Combat· War of 1812
Essex vs HMS Alert
One of the first American naval victories of the war, and a brief one.
Cruising the Atlantic east of Cape Cod, Captain David Porter's frigate Essex was approached by the British sloop-of-war HMS Alert, whose captain mistook her for a lesser ship. The Essex quickly undeceived him: after a short exchange in which the Marines added their musketry, the badly outmatched Alert struck her colors. The capture cost no lives on either side. It was an early morale-builder for the young navy and the prelude to the Essex's famous Pacific cruise of 1813. The Alert has the minor distinction of being one of the first Royal Navy warships taken in the war, surrendered to a frigate she never had a chance of fighting on even terms.
Podcast episodes on War of 1812
Record no. 218