Capture of USS President The capture of USS " President " was the result of a naval action fought at the end of the War of 1812 . The frigate " President " tried to break out of New York Harbor , but was intercepted by a British squadron of four frigates and was forced to surrender after a battle with HMS " Endymion " . Prelude . At the time of the battle Commodore Stephen Decatur commanded " President " . In 1812 , while in command of the frigate USS " United States " , he had captured the British frigate in a famous action . After his return , the British instituted a strict blockade of the American coast . In 1813 , Decatur tried to break out of New York in " United States " and USS " Macedonian " ( which had been taken into the United States Navy ) , but encountered a powerful British squadron which drove him into New London , Connecticut . To lighten the two frigates sufficiently to tow them far enough up - river to be safe from British cutting - out expeditions , they were effectively hulked , or demilitarized . Decatur tried to break out in " United States " in early 1814 , but turned back when he feared that pro - British local civilians ( the so - called Blue light federalists ) were burning lights to alert the blockaders . Decatur and the crew of " United States " were transferred to " President " , which had been refitted in New York . ( The crew of the " Macedonian " were transferred to the Great Lakes . ) On 13 December 1814 , " President " and some smaller warships ( the sloops - of - war USS " Peacock " and USS " Hornet " , and the schooner - rigged tender USS " Tom Bowline " ) were in New York Harbor , preparing to break out past the British blockade to embark on cruises against British merchant shipping . The British squadron blockading New York consisted of the former ship of the line " Majestic " which had been razeed i . e . cut down to a single deck to create a heavy frigate , and the frigates HMS " Endymion " , HMS " Pomone " and HMS " Tenedos " . They were under the overall command of Commodore John Hayes , who was captain of the " Majestic " . On 13 January , a blizzard blew up from the north - west . The British ships were blown off their station , to the south - east . Decatur determined to take advantage of the situation by breaking out with " President " alone . ( He may have been accompanied by a merchant brig , also named " Macedonian " , carrying extra rations as a tender , but the brig does not feature in any subsequent events . ) The plan was that the smaller warships would break out later and rendezvous with " President " off Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic . Decatur immediately met with disaster . He had ordered harbor pilots to anchor boats to mark the safe passage across the bar at the mouth of the harbor , but they failed to do so properly . " President " grounded on the bar and remained stuck there for almost two hours , enduring a pounding from the wind and heavy sea . It was claimed that by the time the frigate worked free it was heavily damaged , with some copper had been stripped away from the hull ; the masts twisted and some of them " sprung " i . e . had developed long cracks ; the hull was also twisted and " hogged " i . e . the bow and stern had sagged . However , no keel or hull damage was found when the ship was surveyed following her capture and return to Britain . Although her accompanying vessels headed for safety , it was impossible for Decatur to return to port as the gale was still blowing and he was forced to put to sea . He headed east , keeping close to the Long Island shore before heading south - east . Action . Once the gale had abated , the British regrouped . Realizing that American ships might have taken the opportunity to leave port unobserved , Hayes left " Tenedos " to watch the Sandy Hook passage and headed north to watch the Long Island passage , rather than head back to the harbor entrance . At dawn on 14 January , they sighted " President " . Decatur immediately turned down - wind and tried to gain speed by lightening his ship by throwing stores and boats overboard and pumping out drinking water , but the damage he had received on the bar had fatally slowed the " President " . After " Majestic " had fired some ranging shots which fell short , " Pomone " overtook her and led the pursuit but " Tenedos " appeared unexpectedly to the south and Hayes sent " Pomone " to investigate . As afternoon wore on , the wind eased to a breeze and " Endymion " , under Captain Henry Hope , overtook " Majestic " and overhauled the " President " . By late afternoon , " Endymion " and " President " were exchanging fire using their bow - and stern - chase cannon respectively . By nightfall , the " Endymion " had closed to " President ' s " quarter , where Decatur could bring no guns to bear . " Endymion " was a very fast ship and her Captain , Hope , yawed to fire a broadside into " President ' s " quarter , before turning again to follow and regain his position . The Long Island shore was too close for Decatur to steer northwards to put the " Endymion " astern . After " Endymion " had repeated this maneuver for the third time , causing considerable loss aboard " President " , Decatur abruptly turned to starboard to cross " Endymion ' s " bows . He had mustered boarding parties in case the British were taken by surprise , but " Endymion " also turned to starboard and the two ships headed south , exchanging broadsides . Decatur had no time to batter the British vessel into surrender , as the other three British ships would almost certainly be in range before long , so his gunners fired high into " Endymion ' s " rigging , seeking to disable her , using chain shot and " dismantling shot " ( bars of iron linked by a ring ) , while the British gunners fired low into the hull of the " President " . However , the shooting was poor on both sides while it is claimed the " President ' s " powder was defective . At 7 . 58pm , " President " struck , hoisting a light in her rigging to signify her surrender . " Endymion " hove to and commenced repairs to her rigging . Captain Hope was unable to take immediate possession of his prize as he had no boats available that would " swim " . Seeing " Endymion " hove to , Decatur attempted to escape , making sail at 8 . 30pm and running downwind . " Endymion " completed her hasty repairs and got under way at 9 . 05pm . In the meantime both " Pomone " and " Tenedos " were closing on " President " and by 9 . 05pm , " Pomone " had caught up , firing two broadsides at " President " , after which Decatur once again indicated his surrender . During the whole fight , the " President " lost 24 men killed ( including three of the frigate ' s lieutenants ) , and 55 wounded , including Decatur who had been wounded by a splinter . The British lost 11 killed and 14 wounded , all aboard HMS " Endymion " . Aftermath . The damaged " Endymion " and " President " sailed in company to Bermuda . They encountered a violent storm that dismasted both . However , both reached safety . Official notification of the end of the war came soon afterwards . The British took the " President " briefly into the Royal Navy as HMS " President " but broke up the badly battered ship in 1818 . They later built a Fourth Rate frigate , which they also named HMS " President " , as an exact copy of the American vessel . The British press noted the good conduct of both British and American captains and sailors , though they caused some ill - feeling by claiming that " Endymion " had defeated " President " in a straightforward stand - up fight . " President " had had a crew of 447 and a broadside of 828 pounds against " Endymion ' s " crew of 346 and broadside of 664 pounds . In 1847 the British Admiralty authorized the issue to any still surviving crew from " Endymion " of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp " ENDYMION WH . PRESIDENT " . The British briefly held Decatur and his crew prisoner in Bermuda . After their release , a court martial board acquitted Decatur , his officers and his men of any wrongdoing in the surrender of " President " . Decatur was quickly appointed to command an American squadron dispatched to the Mediterranean to protect American merchant ships against corsairs . He was later mortally wounded in a duel , the cause of which lay in a pre - war quarrel . The smaller American ships still in New York sortied before hearing of the capture of the " President " , and reached the rendezvous off Tristan da Cunha . The " Hornet " sank the British brig of war HMS " Penguin " before " Peacock " joined her . The two American ships then mistook the British ship of the line HMS " Cornwallis " for an East Indiaman . The " Hornet " narrowly escaped after jettisoning all her guns and most of her stores . The " Peacock " subsequently captured several British merchant ships in the Indian Ocean until receiving confirmation that the War had ended .