Why is Arrow / Whiting Important?
Michael Higgins
Log entry from the logbook of HMS Lacedaemonian:
Off Tybee Light House [6 JAN 1815:]
Course N 7 6 W Lat. 31 30
4 [PM] Saw a strange sail to the Northd.
Exchang’d No. with H.M.S. Whiting
6 [PM] Whiting in Co. Weigh’d stood out.
8-30 Boats returned with prize the Nancy laden with
. cotton & Rice come to in 9 fm’s
(Courtesy of James L. Kochan www.jameskochan.com)
The schooner Arrow is historically significant in naval architecture owing to her 'Baltimore pilot' design.
Arrow's prewar capture is illustrative of one of the major flash points between the United States and Great Britain resulting in the War of 1812, or 'The American War', as it is known in Great Britain. Arrow / Whiting played an important role in the local histories of Baltimore, Maryland; St. Marys, Georgia; and Padstow, Cornwall. HMS Whiting turned in an admirable career in Royal Navy service. She was attached to Rear Admiral Sir George Cockburn's Light Squadron, which burned Washington, D.C.; bombarded Fort McHenry and inspired Francis Scott Key to pen the poem Defense of Fort McHenry which later became The Star Spangled Banner and subsiquently the national anthem of the United States of America. After Cockburn's Chesapeake campaign, he sailed to Bermuda to refit and resupply his squadron. He then headed to the Georgia coast where his squadron executed the combined amphibious assault on Point Petre and the occupation of Cumberland Island, Georgia and environs.
Placed on station at the northern end of Cumberland Island, HMS Whiting interdicted American maritme commerce between Savannah and St Marys. She also took part in raids on plantations situated in Camden and Glynn Counties. Upon departure from Georgia (16 March 1815), she transported refugees, former African-American slaves, from Cumberland Island, to Bermuda from whence they proceeded to Halifax, Nova Scotia; Trinidad - and freedom.
In an effort to better observe the bicentennial of the War of 1812 (2012-2015), The Camden County War of 1812 Historical Commission thought perhaps a vestige of Rear Admiral Sir George Cockburn’s Light Squadron might be found in Georgia waters or elsewhere.
A cursory review of Rear Admiral Sir George Cockburn’s Light Squadron informs us that only two vessels came to grief, HMS Terror and HMS Whiting. The rest of the squadron was sold or broken-up during the 19th century. So, the only possible tangible reminders were HMS Terror and HMS Whiting. The Bomb (or Mortar) ship HMS Terror was abandoned in the ice on 22 April 1848 during the fateful Franklin Northwest Passage Expedition and is currently the subject of search expeditions executed by Parks Canada. HMS Whiting was lost off Doom Bar Padstow, Cornwall, England on 15 September 1816 while seeking shelter from a gale.
Fate of Rear Admiral Sir George Cockburn’s Light Squadron, by vessel:
HMS ALBION – Became a lazarette at Portsmouth – 7-1831. Broken-up at Deptford – 6-1831.
HMS BRUNE – Hulked at Sheerness, a victualizing depot at Chatham – 1829. Sold 16-8-1838.
HMS CANSO – Sold 30-5-1816.
HMS CEYLON – Laid-up 1816. Hulked at Malta – Receiving ship. Sold 4-7-1857.
HMS DEVASTATION – Sold 30-5-1816.
HMS DRAGON – Lazarette 9-1824, at Pembroke. Receiving ship, Marine Barracks –1832. Hulked and name changed to FAME 15-7-1842. Broken-up 8-1850.
HMS EREBUS – Sold to Mr. Manlove. Broken-up 22-7-1819.
HMS PRIMROSE – Converted to Ship sloop in 1824. Broken-up 8-1832.
HMS REGULUS – Hospital ship 1812 –1814. Broken-up 3-1816.
HMS RESOLUTE – Became a Diving Bell ship - 6-1816. Diving Bell Ship and Receiving Ship Bermuda 1826. Convict Hulk 1844. Broke-up 1852
HMS ROTA – Sold 11-I-1816.
HMS SEVERN – Sold to John Small Sedger, Rotherhithe – 20-7-1825.
HMS TERROR – Converted to Arctic discovery vessel May 1836. Fitted with steam auxiliary screw – 1845. Abandoned in the ice on 22-4-1848 during Franklin’s Northwest Passage Expedition.
HMS WHITING – Grounded on Doom Bar, Padstow on 15-9-1816. Abandoned on 21-9-1816. Sold October 1816.
Other vessels that operated in Georgia waters during the War of 1812:
HMS DOTEREL – Receiving & Accommodation ship at Bermuda 4-1827. Sold at Bermuda, broke-up September 1848.
HMS LACEDAEMONIAN – Broken-up 1822.
HMS MANLY – Sold 12-12-1833.
HMS MORGIANA – Sold 27-1-1825
HMS SAPPHO – Laid-up defective 1825. Broken-up Halifax, Nova Scotia - 1830.
HMS TONNANT – Broken-up at Plymouth, March 1821.
