HMS St. Lawrence was a 112 gun British warship that served on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812. The St. Lawrence was likely the only Royal Navy ship of the line ever to be launched and operated entirely in fresh water. Lake Ontario seen from near Wolcott, New York Lake Ontario (French: lac Ontario), bounded on the north by Ontario and on the south by Ontarios Niagara Peninsula and by New York State, is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. ... Combatants United States United Kingdom Strength United States Regular army : 99,000 Volunteers: 10,000* Rangers: 3,000 Militia: 458,000** Naval and marine: 20,000 Indigenous peoples New York Iroquois: 600 Northwestern allies: ? Southern allies: ? United Kingdom Regular army: 10,000+ Naval and marine: ? Canadian militia: 86,000+** Indigenous... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the senior service of the British armed services, being the oldest of its three branches. ... Ships of the line were 1st, 2nd, or 3rd-rated ships in the rating system of the Royal Navy. ...

British naval commander James Yeo commissioned the ship in the Royal Navy dockyards in Kingston, Upper Canada. Master shipbuilder John Dennis and nearly 200 shipwrights built her in under 10 months, and she launched in 1814. The St. Lawrence's 112 guns on three decks qualified her as a first rate, larger than Lord Nelson's flagship HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar nine years earlier. Her displacement was 2,300 tons, and she carried a crew of 1,000. James Lucas Yeo (1782-1818) was a British Naval commander who served in the War of 1812. ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the senior service of the British armed services, being the oldest of its three branches. ... Kingston, Ontario, is a historic city in Ontario, Canada, located in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor at the eastern end of Lake Ontario, where the lake runs into the St. ... Map of Upper Canada (orange) Upper Canada was a British territory in what is now the Canadian province of Ontario. ... 1814 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... This is one of six ratings (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th) in the rating system of the Royal Navy. ... Lord Nelson Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson (September 29, 1758 – October 21, 1805) was a British admiral who won fame as a leading naval commander. ... HMS Victory is a 104-gun ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built between 1759 and 1765. ... Combatants United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland First French Empire, Spain Commanders The Viscount Nelson † Pierre Charles Silvestre de Villeneuve Strength 27 ships of the line France: 18 ships of the line Spain: 15 ships of the line Casualties 449 killed 1,214 wounded Total: 1,673 4,480...

At the time, Lake Ontario was effectively landlocked for any but the smallest vessels, due to shallow water and rapids on the St. Lawrence River downstream and Niagara Falls upstream. As a result, warships operating on Lake Ontario had to be built onsite, either in Kingston or in the American naval dockyards at Sackets Harbor, or converted from merchant ships already operating in the lake. The Saint Lawrence River (French fleuve Saint-Laurent) is a large west-to-east flowing river in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. ... For other uses, see Niagara Falls (disambiguation). ... Sackets Harbor is a village located in Jefferson County, New York. ...

Control of the lake -- the most important supply route for military operations to the west -- had passed back and forth between the Americans and the British over the course of the war. The construction of a first rate ship of the line, in a campaign that had been dominated by sloops and frigates, gave the British uncontested control of the lake during the final months of the war. HMS St. Lawrence never saw action, because her presence on the lake deterred the U.S. fleet from setting sail. A sloop-rigged J-24 sailboat In sailing, a sloop is a vessel with a Fore-and-aft rig. ... Frigate is a name which has been used for several distinct types of warships at different times. ...

After the war, the ship was decommissioned and her hull was used as a storage facility by Morton's Brewery in Kingston. Later, the hull was sunk in 30 feet (10 meters) of water close to shore, and is now a popular diving attraction.

External links

• Painting of the HMS St. Lawrence
• Diving information for the HMS St. Lawrence