Project | Battle of Lake Erie (Part 6)

Well, that's it, I've done it. I started this whole thing back in March, and after a total of 6 posts (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5), the Battle of Lake Erie project is finished, at least from the hobby side of things. I haven't had the chance yet to play out the battle, which would require me to either find a pre-made scenario online or scrape together one myself. The version provided in the Hold Fast supplement is woefully inadequate. That may be the subject of a future post in this series, but for now lets get to some pretty pictures of boats in their natural habitat. 

At around noon the two fleets began to form a line of battle, the Americans having sallied out from Put-in-bay and the Royal Navy arriving to destroy the American fleet before it grows too much. The Royal Navy have, from left to right: Chippewa, Detroit, Hunter, Charlotte, Prevost, and Little Belt. The Americans have, from left to right: Scorpion, Ariel, Lawrence, Caledonia, Niagara, Somers, Porcupine, Tigress, and Trippe. At this time the wind was blowing from the bottom left of the above photo, granting the Americans the weather gauge and therefore the advantage when deciding how to engage. 

A total of 15 vessels were present for the battle. There was another American schooner which would have brought the total US fleet to 10, but it didn't arrive in time for the conflict. The Royal Navy had an advantage in guns, both in number and in range. The Americans obviously had the greater number of ships, but most ships were armed with carronades, which, while they could pack a hell of a punch, were limited in range. 

The American strategy would depend on closing quickly to make use of their carronades. While they waited for the wind to shift, the Lawrence, Perry's flagship of the American fleet was taking severe punishment from the Detroit, Hunter, and Charlotte. 

The second American line, lead by the Niagara, was holding back for reasons that aren't entirely clear. A theory is that the Niagara was stuck behind the Caledonia, which prevented her from engaging. The smaller schooners and sloops are trailing behind in the light wind. 

The Royal Navy elects to ignore these smaller support ships, focusing all of their fire at the Lawrence. Since the Niagara is currently out of range, the Charlotte moves to support the Detroit, getting out of line. 

At this point the Lawrence is left smoldering, and the Royal Navy expects her to surrender. Instead, Perry disembarks on a longboat and resumes his command from the the Niagara. 

Lines of boats are good and all, but this is a wargame after all, so we gotta get some war shots in here. Let's fast forward a few hours: 

The situation at this point is not good for the Royal Navy. Most of her senior officers have been wounded or killed, leaving command of the fleet in the hands of inexperienced junior officers. The Detroit and Charlotte become entangled together, practically reducing their broadside weight in half. Perry, now in the Niagara, maneuvers to set up a raking shot across the bows of both the Detroit and Charlotte. The wind also picks up around this point, allowing the straggling support ships to get in range. This gaggle of schooners are positioned to rake the entangled ships from the stern. A classic "wherever you are just try not to end up there" kind of situation for the Royal Navy. 

This isn't the precise moment that the famous rowing occurred, but I threw in my longboat because I want it to get some pictures too. 

At this point, the largest Royal Navy warships begin to strike their colors one by one, as the Niagara has essentially parked in front of their bows, fully capable of unleashing broadside after broadside while the English can't effectively respond or move away. 

The Chippeway and the Little Belt now try to disengage from the battle. They would be captured by the Scorpion and the Trippe, the smallest vessel present at the battle. This would mark the last of the British resistance in this battle. 

The result is a resounding victory for the United States, one that was well needed, as the land portion of the war had been lackluster to say the least. Control of Lake Erie now rested firmly in US hands, preventing further British invasions through this waterway. 

After the battle, Perry would go on to write his now famous "We have me the enemy, and they are ours" in his report to his superiors. 

Before signing off, I'd like to cover the last three vessels that brought me to the finish line. 

This is the resin hull that I scratch built masts and sails for to make it less top heavy. It actually worked decently well, but it was just a lot of work. I'm thinking of converting some of the other hulls into gunbrigs or brigantines. This is also the first time I did pattern work on the sails, which I think adds a nice look to the schooner overall. I also used a cream color instead of my usual yellow for the Royal Navy. 

Next is basically a normal schooner, but with the quarter deck bulwarks removed to make her railing flush her whole length. 

Same deal with this one, but with the addition of a mizzen topsail. I also painted the hull a dark blue, reminiscent of the schooner Bluenose. 

Here's a better angle of the flush railing:

That's all for now, I'm not entirely sure what my next project will be, but this was a good way of staying focused and setting my sights on a goal. For sure I want to work on some of the larger ships now, I don't want to touch a schooner for a while haha. As one last final note, this also counts for the Season of Scenery (looking at you Stew). 

-The Space Dinosaur