HMS Ambush ( 1814 ) HMS " Ambush " , or " Ambush No . 5 " , was the American " Gunboat No . 5 " , launched in 1805 . She served in the Mediterranean later that year . The Royal Navy captured her at the Battle of Lake Borgne on 14 December 1814 . She was sold in 1815 . US service ( 1805 – 14 ) . " Gunboat No . 5 " was built in Baltimore by William Price as one of the a number of gunboats that President Thomas Jefferson had built for the defense of the United States . Price built her to a design by Josiah Fox , " Head Ship Carpenter and Navy Constructor " , and launched her on 1 March 1805 . She may have been a double - ender , initially armed with two 32 - pounder guns ( one fore and one aft ) . She had 2 , 600 pounds of copper in the sheathing for her hull and in her fittings , had a single mast amidships , and was rigged with a lateen sail . Sailing Master Alexander Harrison was named to command her . " Gunboat No . 5 " left Hampton Roads on 15 May and sailed to the Mediterranean , in company with " Gunboat No . 10 " . In 1805 the navy sent eight gunboats to the Mediterranean . For the voyage across the Atlantic , the gunboats received a dandy rig , false keel s , and lee boards . They stowed their guns below , but carried light guns , possibly swivel gun s , in order to have some means of defense . " No . 5 " arrived at Gibraltar on 14 June . She then sailed to Syracuse , staying there 8 – 9 July . She was at Tunis in August , and then returned to winter - over at Syracuse . Although " Gunboats No . 2 " through " 10 " ( minus " No . 7 " ) arrived in the Mediterranean too late to see action , they remained there with Commodore Rodgers ' s squadron until summer 1806 . They then sailed back to the United States . " No . 5 " arrived back at Charleston on 21 July 1806 . She then sailed to Gosport , where she arrived on 30 July . There she was laid up . " Gunboat No . 5 " next took up station at Norfolk , Virginia . In July 1806 she joined gunboats " Nos . 4 " , " 6 " and " 10 " , and the brigs and on a cruise . During the war - scare immediately after the " Chesapeake " – " Leopard " affair , " No . 5 " was in the second division of Stephen Decatur ' s sixteen gunboats at Norfolk . Lieutenant James Gibbon took command in August 1807 . His replacement , in November , was Lieutenant John Davis . On 13 March 1808 she sailed for Baltimore to assist the Collector of Customs there in enforcing the Embargo Act of 1807 and the subsequent Non - Intercourse Act . Robert Henley took command at Baltimore on 9 April 1808 . ( Henley later would command two divisions of 15 gunboats , " Gunboat No . 5 " not among them , that drove three British frigates from Hampton Roads on 20 June 1813 . ) At some point during her service enforcing the embargo " Gunboat No . 5 " detained the sloop " John Upshaw " . It was probably before that interception that " Gunboat No . 5 " sank . She was under the command of Sailing Master B . G . Hipkins when on 18 June 1808 a squall sank her off Holland Island in the Chesapeake . She lost three men drowned – the purser ’ s steward and two marines – before the schooner " Victory " , which saw the loss , could rescue the remaining crew . Though she sank in some six fathoms of water , she clearly was raised as she would continue to serve for at least seven more years . In February 1809 " No . 5 " Midshipman Thomas C . Magruder took command , and she was ordered to transfer to New Orleans from Baltimore as part of a move by the U . S . government to build up its forces there to enforce the embargo . The gunboats were not effective in enforcing the embargo and in March 1809 the Non - Intercourse Act replaced the embargo and authorized trade with all nations , save Britain and France . She was at Havana in May 1809 . Magruder was involved in improper conduct , which caused the Secretary of the Navy to order an investigation in June and the recovery of " No . 5 " on 25 July . The conduct involved keeping a woman on board . Lieutenant Alexander C . Harrison took command in August . " No . 5 " remained at New Orleans and in May 1812 her commander was Midshipman James Roney . At the time , her armament consisted of one 24 - pounder gun and two 6 - pounder guns . She was still among the 13 gunboats there in November 1812 . By March 1813 there were only five effective gunboats , the others being too rotten to carry cannon or having been disarmed to provide guns for . In February 1813 , her commander was Lieutenant George Merrill . In April , gunboats " No . 5 " , " No . 22 " , " No . 65 " , " No . 156 " , " No . 162 " and " No . 163 " sailed for Mobile , Alabama , under the overall command of Captain John Shaw . There , on 19 April , the expeditionary force captured Fort Charlotte from the Spanish . At the time , " No . 5 " was armed with one 24 - pounder and four 6 - pounder guns . In August 1814 , Sailing Master Jonathan D . Ferris took command . Under his command " Gunboat No . 5 " participated in the destruction of the pirates and smugglers at Barataria Bay in September . She captured an unarmed pirate brig on 23 September . Ferris was still her commander at the Battle of Lake Borgne . At this time she had a crew of 36 and armed with a 24 - pounder gun and four 12 - pounder carronade s . " No . 5 " was the fourth of the five gunboats to be captured ; in the battle her 24 - pounder gun had been dismounted . British service ( 1814 – 15 ) . After her capture the British took " Gunboat No . 5 " to the West Indies , where she remained in British service until at least 30 June 1815 . The Admiralty formally purchased her in 1815 in the West Indies , renamed her " Ambush " , and sold her that same year . Prize money for her and the other vessels captured at the battle was paid in July 1821 .