Lake Champlain (CG 57) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 71 text:

I E CHAMP ' S HISTORY HE BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN isS LAKE CHAMPLAIN (CG-57) honors the men who fought September 1814 in Lake Champlain ' s Plattsburgh Bay. i August of 1814, Major General ir George Prevost, commanding ritish Forces numbering over iven thousand, crossed the United ates border and marched south al ong ewestern bank of LakeChamplain. sobjective was to capture the town of attsburgh, which he hoped would rve as a powerful bargaining chip in e negotiations that might end the ar of 1812. leAmericanarmyatPlattsburghwas sager at best, compared to the Brit- 1 forces under Prevost. Brigadier jneral Alexander Macomb com- mded 1500 regulars and almost 3000 ilitia. The British were confident at they could defeat the smaller, yet rsistent American force, but Prevost lew that he could not hold the city iless British naval forces could first cure their vital communication and pply 1 ink to Canada served by Lake lamplain. le American Fleet on Lake lamplain, commanded by Master )mmandant Thomas Macdonough, nsisted often barges and four larger issels carrying a total of eighty-six ms. The opposing British force con- stedof twelvegunboatsand four larger isselscarry ing the same total number guns as the Americans. The British, )wever, possessed guns with greater ' .curacy and range in addition to their •eater level of experience in tactical laneuvering. In order to remove the ! [vantage for the British, Macdonough oted to stage a static defense at close inge, preventing a battle in open wa- r. ' . acdonough carefully staged his ships ' in the waters near Plattsburgh. Se- curely anchored at both the bow and stern, the ships were stable gun plat- forms and could be spun around using 1 ines attached to hedge anchors in or- der to present a fresh set of guns. MacDonough ' s deci- sive victory forced the British army to retreat to Canada... As the British forces rounded the Cumberland Head, the head land killed their wind and they driftedslowly towards thelineof Ameri- can ships. The battle which ensued was the type of fighting the British excelled at - close range combat. Cap- tain Downie, Commander of the Brit- ish forces led his ship the Confiance, directly against Macdonough ' s ship, the Saratoga. After an hour of heavy fighting, beam to beam, both ships were heavily damaged. Captain Downie was killed by a 24 pound gun that was struck square on the muzzle by an American Shot. As the rate of fire slowed, Macdonough ordei-ed his men to cut the anchor lines and haul the four ships around using the kedge anchor 1 ines. The fresh battery of guns proved fatal to the British line. At- tempting to duplicate the American maneuvei-, the British attempted to spin around but, were unable to fully come about; showing only her bow, the Confiance was raked fore to aft by a fresh battery from the Saratoga. With the British naval squadron destroyed, the British Army withdrew north. LAKE CHAMPLAIN was com nissioned on a hot summers day 2 Augustl988 in Brooklyn, New York. Fabrication of the Lake Champlain began 9 July 1985. Her keel was laid 3 March 1986 and she waschristened25Aprill987atIngalls Shipbuilding division of Litton in Pascagoula, Mississippi, by Mrs. Everett Pyatt, wife ofthe then Assis- tant Secretary ofthe Navy for Ship- buildingand Logistics. LakeChamplain ' s first Commanding Officer Captain Ralph K. Martin has been followed by Edward K.Kristensen (Jun 90-Apr92),JohnJ.Felloney(Apr 92 - Dec 93), Dennis J. VanBuskirk ( Dec 93 - Nov 95), Frank J Dobrydney (Nov 95 - 28 Feb 98), P.T. Serfass Jr. (Feb 98). CG-57 is the third U.S. Navy ship to honorthenameLAKECHAMPLAIN. The first was a cargo vessel, which served in World War I ; the second, an Essex-Class aircraft carried CV-39), the recovery ship for America ' s first mannedspace flight, FREED0M7with CDR Alan Shepard. The USS LAKE CHAMPLAIN hasmade4deployments (1991 for Dessert Storm , 1993, 1995 and 1997-1998)to the Western Pacific and Persian Gulf THECRUISER67

Page 70 text:

TmfmmsmmBmmsmm m • I— I o m O fcJD O U so cob 6 o 1 8 2 v 1 5 ■» I 66THECRUISER t Q. 2 -pi C in .2 03 o o C o eg en S o 2 i 5 o c ! o o (N CJ 5 3 b: 3 g a o -c o ,? M fjL, H fe H S a ' S S c LC 05 w5 S be c t - C. C CO CO cC .. 4) a I- - •- q CQ Q Q Q

Page 72 text:

♦ » 4 ' H liiiiirHi