lake Ontario. Over 80 drowned. 8 August 1813.”

Sources

Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive. “Report News. Ontario Government Limits Diver Access to Storied Shipwrecks.” Cites Associated Press. Accessed 1-11-2021 at: http://www.boatnerd.com/news/archive/1-06.htm

Mansfield, John Brandts (Ed. and Compiler). History of the Great Lakes (Vol. 1). Chicago: J.H. Beers & Co., 1899. Google digitized. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=iHXhAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

McNeil. “General Hamilton (Schooner), sunk capsized, 8 Aug 1813.” Maritime History of the Great Lakes. Accessed 1-11-2011 at: https://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/38355/data?n=3

McNeil, William R. “Scourge (Schooner), sunk, 8 Aug 1813.” Maritime History of the Great Lakes. Accessed 1-11-2011 at: https://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/38356/data?n=1

Michigan Archaeological Society. Michigan Archaeologist, Vol. 37, 1991, page 28.

Spectre, Peter H. Mariner’s Book of Days 2007. Sheridan House, Inc. 2006, 112 pages. Partially digitized by Google; Accessed 1-11-2021 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=ICXhAlBXx7YC&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Swayze, David D. Shipwreck! A Comprehensive Directory of Over 3,700 Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. Boyne City, MI: Harbor House Publications, Inc., 1992.

United States Department of the Navy. Casualties: US Navy and Marine Corps Personnel Killed and Injured in Selected Accidents and Other Incidents Not Directly the Result of Enemy Action. Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center. 2008. Accessed 1-11-2021 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

United States Department of the Navy, Naval History and Heritage Command. U.S. Navy Ships Lost in Selected Storm/Weather Related Incidents. 7-29-2009. Accessed 1-11-2021 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