USS Asp ( 1812 ) The first Asp was a schooner in the United States Navy during the War of 1812 . " Asp " , the former British merchant vessel " Elizabeth " , was captured on Lake Ontario in 1812 by the schooner , purchased by the Navy from the prize court : outfitted ; and commissioned on 6 February 1813 , Lt . Sidney Smith in command . Service history . Battle of York . " Asp " got underway on 25 April 1813 as a unit of Commodore Isaac Chauncey ' s Lake Ontario squadron escorting General Henry Dearborn ' s 1 , 700 troops to York ( now Toronto ) , Canada . The squadron arrived off York two days later . While Dearborn ' s troops hustled ashore , " Asp " and the other ships of the squadron supported them by bombarding the town ' s defenses . Outnumbered and outgunned , the defenders gave way after a brief , but stubborn , defense . The squadron remained at York for about a week loading booty of war and destroying that which could not be carried on . At York , the American force captured the 10 - gun brig and destroyed an ' almost complete ' 24 - gun ship . When the warships left York , they spent the following two weeks convoying reinforcements and supplies to General Dearborn . Battle of Fort George . The next enterprise decided upon was an attack on Fort George , located almost due south from York across the western end of Lake Ontario and on the Canadian side of the Niagara River where it empties into Lake Ontario . Commodore Chauncy carefully reconnoitered the defenses of the British stronghold on 26 May . Before dawn the following morning , the squadron moved in with the embarked assault troops . While the larger ships of the squadron bombarded the various defenses and batteries around the fort , " Asp " joined and in covering the landings themselves . Their point - blank grape shot fire riddled the British ranks to such a degree that the American troops easily established a beachhead and soon drove off the remnants of the British who tried unsuccessfully to rally further inland . In that victorious combined operation , the American Army and Navy succeeded in securing the Niagara frontier and the river by forcing the British to evacuate the entire area . It also allowed the Lake Erie squadron to be augmented by five vessels which had been bottled up in the Niagara between the falls and British batteries at the southern ( Lake Erie ) end of the river . At Sackett ' s Harbor . While the American squadron had been concentrating on the western end of Lake Ontario , the British had been augmenting their squadron at Kingston in the eastern portion . Late in May , they made an unsuccessful attempt to carry Sackett ' s Harbor by storm . Chauncy took his squadron — " Asp " included — back to the eastern part of the lake and , on 2 June , put into Sackett ' s Harbor where he was forced to remain due to the temporary inferiority of his force to that of the British . The enemy then ranged the lake at will capturing stockpiles and intercepting American supplies . Raid on York . However , on 21 July , the American squadron weighed anchor and set a course for the western end of the lake . The warships arrived at Niagara on the 27th and loaded a force of American troops to repeat the attack on York carried out the previous summer . On 30 July , the squadron conducted another successful raid on York , destroying 11 British transports and carrying off 5 cannon , some ammunition , and some flour . The ships returned to Niagara and disembarked the troops on 3 August . Action off the Niagara . While " Asp " and the rest of the American squadron were still at Niagara , the British squadron appeared off the anchorage on the 7th . For three days , the two squadrons went through a tedious series of maneuvers ostensibly to bring about an action . A somewhat desultory action took place on the evening of the 10th . It consisted of some long - range gunfire in which " Asp " participated . The main result of that skirmish was the loss of two American schooners , " Growler " and , which ships turned in the wrong direction and were cut off by the British . After another day or so of ineffectual maneuvering , the American squadron headed for Sackett ' s Harbor , where it arrived on the 13th . After taking on five weeks worth of provisions , the warships departed the harbor that same evening . The two squadrons spent the next month sailing up and down the lake , each trying to maneuver the other into a position of decisive advantage to itself . Action off the Genesee . Near the mouth of the Genesee River on 11 September , the American warships exchanged gunfire with their British counterparts from extreme range . Though the British received the worst of it due to the American superiority in long guns , damage to both sides proved almost inconsequential ; and the British escaped into Amherst Bay . Action off Burlington . After a 17 - day hiatus , the two forces met again on 28 September at York Bay . When the British ships were sighted , " Asp " was in tow of the American lead ship , , with following close behind . The other American ships followed some distance astern . Fearing the loss of their sternmost ships , the British came around . The three leading American ships bore down upon them . The British van , composed of their two largest ships , the flagship Later operations . With the British cleared from Lake Ontario , " Asp " and the other schooners became transports for troops and stores . On one occasion , 17 November 1813 , she assisted in transporting 1 , 100 of General William Henry Harrison ' s troops from the mouth of the Genesee River to Sackett ' s Harbor . " Asp " never again saw combat and , apparently , served through the remainder of the war as a transport . She was sold at Sackett ' s Harbor on 15 May 1815 .