USS Chesapeake (1799)

USS Chesapeake, painting by F. Muller (early 1900s)
History
United States
Name	USS Chesapeake
Namesake	Chesapeake Bay[1]
Ordered	27 March 1794
Builder	Josiah Fox
Cost	$220,677
Laid down	December 1795
Launched	2 December 1799
Commissioned	22 May 1800
Captured	1 June 1813
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Chesapeake
Acquired	1 June 1813 by capture
Decommissioned	1819
Fate	Sold for timber
General characteristics (1813)
Class and type	38-gun frigate[Note 1]
Tonnage	1,244[3]
Length	152.6 ft (46.5 m) lpp
Beam	41.3 ft (12.6 m)
Draft	20 ft (6.1 m)[1]
Depth of hold	13.9 ft (4.2 m)[2]
Decks	Orlop, Berth, Gun, Spar
Propulsion	Sail
Complement	340 officers and enlisted[2]
Armament	29 × 18-pounder (8 kg) long guns 18 × 32-pounder (14.5 kg) carronades 2 × 12-pounder long guns (5.5 kg) 1 × 12-pounder (5.5 kg) carronade[4]

Chesapeake was a 38-gun wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. She was one of the original six frigates whose construction was authorized by the Naval Act of 1794. Joshua Humphreys designed these frigates to be the young navy's capital ships. Chesapeake was originally designed as a 44-gun frigate, but construction delays, material shortages and budget problems caused builder Josiah Fox to alter his design to 38 guns. Launched at the Gosport Navy Yard on 2 December 1799, Chesapeake began her career during the Quasi-War with France and later saw service in the First Barbary War.

On 22 June 1807 she was fired upon by HMS Leopard of the Royal Navy for refusing to allow a search for deserters. The event, now known as the Chesapeake–Leopard affair, angered the American public and government and was a precipitating factor that led to the War of 1812. As a result of the affair, Chesapeake's commanding officer, James Barron, was court-martialed and the United States instituted the Embargo Act of 1807 against the United Kingdom.

Early in the War of 1812 she made one patrol and captured five British merchant ships. She was captured by HMS Shannon shortly after sailing from Boston, Massachusetts, on 1 June 1813. The Royal Navy took her into their service as HMS Chesapeake, where she served until she was broken up and her timbers sold in 1819. They gave form and structure to the Chesapeake Mill in Wickham, England.

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