Back in the Day

A local man lost at sea

By KELLY SULLIVAN
Posted 10/16/19

By KELLY SULLIVAN In November of 1813, the Navy warship Erie was launched out of Baltimore, Maryland. Measuring 117 feet in length and weighing 509 tons, the vessel was equipped with two cannons and three wooden-hulled masts and was capable of holding

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Back in the Day

A local man lost at sea

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In November of 1813, the Navy warship Erie was launched out of Baltimore, Maryland. Measuring 117 feet in length and weighing 509 tons, the vessel was equipped with two cannons and three wooden-hulled masts and was capable of holding 140 men. The cost for her construction was $25,461.

The ship’s first voyage began in March of the following year. It was short-lived, however, due to British blockades and she returned to Baltimore a little over two weeks later.

The Erie did not leave port again until May of 1815, when she sailed to Boston and joined forces with a squadron that set out for Mediterranean waters in July. After a four-year expedition, she was brought to port in New York and remained there for nearly four years while repairs and renovations were completed. Five feet were added to the ship’s length and her tonnage increased to 611 tons. In the fall of 1823, she sailed toward the Mediterranean again for a three-year venture.

Upon her return, she was left at port in Pensacola, Florida, in between patrols of the West Indies and the Mexican coast. In August of 1832, the ship sailed back to Boston and remained there for two years before setting out for Brazil to serve as a flagship.

Back in its Boston port from September of 1837 until February of 1838, the ship then headed out across the Atlantic to search for merchant ships in need of assistance. Five months later, as the French blocked Mexican ports, the Erie returned to protect American ships in the areas of the West Indies and the Mexican coast.

Toward the end of July 1840, the vessels that comprised the “West India Squadron” sailed into Boston. The squadron included the Erie, the frigate Macedonian and the sloop-of- war Levant.

As the Erie reached the harbor, after its latest long and perilous journey, Johnston resident William Davis stood on the mast at the forward part of the ship. Suddenly he fell, hitting the foreyard before desperately grabbing hold of the rigging. Unable to maintain his grip, he slipped from the ropes and plummeted into the sea below.

Davis was said to be 25 years old and was noted in Navy records as being one of the most qualified seaman aboard the Erie. It was reported that he was “never to be seen again.”

Kelly Sullivan is a Rhode Island columnist, lecturer and author.

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