The first Hornet was a sloop equipped at Baltimore, Maryland, by the Continental Marine Committee in the fall of 1775. She was armed with ten long 9-pdr., and was commanded by Captain William Stone. On February 13, 1776, she joined Commodore Hopkins’ squadron in the Delaware, and four days later she put to sea bound for the Island of New Providence in the Bahamas. On the second night out one of the vessels “got foul of the Hornet and carried away the boom and the head of her mast.” By this accident the sloop was temporarily disabled and separated from the squadron. Repairing damages as best he could, Captain Stone steered for the coast of South Carolina, from where he worked his way up the coast to the mouth of the Delaware. During the summer, the Hornet cruised off the coast, and in December, 1776, she was ordered to the West Indies but was unable to get to sea owing to the presence of a strong British force inside the Delaware Capes.
On January 30, 1777, Captain John Nicholson was ordered to sail with a convoy of merchantmen which he was to escort “fairly off to sea,” and early in February he managed to evade the enemy’s blockading squadron. On her return from this cruise the Hornet was attached to Commodore Saltonstall’s squadron in the Delaware River, but after the fall of the forts guarding the approaches to Philadelphia, on November 15, 1777, the American vessels were left without protection, and the commander of the Hornet received orders to destroy his ship to prevent her falling into the hands of the enemy.
The Second “Hornet”
The second Hornet was a 10-gun sloop purchased at Malta in 1805. She was commanded by Lieutenant Samuel Evans, and formed part of Commodore Rodgers’ squadron in the Mediterranean during the Tripolitan War. In March, 1805, the Hornet was ordered to Bomba, on the coast of Tripoli, to aid General Eaton in the proposed attack upon Derne, in co-operation with Hamet Caramelli. On April 25, 1805, she joined the Nautilus and Argus before Derne, and two days later the little squadron ran within range of the shore batteries, anchored, got springs on their cables, and opened fire. In about an hour the Turks were driven from their guns, and the way was cleared for the advance of General Eaton’s party on shore. The capture of Derne decided the Bashaw of Tripoli to agree to the American Commodore’s terms of peace, and following the signing of the treaty on June 3, 1805, the squadron proceeded to Tunis where a similar pact was concluded. Soon after this the Hornet was ordered home. She was sold out of the service at Charleston, South Carolina, in 1806.
The Third “Hornet”
The third Hornet was a brig-rigged sloop of war of 440 tons built by W. Price at a cost of $52,606. Her construction was authorized by the Act of March 26, 1804, and she was launched at Baltimore, Maryland, on July 28, 1805. She was a beautiful little vessel, modeled after the designs of the ships of the French Navy, and carried an armament of eighteen 32-pdr. carronades and two long 9’s on a flush spar deck, with neither poop nor topgallant forecastle. After the War with the Barbary Powers, she was rebuilt at Washington, D. C., converted into a ship, and pierced for two more guns, making her battery 18 short 32’s and 2 long 12’s. In 1815 the 12-pdr. were replaced by 2 long 18’s. Her complement was 140 men.
The Hornet was commissioned at Baltimore, Maryland, on July 28, 1805, by Lieutenant Isaac Chauncey for service on the coast. In the spring of 1806 she made a cruise to the Mediterranean Station under the command of Master Commandant John H. Dent (March 8, 1806), and on her return she was laid up in ordinary at Charleston, South Carolina, December 8, 1806. This was followed by another commission in home waters, under Lieutenant Thomas Hunt (May 28, 1809), after which she was ordered to the Navy Yard, Washington, D.C., to be rebuilt and converted. In the fall of 1811 she sailed for Europe, under the command of Master Commandant James Lawrence, but she was soon recalled owing to the strained relations existing with England, and on her return she was ordered to report to Commodore John Rodgers at New York.
Three days after the declaration of war, the Hornet put to sea, June 21, 1812, in company with the President, Congress, and United States. On the second day out, the squadron made out a sail which proved to be the British 36-gun frigate Belvidera. A general chase began, but the squadron was unable to overhaul the enemy, although the President at one time was within gunshot of her. On July 9, the Hornet captured a British privateer, and a fortnight later she made another prize, after which the squadron returned to Boston, where the vessels anchored on August 31. The Hornet was now transferred to Commodore William Bainbridge’s squadron, and on October 27, 1812, she sailed in company with the Constitution on a cruise in South American waters. At Bahia she found the British sloop-of-war Bonne Citoyenne, 18, which was understood to have on board a considerable amount of specie for England. The American vessels blockaded her for some days, and then Captain Lawrence challenged her to single combat; Captain Bainbridge acquiescing, and pledging his honor that the Constitution should not interfere. The British Captain, however, declined and a few days later the Commodore stood out to sea with the Constitution, leaving the Hornet to watch her antagonist. For 18 days Captain Lawrence remained off Bahia, when he was forced to seek refuge in the harbor to escape from the Montagu, 74, sent out to convoy the Bonne Citoyenne; but the same night he came out, slipped by his formidable antagonist unobserved, and proceeded on his cruise.
Shaping her course for Pernambuco, the Hornet ran down the coast, making a few prizes, one of which was the brig Resolution, with $25,000 specie on board. On February 24, 1813, off the Demarara River, she fell in with the British brig-of-war Peacock, of 18 guns. The vessels crossed on opposite tacks, exchanging broadsides within half pistol shot. The Peacock then wore, intending to rake her antagonist with her starboard guns, but Captain Lawrence saw the maneuver and immediately imitated it. This brought the Hornet down on the British vessel’s quarter, where she closed, pouring in such a terrific fire that in less than 15 minutes the Peacock surrendered, hoisting a flag union down, in signal of distress. Almost immediately her mainmast went by the board. Both vessels immediately anchored, and Lieutenant Shubrick was sent to take possession of the prize, but he soon returned with the information that the Peacock was fast sinking, having already 6 feet of water in her hold. Every effort was made to save the British vessel, but though the guns were thrown overboard, the shot holes plugged, the pumps rigged, and even bailing resorted to, the water gained so rapidly that the Peacock sank, carrying down 9 of her own crew and 3 of the Hornet’s. Her loss in action was her commander and 4 men killed, and 33 wounded, of whom 3 died; that of the Hornet, 1 killed and 2 wounded.
With the survivors of the Peacock, and prisoners from other prizes, Captain Lawrence found himself with 277 souls on board and only 3,400 gallons of water. This necessitated reducing the daily allowance to 3 pints per man, and provisions were running short. He therefore determined to make the best of his way to the United States, and arrived at Homes’ Hole, in Martha’s Vineyard, on March 19, 1813. He then came through Long Island Sound to New York without meeting an enemy.
The news of Captain Lawrence’s victory was received with great enthusiasm all over the country. Congress ordered a medal struck in his honor and presented him with a sword. Votes of thanks were tendered him by the legislatures of several states, and the Navy Department promoted him to the command of the frigate Chesapeake.
[IMAGE-HORNET AND PEACOCK FEBRUARY 24, 1813 Courtesy Naval Historical Foundation From B.R. Robinson Collection]
Master Commandant James Biddle was ordered to the Hornet on May 6, 1813. A few weeks later he sailed from New York in company with Commodore Stephen Decatur’s squadron, the United Stales, 44, and the Macedonian, 38, her late prize, and attempted to get to sea by way of Long Island Sound. But on June 1, a powerful British blockading squadron was sighted off Montauk Point, and in the presence of this overwhelming force, the Commodore had no alternative but to beat back to the nearest port. The enemy followed him to New London and there established a blockade of the American frigates which ended only with the signing of peace. In April, 1814, the two frigates were lightened over the bar and removed 14 miles up the Thames, where they were wholly out of reach of the enemy’s vessels, while the Hornet mounted guard off the river mouth. On November 18, Captain Biddle managed to elude the vigilance of the enemy’s blockading squadron and made good his escape from New London, reaching New York a few days later.
Two months later, on the night of January 21, 1815, the Hornet again put to sea in a heavy northwester, accompanied by the Peacock and Tom Bowline, under orders to join the frigate President at Tristan d’Acunha, in the South Atlantic, some 1,500 miles west of the Cape of Good Hope. The Hornet reached the rendezvous first, and was about to anchor, on the morning of March 23, when a sail was made out to the southeast, steering west. As soon as it passed behind the island, Captain Biddle made sail to the westward, and the two vessels came within sight. The stranger proved to be the British sloop-of- war Penguin, 18 guns, Captain Dickinson commanding. At 1:40 p.m., the battle began within musket shot and the two vessels kept up a sharp fire for 15 minutes. The Penguin then closed in, in an effort to board her antagonist. As the ships closed, Captain Dickinson fell mortally wounded. His first lieutenant made a gallant effort to carry out his commander’s orders, but his men failed to come on. There was a heavy sea running, and as the Hornet forged ahead, the Penguin's bowsprit carried away her mizzen shrouds, stern davits, and spanker boom, but the British vessel lost her foremast and bowsprit, and in this crippled state surrendered immediately. The Hornet had 1 killed and 10 wounded, while her antagonist reported 14 killed and 28 wounded, her captain being among the slain. The Penguin was so badly cut up that she had to be destroyed.
While this was being done, the Peacock and Tom Bowline hove in sight. The latter was sent into Rio de Janeiro as a cartel with the prisoners, while the two sloops of war remained in the vicinity a few weeks longer in hopes of meeting the Commodore. Continuing their cruise to the East Indies, the vessels on April 27 sighted what appeared to be an Indiaman, and “the men began to wonder what they would do with the silks,” when the Peacock, which was well ahead of the Hornet, signaled “a ship of the line,” and at once made sail to escape. The Peacock was a fast sailer and soon got away, but the Hornet was hotly pursued by the Cornwallis, 74, bearing the flag of Admiral Sir George Burleton. The 74 gained so rapidly on her that the Hornet was obliged to throw overboard 12 tons of kentledge, a quantity of shot, some heavy spars, and the sheet anchor and cable. Still the enemy gained, and at 2:00 a.m. on the 29th was ahead of the Hornet's lee beam, when the sloop put about and ran off towards the west. Daylight showed the Cornwallis still astern and to leeward but again closing. One of the Hornet’s officers wrote:
At this time the shot and shells were whistling about our ears, and not a person on board had the most distant idea that there was a possibility of escape. We all packed up our things and waited until the enemy’s shot would compel us to heave to and surrender. . . . Captain Biddle mustered the men and told them he was pleased with their conduct during the chase, and hoped still to perceive that propriety of conduct which had always marked their character and that of the American tar generally; that we might soon expect to be captured, etc. Not a dry eye was to be seen at the mention of the capture of the poor little Hornet.
All the remaining spars and boats, all the guns but one, the shot, and in fact everything that could be got at, below or on deck, was thrown overboard. The Hornet now gained a little, and managed to hold her own, and shortly after the pluck and skill of her crew were rewarded by another shift in the wind. The breeze gradually freshened, bringing the Hornet more to windward and increasing her chances of escape. By dark the Cornwallis was well astern, and during the night the wind kept freshening, blowing in squalls, which just suited the Hornet, and when day broke the enemy was hull down. A few hours later, after a 48-hour chase, the Cornwallis abandoned the pursuit and the Hornet was saved. The latter was now of no further use as a cruiser, and Captain Biddle therefore made the best of his way to San Salvador, where he learned the news of peace between the United States and Great Britain. After refitting, he sailed for New York, where he arrived on June 9,1815.
Three years elapsed before the Hornet was again ordered to sea. She sailed from New York on April 1, 1818, under the command of Master Commandant George C. Read, on a cruise to the west coast of Africa, where spasmodic attempts were made to check the activities of American slavers. Few of these vessels were captured, but the Hornet was fortunate in falling in with one, the brig Centinella, which she carried into New Orleans, Louisiana, in November, 1821, with her cargo of 200 slaves. In the following month she put into Pensacola, Florida, where she was ordered refitted, under Master Commandant Robert Henley (January, 1822) for a cruise in the West Indies joining a considerable naval force operating there against Cuban pirates and buccaneers. Among the Hornet's captures was the notorious schooner Moscow, mounting one gun and manned by “a mixed crew of Blacks and Spaniards, 19 in number,” which was intercepted off the coast of Santa Domingo. Master Commandant Sidney Smith commanded the Hornet for 6 months in 1823, and then turned her over to Master Commandant Edmund P. Kennedy (April 8, 1824), who was in turn relieved by Master Commandant Samuel Woodhouse (1826) and Master Commandant Alex Claxton (November, 1826). The Hornet sailed on her last cruise February 5, 1829, under the command of Master Commandant Otho Norris. She was lost off Tampico, Mexico, with all hands, and is supposed to have foundered in a heavy gale.
The Schooner “Hornet”
The fourth Hornet was a 5-gun schooner bought at Georgetown, D. C., in 1813. Her cost was $2,200. She mounted one long 18-pdr. and four 18-pdr. carronades. Her draft was 8 ft. and she carried a crew of 57 men.
The Hornet was employed principally on bays and rivers as a dispatch vessel, and between 1813 and 1820 was commanded successively by Lieutenant Lewis B. Page, Lieutenant Jesse Wilkinson, Lieutenant James Ramage, and Lieutenant John P. Zantzinger. She was sold out of the service in 1820.
The First Steam “Hornet”
The fifth Hornet was an iron side-wheel steamer of the third rate captured off New Inlet, North Carolina, on October 28, 1864, by the U.S.S. Calypso and Eolus. She was taken into the service under her original name of Lady Sterling, but on June 17, 1865, the Navy Department ordered her renamed the Hornet. Her principal characteristics were: burden, 835 tons; length, 242 ft.; breadth, 26 ft. 6 in.; depth of hold, 13 ft. 3 in. She had two oscillating engines of 60-in. stroke and 4 horizontal tubular boilers.
On June 17, 1865, the Hornet was in service at Washington D. C., under the command of Acting Master Joseph Avant. Four months later she was ordered to accompany the Rhode Island to Havana, Cuba, for the purpose of receiving the surrender of the Confederate ram Stonewall. On her return from this cruise, she was laid up in ordinary at the Navy Yard, League Island, Pennsylvania, December 15, 1865, where she was later sold, June 26, 1869, for $33,000.
The Sixth “Hornet”
The sixth Hornet was a converted yacht purchased on April 6, 1898, from Henry M. Flagler for $117,500. She was originally the steel steam yacht Alicia, built by Harlan & Hollingsworth at Wilmington, Delaware, in 1890. Her dimensions were: displacement, 425 tons; length, 160 ft.; breadth, 24 ft.; draft, 11 ft. She had vertical inverted triple-expansion engines of 800 horsepower, capable of developing a speed of 15 knots. She had a bunker capacity of 65 tons. During the Spanish War she carried a battery of three 6-pdr., two 1-pdr., and 4 machine guns. Her complement was 4 officers and 51 men.
The Hornet was fitted out at the Navy Yard, New York, on April 12, 1898, by Lieutenant James H. Helm, and joined Admiral Sampson’s fleet off Havana a fortnight later. On May 7 she had an engagement with a battery at the entrance to Matanzas Harbor, and in the following month she joined a division of the fleet off Rebecca Shoal Light and assisted in convoying General Shafter’s transports from that point to Daiquiri. The Hornet, Annapolis, Helena, and Bancroft made a diversion at Siboney, on June 22, while the American Army was being disembarked at Daiquiri, and a week later the Hornet, Hist, and Wompaluck made an armed reconnaissance of the cape between Santa Cruz and Manzanillo in order to stop the coasting trade carried on in those waters. A Spanish gunboat was sighted in the shallows of Niguero Bay, and immediately engaged by the two yachts, which also had to contend with blockhouses on shore. The water was so shallow that the Hornet and Hist grounded, while the Wompaluck had to remain in the offing on account of her greater draft. On the approach of the American vessels the gunboat attempted to escape behind one of the small cays, but several well-directed shots struck her amidships, and she blew up. The Hornet, Hist, and Wompatuck then proceeded to
Manzanillo, where they discovered 9 armed vessels drawn up in battle order. These included an old cruiser, 4 small gunboats, 1 large torpedo boat, and 3 smaller craft, while on shore several batteries were ready to assist in the defense of the harbor. At 3:20 p.m. the American vessels opened fire, which was instantly returned. The Spaniards had the range, and in a few minutes their shells were striking the Hornet, one shot cutting the main steam line and disabling her. Notwithstanding the helpless condition of his vessel, Lieutenant Helm gallantly continued in action and succeeded in sinking at least one of the Spanish gunboats and a sloop filled with soldiers. As the Hornet was now drifting towards the shoals, the Wompatuck was ordered to tow her out of range. The action lasted 45 minutes, and although the Hornet was disabled 10 minutes after the firing of the first shot, she used her guns to the very end of the engagement. Her casualties were limited to the three men who were scalded when her main steam line was cut.
By July 11, the three vessels were back in Manzanillo waters, and with the aid of a pilot cut the cable near Santa Cruz del Sur, thus destroying telegraphic communication between Havana and Manzanillo. After this they remained in the vicinity awaiting the coming of the Wilmington, Scorpion, and Osceola, and with the assistance of this additional force another and more successful effort was made to destroy the enemy’s shipping at Manzanillo. Early in the morning of July 18, 1898, the American vessels approached the harbor by three different channels, and opened a concentrated fire at long range, the distance being gradually reduced as the ships neared the enemy’s battle line. One by one the Spanish gun vessels were put out of action or destroyed. The Estrala, Guantanamo, Guardien, and Sentinel Delgado were driven ashore, four gunboats were set on fire and destroyed, and another was blown up. In this engagement, which lasted 2 ½ hours, the Hornet fired four hundred and twenty-nine 6-pdr. shell, two hundred and fifty 1-pdr., and 60 rounds from her automatic guns. She suffered no casualties.
On the conclusion of hostilities with Spain, the Hornet was ordered north and placed out of commission at the Navy Yard, Norfolk, Virginia, October 18, 1898. In December, she was loaned to the North Carolina naval militia for drill and instruction purposes. Two years later she was brought back to Norfolk, where she acted as tender to the receiving-ship Franklin from 1904 to 1906. After this she was laid up in ordinary until March 18, 1910, when she was stricken from the Navy Register and ordered sold out of the service.