Combat· War of 1812
Essex vs HMS Phoebe and HMS Cherub
The end of one of the most remarkable cruises in American naval history.
Captain David Porter's frigate Essex had rounded Cape Horn and spent a year wrecking the British whaling fleet in the Pacific, but she was trapped at Valparaiso, Chile, by HMS Phoebe and HMS Cherub. When Porter tried to run for it on 28 March, a squall carried away his main topmast, and the British, armed with longer-range guns, stood off and pounded the crippled Essex for over two hours while she could scarcely reply. Her Marine guard, led by Lieutenant John M. Gamble, fought through a slaughter that left most of the crew dead or wounded before Porter struck. The Essex's loss closed a cruise that had broken British whaling in the South Pacific and made the ship, and her young midshipman David Farragut, famous.
Podcast episodes on War of 1812
Record no. 89