USS Scourge ( 1812 ) USS " Scourge " was an American warship converted from a confiscated Canadian merchant schooner . She foundered along with the American warship during a squall on Lake Ontario at 2 : 00am on Sunday , August 8 , 1813 . during the War of 1812 . " Scourge " began its career as the schooner " Lord Nelson " , named after the famous British Admiral Horatio Nelson . The schooner was built at Niagara - on - the - Lake in Upper Canada for merchant James Crooks and launched on May 1 , 1811 as an unarmed merchant schooner to carry freight between Upper Canadian ports . " Lord Nelson " was illegally seized by the US Navy on 9 June 1812 , almost two weeks before the War of 1812 , on suspicion of smuggling . The schooner was on a voyage from Prescott , Upper Canada to Niagara , Upper Canada ( then known as Newark ) carrying freight and personal luggage when it was stopped and searched by Lt . Melancthon T . Woolsey in command of the American warship USS " Oneida " . Woolsey accused the " Lord Nelson " of smuggling American goods in violation of the Embargo Act of 1807 , which forbid trading between the United States and British colonies . The schooner was taken to the US naval base at Sackets Harbor , New York . Although there was no proof of smuggling and the schooners owner James Crooks immediately went to Sackets Harbour to dispute the seizure , the onset of war prevented the return of his vessel . The schooner was commissioned into the US Navy at Sackets Harbor , where it was renamed USS " Scourge " . For naval service it was armed with four 6 - pounder cannons , four 4 - pounder cannons and fitted with bulwark s . The schooner was placed in Captain Isaac Chauncey ' s squadron and patrolled Lake Ontario during the War of 1812 . " Scourge " and " Hamilton " sank during a sudden squall off Fourteen Mile Creek near present - day Hamilton , Ontario around 2 : 00 am on Sunday August 8 , 1813 . The sinkings took more than 80 men to their death . " Scourge " was under the command of Sailing Master Joseph Osgood . According to a Letter of August 1813 after both ships were lost sixteen survived . A survivor of the " Scourge " , Ned Myers , told his story to James Fenimore Cooper . According to Myers about eight men from the " Scourge " were saved , and about 42 were lost . The site of the sunken ships was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1976 . The Ontario Heritage Act was amended in 2005 to provide special protection to the shipwrecks of the " Hamilton " , the " Scourge " , and the SS " Edmund Fitzgerald " because of their historical and cultural significance and because they contain human remains . After the war , the schooner ' s original owner James Crooks , resumed his claim for the schooner . On 11 July 1817 , the Court of Northern District of New York , determined that the vessel had been seized illegally . Despite the court ' s decision , compensation to the Crooks family was not paid because the funds had been embezzled by the clerk of the court . Crook ' s descendants , persisted and finally won compensation for the schooner 97 - years - later in 1914 , thanks to the determination of Henry James Bethune . The award was $ 5000 , plus 93 years of interest . Total compensation came to $ 23 , 644 . 38 , reduced to $ 15 , 546 . 63 after deduction of legal expenses , and was paid by the United States government to the 25 descendents of James Crooks .