Concluding Operations 181 



COMPARATIVE FORCE 



Tonnage No. Guns Weight Metal Crews Loss 



Hornet 480 10 279 142" n 



Penguin 477 10 274 132 42 



Or, the force being practically equal, the Hornet 

 inflicted fourfold the loss and tenfold the damage 

 she suffered. Hardly any action of the war re 

 flected greater credit on the United States marine 

 than this : for the cool, skilful seamanship and excel 

 lent gunnery that enabled the Americans to destroy 

 an antagonist of equal force in such an exceedingly 

 short time. The British displayed equal bravery, 



16 This number of men is probably too great ; I have not 

 personally examined the Hornefs muster-roll for that period. 

 Lieutenant Emmons, in his "History," gives her 132 men; but 

 perhaps he did not include the nine sick, which would make 

 his statement about the same as mine. In response to my 

 inquiries, I received a very kind letter from the Treasury 

 Department (Fourth Auditor's office), which stated that the 

 muster-roll of the Hornet on this voyage showed "roi offi 

 cers and crew (marines excepted)." Adding the 20 marines 

 would make but 121 in all. I think there must be some mis 

 take in this, and so have considered the Hornet' s crew as 

 consisting originally of 150 men, the same as on her cruises 

 in 1812. 



The Penguin was in reality slightly larger than the Hor 

 net, judging from the comparisons made in Biddle's letter 

 (for the original of which see in the Naval Archives, "Cap 

 tains' Letters," xlii, No. 112). He says that the Penguin, 

 though two feet shorter on deck than the Hornet, had a 

 greater length of keel, a slightly greater breadth of beam, 

 stouter sides, and higher bulwarks, with swivels on the cap 

 stan and tops, and that she fought both her "long i2's" on 

 the same side. I have followed James, however, as regards 

 this ; he says her long guns were 6-pounders, and that but 

 one was fought on a side. 



