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Is the first Great Lakes US warship buried?, at Clayton, NY? USS Oneida

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Antipodean Andy

Posted: Aug 27 2009, 11:27 PM

I think I've broken the avatar upload!

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Missed this earlier in the year. Not sure if buried is the right term but...

http://www.shipwreckworld.com/story/200-ye...e-new-york.aspx

QUOTE

A 200 year old US warship may be buried in French Creek Bay near Clayton, New York. A cannon salvaged from the old hull of a shipwreck over a half century ago may be the link to the remains of the USS Oneida.

Americas first Warship on the Great Lakes. The Oneida a brig of 18 guns, 243 tons, 85'6" length, 8' depth of hold was launched at Oswego, March 31st 1809. Built by Henry Eckford for the US Navy, it was sold out of service May 15, 1815. It was later repurchased by the U.S. Navy. Resold to Robert Hugunin and Refitted as merchant vessel "Adjutant Clitz" in 1827. The last owner was E.G. Merrick of Clayton. Abandoned there in 1837.

Local folklore and History came together for the USS Oneida during a presentation at Great Lakes Underwater 2009, an Underwater Cultural Resource Event hosted by New York Sea Grant and the Oswego Maritime Foundation in Oswego NY March 7th 2009. One of the presentations: "The USS Oneida -200th - Anniversary of America First Warship on the Great Lakes" detailed the history of the USS Oneida that was launched on March 31st 1809 at Oswego NY. A vessel of 262 ton, it had a distinguished service during the War of 1812. As part of the presentation it was stated that historians did not believe that any remains of the Oneida still existed. In Robert Malcomson's book "Warships of the Great Lakes 1754-1834" page 142, the Oneida was listed as being sold out of US service and was "beached at Clayton New York in 1837".

At the presentation was Skip Couch a residence of Clayton New York and descendent of Connecticut shipbuilders that settled in Clayton in the early 1800's. As he listened to the talk, he realized that he may be the only living person to dive on the wreck of the Oneida.

The presentation caused Skip to remember that years ago his Uncle Bill Couch told him about a cannon from a wreck in French Creek Bay at Clayton. The Cannon had been mounted downtown through the efforts of the Clayton Fish & Rod Club in the early 1900's. Skip's Uncle also said that because it was identified as a Relic of the War of 1812 the cannon was not lost to the Scrap Iron Recovery Plan during WWII.

In the early 1970's, Tommy Turgeon, the Director of Thousand Island Ship Yard Museum, asked Skip Couch and Charlie Bender, both well known local Scuba Divers, to check on the location of the wreck that the old cannon was salvaged from, because of the marine construction taking place in the area. They found the remains of a wreck and recovered a number of artifacts for the museum including cannon balls, small pieces of iron and a bar shot. These items were transferred to the New York State Historic Site at Sackets Harbor about 1973. Charlie Bender passed away in 2006.

Stories passed down from Local Clayton residents, including Skip's ancestors, stated that "the Oneida lies in French Creek Bay next to one of its conquests". Folklore also states that in the 1820's or 1830's, a Clayton based shipping company owned by E. G. Merreck bought several vessels from someone in Oswego that had been part of the War of 1812 Fleet sold by the US government. One of these was supposed to be the Oneida and she was refitted for the timber trade and sailed out of Clayton. She was presumed to be abandoned after many years and was left to decay in French Creek Bay at the mercy of the elements and ice.

It is very unique that an iron cannon and artifacts such as cannon balls and bar shot would be on a wreck in French Creek Bay, Clayton NY. Iron could be carried in a ship for ballast and does not immediately confirm the ship's identity. Charles Trollope a member of the Ordnance Society in Great Britain reviewed photos and dimensions of the Cannon and identified it as of French design of the 1780-90s. This puts the gun in the time frame that it could have been on the Oneida. It was also common that guns produced by one country would be bought or captured and used by an other country. Robert Malcomson's book "Warships of the Great Lakes 1754-1834" page 65, list the Oneida as having 18 guns and two of them were 6 pounders.

Skip Couch, a scuba diver since the 1960's, is a founding member of the Clayton Diving Club, Site director on the NYSDA Carleton Island project, member of the Iroquise Project and co-author of the book "Divers Guide to the Upper St. Lawrence River". Skip's ancestors include Willard Cook, keeper of Rock Island Light House 1870 to 1879 and Ivan Couch, Clayton Ship builder who's St. Lawrence Skiff can be seen in the Clayton Antique Boat Museum.

Antipodean Andy

Posted: Aug 27 2009, 11:31 PM

I think I've broken the avatar upload!

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Joined: 5-January 06

A bit more. An interesting painting and photo of the model at the link. Shallow draft on her. How deep are the rivers connecting the lakes?

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/200...ship_on_th.html

QUOTE

Two hundred years ago, Oswego was getting ready to party. The building of the USS Oneida, the nation's first Great Lakes warship, was complete. With the hard Oswego winter behind them, the Navy officers and shipwrights who built the vessel from hand-hewn lumber from the surrounding woods, wanted to celebrate. But organizing a military ball in the New York frontier was no easy task. Oswego at the time consisted of a few buildings, two old forts and few people. Four decades later, sailor Ned Myers recollected how difficult it was to throw the party, which he called "an enterprise of a desperate character." "True, one fiddle and half a dozen officers were something to open the ball with; refreshments and a military ballroom might also be hoped for. But where, pray, were the ladies to come from? The officers declared they would not dance with each other. Ladies must be found," Myers recalled.

Desperate for proper dance partners, the officers took to the countryside. "At length, by dint of sending boats miles in one direction, and carts miles in another, the feat was accomplished; ladies were invited, and ladies accepted," Myers said.

In the years before the War of 1812, tensions between the British, French and Americans were growing. The federal government had passed embargo laws that attempted to stop trade with foreign countries. But with no Navy presence on the Great Lakes, trying to stop trade between Americans and the British in Canada was futile.

In the summer of 1808, the federal government decided to do something about it.

Navy Lt. Melancthon Taylor Woolsey, stationed in New York City, was given the assignment of building the nation's first military vessel on the Great Lakes.

He negotiated a $20,500 contract with New York City shipbuilders Henry Eckford and Christian Burgh, gathered a crew of carpenters, blacksmiths, naval officers and others, and departed for Oswego.

To ease the burden of wilderness duty, the government's contract also agreed to provide 110 gallons of liquor and other spirits.

Among Woolsey's officers was a young midshipman named James Fenimore Cooper, who would go onto to become one of the best known American authors of the 19th century.

The arrival of Woolsey's party caused a great stir in 1808 Oswego.

"For the time, money began to be seen in the place," Cooper wrote. "The place was entirely supported by the carrying of salt manufactured at Salina, just north of Syracuse, and the inhabitants of Oswego consisted of some four or five traders, who were mostly ship owners, the master and the people of the vessels, a few mechanics, and a quarter-educated personage who called himself a doctor."

Work began quickly. Within a few weeks, trees were felled, saw pits were readied and the frame of the ship began to take shape.

By September, most of the ship's timbers were cut. By the end of 1808, most of the ship's deck was in place, and by February, most of the outside work had been completed.

By mid-March 1809, Woolsey reported to his superiors in Washington that the rigging of the Oneida was nearly complete, and the ship would be ready to launch by the end of the month. After the ship was launched, it remained in Oswego harbor for nearly a year to be caulked, outfitted and armed.

During the War of 1812, the Oneida played a key role in several battles and campaigns, including Sackets Harbor, Kingston and the capture of York, now Toronto.

The fate of the Oneida has been lost to history. Some say the ship was used to haul timber for several years, then beached near Clayton in the late 1830s and allowed to rot. Others say the ship was stored at Sackets Harbor, where it broke up in 1825.

This post has been edited by Antipodean Andy on Aug 27 2009, 11:33 PM

loren1	Posted: Aug 28 2009, 01:55 PM
loren1 Group: CCForum admin Posts: 6,201 Member No.: 48 Joined: 27-February 04	History is all around us here. I know all of these places. Clayton s 7 miles down the road from our summer cottage. Been there many times. The St. Larerance is very deep in many places. The depth finder on our boat has shown depths of 600 ft in places that I have been. We were at Sackets Harbor a month ago. There is so much to see here in New York.

Antipodean Andy	Posted: Aug 29 2009, 03:19 PM
I think I've broken the avatar upload! Group: CCForum Member Posts: 1,627 Member No.: 7,204 Joined: 5-January 06	Start mowing the lawn, Patty!

loren1	Posted: Aug 29 2009, 07:02 PM
loren1 Group: CCForum admin Posts: 6,201 Member No.: 48 Joined: 27-February 04	I have a map of the Thousand Island ship wrecks.

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