Home

During the War of 1812, New Brunswick operated its first and only warship. Ironically it was a captured American vessel. Dubbed a “privateer chaser,” the Government Armed Ship Brunswicker, gave the colony critical protection from His Majesty’s enemies, at a uniquely vulnerable time.

Brunswicker began life as the US Revenue Cutter Commodore Barry. Purchased by the US Government in New York in 1812, the Commodore Barry had just begun service along the coast of Maine when the US declared war on Great Britain. In August, weeks before Britain herself declared war, it was captured by two British frigates and brought to Saint John. Such “prizes of war” were usually condemned to be sold by a Court of Vice Admiralty. However, eager to turn a quick profit, the British Captains sold the Commodore Barry to Saint John businessmen who were all too eager to oblige.

The purchase price was £1250, but the sale was illegal. The men who made the purchase may have been aware of these legalities since, to cover their tracks, they secured agreements from the captains involved that they would secure the necessary paperwork to make sure the sale was aboveboard. Perhaps aware that they had been less than honest, one of the captains later refused to sign any agreement.

Commodore Barry quickly passed into the hands of the Colony of New Brunswick. The Governor, George Smyth, desperately needed something to protect New Brunswick’s shipping in the Bay of Fundy. The Royal Navy had sent only a small schooner armed with four guns to protect shipping in the bay, and American privateers were feasting on New Brunswick’s trade. The two masted sloop armed with six guns lying alongside at Saint John was too good to pass up. Renamed Brunswicker and recast as a “privateer-chaser,” the ship became “the colony’s first (and only) ocean-going warship.” While Smyth petition the Colonial Office for reimbursement of Brunswicker’s costs – and clarification of her status as a prize of war – Brunswicker began protecting the colony from His Majesty’s enemies, particularly the United States.

Money was a consistent issue throughout Brunswicker's short operational life. The ship’s captain could not make any purchases or incur any debts without explicit approval from authorities. And those authorities were barred from gathering any further funds because Brunswicker was not officially a part of the Royal Navy.

Despite problems, Brunswicker conducted operations in the latter half of 1812, driving American privateers from the waters around Point Lepreau and the Bay of Fundy with other ships from the Royal Navy. Brunswicker was also active in and around Passamaquoddy Bay and Saint John. But in early 1813, the shadowy circumstances surrounding the capture and sale of the ship “finally caught up with her.”

The two British Captains who captured the ship from the Americans never took the measures required to clear the ownership issue with the Vice-Admiralty Court in Halifax. When the Attorney General of New Brunswick inquired into the status of the proceedings, he was shocked to discover that none had started. When the court learned of the ship, it requested information, and proceedings finally started.

On June 16th, 1813, “Brunswicker was condemned to the Crown, in keeping with practice for prizes taken when no state of war existed.” The court took possession of the ship, and the brief career of New Brunswick’s first and only warship came to an end. It remained in Saint John until it sold at auction in July 1815 to Saint John merchant captain Noah Disbrow for a “paltry” sum of £693. The ultimate fate of Brunswicker is unknown. But her legacy lives on. Today, Brunswicker is commemorated by the naval reserve division in Saint John, HMCS Brunswicker, a fitting memorial to New Brunswick’s only official warship.

Bibliography