Combat· War of 1812
Hornet vs HMS Penguin
The last ship-to-ship action of the war, fought near the lonely island of Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic, three months after peace was signed.
The sloop USS Hornet under Master Commandant James Biddle closed with the British brig HMS Penguin and fought her at close range in a brisk action of about twenty-two minutes, the Marines adding their musketry as the two sloops hammered each other. The Penguin, her captain killed and her hull badly cut up, called out that she had surrendered, and Biddle ordered his men to cease fire. As he came to the rail, two of the Penguin's Marines treacherously fired and wounded Biddle and the man at the wheel before being shot down. The Penguin was scuttled, and the Hornet sailed on, neither crew yet aware that the war they were fighting had already ended.
Podcast episodes on War of 1812
Record no. 248