HMS Sir Isaac Brock

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HMS Sir Isaac Brock was a warship which was destroyed before being completed at York, Upper Canada during the War of 1812. The ship was named after the famed hero of the war, Sir Isaac Brock.

At the end of 1812, the British learned that the Americans were building warships at Sackett's Harbor, New York, and laid down two sloops of war in response. Construction of the Isaac Brock began at York.

The new ship was a sister ship to HMS Wolfe, being built at Kingston at the same time. It had a registered weight of 637 tons, and was rated as having 24 guns. In fact, the rating system often omitted carronades, and the Isaac Brock would have had 30 guns or even more in service. (The Wolfe was completed wth a medley of whatever guns were available).

The Isaac Brock was substantially complete and in the process of being "planked" when on April 26, the American flotilla was sighted off York, with a strong embarked force of infantry and artillerymen. The next day, the Battle of York was fought. The outnumbered British regulars and militia were forced to fall back. The Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, Major General Roger Hale Sheaffe, ordered his men to retreat to Kingston, but also despatched officers to set the Isaac Brock on fire to prevent it falling intact into enemy hands.

The Americans were enraged to find that ship had apparently been set ablaze while negotiations for surrender with the local militia were still taking place. When eventually, a surrender was arranged, the Isaac Brock had been reduced to charred timbers.

After the sacking of the town of York, the British would respond with the burning of Washington.