View source for USS Carolina (1812)

{{Short description|Schooner of the US Navy, in service from 1813 to 1814}}
{{other ships|USS Carolina}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}

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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1814}}
|Ship name=USS ''Carolina''
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|Ship launched=10 November 1812
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|Ship commissioned=4 June 1813
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|Ship fate=Sunk 27 December 1814
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|Ship displacement=230 tons
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|Ship length={{convert|89|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} 
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|Ship complement=100 officers and men
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|Ship armament= *originally
*3 × long nine-pounders guns 
*12 × 12-pounder carronades
|Ship notes=*[[War of 1812]]
**[[Battle of New Orleans]]
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'''USS ''Carolina''''', a [[schooner]], was the only ship of the [[United States Navy]] to be named for the British colony that became the states of [[North Carolina]] and [[South Carolina]].  Her keel was laid down at [[Charleston, South Carolina]]. She was purchased by the Navy while still on the stocks, [[ship naming and launching|launched]] on 10 November 1812, and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 4 June 1813 with Lieutenant J. D. Henley in command.

''Carolina'' set sail for [[New Orleans]], Louisiana, and while making her passage, captured the British schooner ''Shark''. Arriving at New Orleans 23 August 1814, she began an active career of patrol directed against possible British action as well as the pirates that infested the [[Caribbean Sea]]. On 16 September 1814, ''Carolina'' attacked and destroyed the stronghold of the notorious [[Jean Lafitte]] on the island of [[Barataria Bay|Barataria]].

''Carolina'', with the others of the small naval force in the area, carried out the series of operations which gave General [[Andrew Jackson]] time to prepare the defense of New Orleans when the British threatened the city in December 1814. On 23 December, she dropped down the river to the British bivouac which she bombarded with so telling an effect as to make a material contribution to the eventual victory. As the British stiffened their efforts to destroy the naval force and to take the city, ''Carolina'' came under heavy fire from enemy artillery on 27 December. The [[heated shot]] set her afire, and her crew was forced to abandon her. Shortly after, she exploded.

== References ==
*{{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/carolina.html}}

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{{Pirates}}
{{1814 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carolina (1812)}}
[[Category:Schooners of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:War of 1812 ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships built in Charleston, South Carolina]]
[[Category:1812 ships]]
[[Category:Piracy in the Caribbean]]
[[Category:Ships involved in anti-piracy efforts]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the Louisiana coast]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1814]]
[[Category:Anti-piracy battles involving the United States]]