HMS Linnet (1814)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Linnet and USS Linnet.

HMS Linnet was a 16-gun brig, built in 1814 by the Royal Navy at Ile aux Noix, Canada, as Niagara. Renamed Linnet and commanded by Commander Daniel Pring, RN, she served on Lake Champlain during the War of 1812. The Americans captured her in 1814 at the Battle of Lake Champlain at Plattsburgh, New York, and took her into service though she never sailed again. She was sold in 1825.

Linnet
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Linnet
Builder	Isle de Noix, Lake Champlain
Launched	April 1814
Captured	11 September 1814
United States
Name	USS Linnet
Acquired	By capture, 11 September 1814
Fate	Sold 1825
General characteristics
Class and type	16-gun brig-sloop
Tons burthen	350 (bm)
Length	82 ft 6 in (25.1 m)
Beam	27 ft (8.2 m)
Depth of hold	6 ft 8 in (2.0 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Brig
Complement	99
Armament	16 × 12-pounder guns

Linnet viewed from Cumberland Head, on Lake Champlain at the Battle of Plattsburg 11 September 1814

Service

Linnet joined Capt. George Downie's squadron, taking part in the Battle of Lake Champlain on 11 September 1814. Sailing down the bay, Linnet engaged the American brig Eagle, of 18 guns. Linnet did much damage to Eagle until Commodore Thomas Macdonough's flagship Saratoga raked Linnet, causing her to strike. Linnet had sustained losses of 10 killed and 15 wounded.

Fate

The Americans repaired Linnet and took her into the U.S. Navy as the USS Linnet. However, because the War of 1812 was over by that time, they placed her in ordinary at Whitehall, New York. She was sold in 1825.

References

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• Gosset, William Patrick (1986). The lost ships of the Royal Navy, 1793-1900. Mansell. ISBN 0-7201-1816-6.
• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–;1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1-86176-246-1.
• Battle of Plattsburgh Archived 21 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine