250

WILLIAM G. YORKE

New York/England/Canada, 1817-1892

Capture of the frigate U.S.S. President, January 15, 1815.

Signed lower right "W.G. Yorke".
Literature:
Ships of the World
by Lincoln P. Paine (Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, 1997), pp. 403-4.
"Capture of the U.S.S. President - Battle report to the Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Crowninshield" by Stephen Decatur, online at www.cronab.demon.co.uk.

Provenance:
Skinner Auctions, Boston, June 2006.
Acquired from the above at that sale
.
The Kelton Collection of Marine Art & Artifacts.
This work depicts the chase and eventual capture of the American 44-gun frigate U.S.S. President by the British Naval vessels H.M.S. Endymion, Majestic and Pomone on January 15, 1815. The U.S.S. President was one of the U.S. Navy's original six frigates. In January 1815, under the command of Stephen Decatur, President slipped the blockade that had held her in New York Harbor for nearly a year. The Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812, had already been signed, but word had not yet reached New York. During its escape, the President grounded on a sandbar for several hours during the night, damaging her keel and badly
straining her hull. Working her way off the bar the following morning, the frigate soon encountered a British squadron led by the 50-gun
Endymion, which immediately gave chase. The following account is from Decatur's after-action report to Crowninshield, Secretary of the U.S. Navy: "The Endymion, mounting 50 guns, had now approached us within gun shot, and had commenced a firer with her bow guns, which we returned from our stern." Decatur, realizing he could not outrun the British in his damaged condition, turned for a broadside action and had actually gained the advantage over Endymion until Majestic and Pomone arrived. After a fierce battle where he lost nearly half his crew, Decatur was forced to strike his flag. President was seized as a war prize and taken to England, too badly damaged for further work. She was broken up at Portsmouth in 1817, but not before her lines were taken off by the Admiralty, which were used for a new British warship of the same name.
Oil on canvas, 28" x 22". Framed 35.5" x 29.5".
Condition: Three small patches verso. Overall excellent condition. The canvas is unlined and under UV examination there is one spot of retouching to the foreword stun'sail, and two other minor spot retouches to the sails, as well as along the right edge from frame rubbing. Under white light the paint layer is stable and the painting is ready to hang.


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June 11, 2020 10:00 AM EDT
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