Capture of USS Somers and USS Ohio
12 August 1814
Opposing Forces
British boats from Fort Erie vicinity
Cutting-out operation from British positions near Fort Erie; boats sent to board at night
Casualties: Minimal
Various
Two small armed schooners operating on Lake Erie near the Niagara River
Casualties: Both vessels captured with their crews
The capture of USS Somers and USS Ohio on the night of 12 August 1814, during the siege of Fort Erie, was another example of the aggressive cutting-out operations that characterised British naval tactics on the Great Lakes throughout the war.
Both vessels were small armed schooners — Somers carried two guns, Ohio one — operating on Lake Erie near the mouth of the Niagara River. They were supporting the American garrison at Fort Erie, which was under siege by Lieutenant General Gordon Drummond’s forces. Their capture by British boat parties operating at night deprived the American garrison of naval support and demonstrated that British enterprise on the lakes extended to the smallest vessels and the most dangerous operations.
The cutting-out operations on the Great Lakes — the captures of Somers and Ohio on Lake Erie, of Tigress and Scorpion on Lake Huron, of Growler and Eagle on Lake Champlain — formed a consistent pattern throughout the war. British and Canadian sailors, operating in ship’s boats under cover of darkness, repeatedly boarded and captured American vessels through surprise, speed, and close-quarters combat. It was the same tradition of aggressive boat warfare that the Royal Navy had practised in every ocean for two decades.
Significance
Two American schooners captured by British cutting-out operations on the Niagara River during the siege of Fort Erie. Another example of aggressive British small-boat tactics on the Great Lakes.