USS Adams
Frigate · United States · Lost 1814 · Cape Ann & the Gulf of Maine
A U.S. Navy frigate scuttled by her own crew at Hampden, Maine, during the 1814 British occupation of eastern Maine in the War of 1812.
The Vessel and Her Loss
USS Adams was a 28-gun frigate that had already served in the Quasi-War with France before the War of 1812. In 1814 she took refuge up the Penobscot River at Hampden, Maine, after evading British cruisers. When a British expeditionary force captured Castine and advanced on Hampden in September 1814, Captain Charles Morris ordered his ship burned and her guns landed to prevent capture, in an engagement that became known as the Battle of Hampden.
Vessel
- 1799
- John Jackson and William Sheffield
- New York City, New York
- Wood
- 143 ft
- 34 ft
- 530
- Sail
- United States Navy
Loss
- September 3, 1814
- Intentional sinking
- Hampden, Maine, on the Penobscot River
- Penobscot River
- Penobscot Bay, Maine → Hampden, Maine (sought refuge upriver)
- Not established
- 725
- American casualties in the associated Battle of Hampden are reported in the range of 12 to 40 killed, wounded, or missing, with about 70 captured; losses specific to the ship's destruction are not separately documented.
- Charles Morris
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- Not established
- Position not established
- Hampden, Maine
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (85/100)
The precise remains and condition of the scuttled hull in the Penobscot River are not established in the sources reviewed.
Naval History and Heritage Command, DANFS
Build, service, and general history
Loss narrative, date, and casualties
Local historical clarification of the ship's identity
