Combat· War of 1812
Wasp vs HMS Frolic
A hard-won single-ship victory that the Americans were not allowed to keep.
About 600 miles east of Norfolk, the sloop USS Wasp under Captain Jacob Jones closed with the British brig HMS Frolic in heavy seas and fought her at close range, the Marines under Sergeant Levi Porter keeping up a steady fire as the two vessels battered each other. The Wasp's gunnery prevailed, and her men boarded to find the Frolic's deck a shambles, the British losses far heavier than the American. The triumph was short-lived. Within hours the British ship of the line HMS Poictiers came up and captured both the crippled Frolic and the Wasp, carrying them into Bermuda. The action added to the run of American single-ship successes in 1812 even though the prize, and the victor, were lost.
Podcast episodes on War of 1812
Record no. 219