Don’t Give Up the Ship
On June 1, 1813, during the intense but short sea battle (it only lasted 15 minutes) between the American frigate USS Chesapeake and the British HMS Shannon, a few miles north of Boston, Massachusetts — so close to shore in fact, that spectators on land were able to see and hear the battle — one of America's most memorable wartime slogans was born.
The USS Chesapeake vs HMS Shannon, 1812
by Patrick O’Brien
oil on canvas, 24" x 36"
As the the Chesapeake's mortally wounded Captain James Lawrence lay dying in his cabin, with his crew locked in hand-to-hand combat on the quarterdeck above, he uttered the memorable words:
"Don't give up the ship!"
Unfortunately for the Chesapeake, the Shannon's crew overwhelmed her and took possession — towing her as a prize of war into the British colony Halifax, Nova Scotia. While the Chesapeake may have lost this battle, Lawrence's words still inspire us today.
Just two months after the battle, a bright blue banner emblazoned with "Dont Give Up the Ship" was hoisted atop the newly launched ship, USS Lawrence, commanded by Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry. And in September, 1813, that flag inspired his victory over the British fleet in the Battle of Lake Erie, where Perry transferred his command and the flag, to the Brig Niagara when the USS Lawrence became disabled. Perry's dispatch about the victory included his own now famous line:
"We have met the enemy and they are ours."
Arthur Shilstone — The Battle of Lake Erie
"Don't Give Up the Ship" battle flag hoisted high on the USS Niagara. (This painting by Arthur Shilstone was commissioned by Smithsonian Magazine in 1995.)
Oliver Hazard Perry
In a modern painting by Patrick O’Brien.
Whatever happened to the flag?
The original "Dont Give Up the Ship" flag is on display at the U.S. Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis, MD.
Whatever happened to the USS Chesapeake?
Chesapeake sailed for the Royal Navy as the HMS Chesapeake until 1819, when she was sold for 500 pounds to a merchant who dismantled her and resold the timbers to one Joshua Holmes. Holmes used those timbers to build a flour mill in Wickham, England which operated continuously unti1 1976, when it was converted into the Chesapeake Mill Cafe and Antique Center.
SSV Oliver Hazard Perry
In the state of Rhode Island, where Admiral Perry was born (and buried at the age of 34) the SSV Oliver Hazard Perry was launched in 2015. It is the largest civilian sailing school vessel in the United States, and the first ocean-going full-rigged ship to be built in the USA in over 100 years.
US Brig Niagara
Today, visitors to the Erie Maritime Museum in Erie, Pennsylvania can sail aboard a replica of the brig Niagara, built in 1988 as the flagship of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
