On June 1, 1813, two hundred and seven years ago today, the British frigate HMS Shannon defeated and captured the USS Chesapeake in single-ship combat. Captain James  Lawrence on the Chesapeake was mortally wounded during the battle. His last words were, depending on the account,  “Don’t give up the ship. Fight her till she sinks,” or “Tell them to fire faster; don’t give up the ship.”  If  “don’t give up the ship” was an order, it was impossible to follow and never carried out. The ship had already been taken by British boarders.

The loss of the USS Chesapeake was a military defeat that became a  public relations victory. If Captain Lawrence had lived, it is possible that could have been court-martialed for accepting single ship combat with HMS Shannon. Some historians have argued that Lawrence dis­obeyed orders in giving battle while others have suggested that he acted within his prerogative as captain. In any case, it was a bad call. 

As word of the defeat spread, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, a colleague and friend of Captain Lawrence, named the brig that would be his flagship, the USS Lawrence, in honor of the captain of the Chesapeake. He also had a large battle flag sewn, a blue banner with the words “DONT GIVE UP THE SHIP” stitched in white letters.

In September of 1813, when Perry challenged British control of Lake Erie near Put In Bay off the coast of Ohio,  British long guns did serious damage to the USS Lawrence before Lawrence‘s carronades could be brought to bear. What did Perry do? He gave up the ship.

Rather than surrender, Perry hauled down his colors and was rowed through heavy fire to the brig USS Niagara where he organized his remaining schooners to press the attack against the British ships. In command of the Niagara, flying the “DONT GIVE UP THE SHIP” battle flag, Perry and his flotilla of schooners and brigs captured the British squadron of two ships, a schooner and a sloop. The victory denied the British control of Lake Erie and thus cut off supplies to British forces in the field.  It was one of the most significant American naval victories in the war.  A replica of the USS Niagara is now the official tall ship of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Despite having originated in the defeat of the USS Chesapeake and the loss of the USS Lawrence, “Don’t Give Up the Ship” has remained a favorite battle cry in the US Navy. Oddly, in 2009, the Navy commissioned a “graphic novel” (essentially a comic book) as a recruiting tool.  Titled “Bravo Zulu – Don’t Give Up the Ship” it features a group of naval cadets who encounter the ghost of John Paul Jones who leaves them with the advice, “Don’t Give Up the Ship.” As John Paul Jones died over two decades before Captain Lawrence uttered his last command, this seems rather odd, though anything is possible in comic books. It also is not the first time that the Navy has put words he never uttered into the mouth of John Paul Jones.