HMS ST. LAWRENCE

HMS St Lawrence, a remarkable ship of the line, began its construction on April 12, 1814, and was launched on September 10, 1814. It became the flagship of British naval Commodore Sir James Lucas Yeo, with Captain Frederick Hickey serving as Flag Captain. The ship was commissioned at the Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard in Kingston, Upper Canada. At the time, Lake Ontario presented challenges for larger vessels due to shallow waters and rapids on the St. Lawrence River downstream and Niagara Falls upstream. Consequently, warships in Lake Ontario had to be constructed locally, either in Kingston or the American naval dockyards at Sackets Harbour, or converted from existing merchant ships operating on the lake. Control of the lake, a vital supply route for British military operations to the west, had shifted between the Americans and the British during the war. Building a first-rate ship of the line, in an arena dominated by sloops and frigates, granted the British undisputed control over the lake in the final months of the war. The presence of HMS St Lawrence on the lake acted as a deterrent, and the U.S. fleet refrained from setting sail, resulting in the ship never seeing any action.

Following the conclusion of the war in 1815, HMS St Lawrence was decommissioned. In January 1832, the hull was sold to Robert Drummond for £25. From May to August, the hull was towed out of Navy Bay. Subsequently, it became part of a pier attached to Morton’s Brewery in Kingston, serving as a storage facility for materials such as cordwood. Eventually, the ship was intentionally sunk in approximately 30 feet of water near the shore at coordinates 44°13′14″N 76°30′18″W, becoming a popular diving attraction.

The construction of the St Lawrence was a remarkable feat accomplished by master shipbuilder John Dennis and nearly 200 shipwrights in under 10 months. While some sources credit master shipwright William Bell as the designer and builder, the ship was unique among sea-going ships of the line as it lacked a quarterdeck, poop deck, or forecastle. Nevertheless, the St Lawrence, with its 112 guns spread across three flush decks, qualified as a first-rate vessel, surpassing the size of Horatio Nelson’s flagship, HMS Victory, which had participated in the Battle of Trafalgar nine years prior. The St Lawrence boasted a burthen of 2,305 tons and measured 191 feet 2 inches in length on the gundeck, with a beam of 52 feet 6 inches. Its crew consisted of 700 individuals. Armament-wise, the ship carried thirty-two 32-pounder carronades and two 68-pounder carronades on the upper deck, thirty-six 24-pounder long guns on the middle deck, and twenty-eight 32-pounder long guns, four 24-pounder long guns, and two 68-pounder carronades on the lower deck.