RoadTripping With USS Montgomery-- Part 9: The Second USS Montgomery in War of 1812

Continuing with our roadtrip through history with this ship.

The second USS Montgomery was listed as a sloop or schooner during the War of 1812.

The Wikipedia article said it was built by Thomas Macdonough in 1813 and part of his fleet to keep the British Navy from controlling Lake Champlain.  It participated in convoying  Wade Hampton's troops in their advance to Canada.

The only other two things were that the ship was decommissioned and sold in 1815 and that it was also named after Gen. Richard Montgomery.

This paltry amount of information was surprising in that this ship would have been available to fight in the Battle of Lake Champlain where the American fleet was commanded by Macdonough.  Why wouldn't he have used it?

After further research, I believe that Macdonough wasn't impressed with the ship very much and that there was a naval arms race going on with both the British and Americans launching more and bigger ships.  Evidently, whenever a new ship was launched, Macdonough would take cannons and sailors off the Montgomery.

I have come across mention that the Montgomery and several other ships were left behind at Plattsburgh to defend the town.

--Old B.Runner

Cruising with USS Montgomery-- Part 6: There Were Six Ships in U.S. Navy By That Name

As I said in the last post, whenever I'm doing a story about a ship, I like to see of there have been other ships by that name.

Wikipedia is an excellent quick source of information, because by the  ship's name, they have a spot for "Other ships with the same name."  Click on it and a list will come up.

Even though I had never heard of a ship on the U.S. Navy by the name of Montgomery, I found that the new USS Montgomery (LCS-9) is actually the sixth ship to bear that name.  Those names stretch back to the American Revolution and cover much of the country's history.

And there was one from the Civil War, which is why I was making the presentation in a series of Civil War talks.

And, as part of the RoadTrip experience, I will take a look at each of the USS Mongomerys.  I will look at the ship's history, and I am also very interested in for whom or what the ship was named.

--Old B-Runner