HMS Speedy (schooner)
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Speedy |
| Builder: | Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard |
| Commissioned: | 1798 |
| Fate: | Sank on 8 October 1804 |
| Notes: | Provincial Marine vessel |
| General characteristics | |
| Length: | Roughly 80 ft |
| Sail plan: | 2 masts |
| Complement: | 6 crew |
The battle schooner or gunboat HMS Speedy sank in a blinding snowstorm in Lake Ontario south of Brighton, Ontario and west of Prince Edward County, on 8 October 1804, with the loss of all hands. The sinking changed the course of Canadian history because of the prominence of the citizens of the tiny colony of Upper Canada lost in the disastrous event.
The ship was built in 1798 at the Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard and was used to transport government officials and supplies.
HMS Speedy was one of five warships rushed into service, quickly built from green timber at Cataraqui in 1798, to help defend British Upper Canada from the perceived threat from the newly formed United States of America. That threat was later realised as the War of 1812, but Speedy would not survive to see service in that conflict. Speedy carried four-pound guns and had a 55 foot, two-masted hull plus a 20+ foot bowsprit, bringing her close to 80 feet in total length. In spite of her name, Speedy was considered slow for her era. Because she was constructed from improperly seasoned green timber, she almost immediately began to suffer problems with leaks and dry rot after her commissioning.
The schooner was set to sail from York (population 345), present day Queen's Quay, Toronto (York) - the young capital of Upper Canada, to the district town of Newcastle (population 20) on Presqu'ile Point (now Presqu'ile Provincial Park) for a prominent murder trial ostensibly to 'legitimize' a newly built district courthouse.
Speedy was carrying the first provincial law-enforcement officer to lose his life in the execution of office. High Constable Fisk was transporting a prisoner to court in Newcastle on " Speedy". The prisoner was Ogetonicut, a member of the Ojibway tribe, who was accused of murdering trading post operator John Sharpe near Lake Scugog. Ogetonicut was suspected of exacting revenge for the killing of his brother, Whistling Duck. Although Ogetonicut was arrested near York, the crime had allegedly been committed in Newcastle District, and under British law of the time one had to be tried in the jurisdiction in which the crime was purported to have been committed. Also on board were Justice Thomas Cochrane, the judge for Ogetonicut's trial, and the accused's lawyer.
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