=304. The War at Sea.=—On the sea, events took a different turn from the first, although the government’s main intention was to use its few ships[129] in guarding the chief ports. On August 19, 1812, Captain Isaac Hull[130] of the frigate _Constitution_[131] (44 guns), which had previously been chased into Boston by a British squadron, met in the Gulf of St. Lawrence the enemy’s _Guerrière_ (38 guns), which had made an unsavory reputation for itself by searching American vessels. The American ship was somewhat the stronger, but no one could have foreseen that she would overcome her adversary within half an hour. About two months later (October 18), in a very similar contest, the American sloop of war _Wasp_ (18 guns), under Captain Jacob Jones, took the British brig _Frolic_ (20 guns). In consequence of these unexpected victories Great Britain’s naval prestige was greatly shaken and American pride correspondingly stimulated. Analysis has shown that the results were mainly due to the better gunnery of the Americans. Equally fortunate for the younger nation were the fights between the frigate _United States_ (44 guns), under Captain Decatur (§ 285, note 1), and the British frigate _Macedonian_ (38 guns); and between the _Constitution_, then under Captain Bainbridge, and the British _Java_. The former contest took place near the Madeiras, on October 25; the latter, off the coast of Brazil, on December 29, 1812. Congress immediately authorized the building of new ships, and while the British were able to sweep American commerce from the seas, the people consoled themselves with the thought of the superb victories of their ships and of the damage American privateers were doing English shipping on every ocean and sea—even within Dublin Bay itself. At last, however, reverses came, when, in 1813, the _Chesapeake_[132] was captured by the British _Shannon_, and when our ships were blockaded in our chief harbors. But the privateers continued their exploits until they raised British rates of insurance on trading vessels to a very high percentage. [Illustration: THE “CONSTITUTION.”] [Illustration: CAPTAIN JAMES LAWRENCE.]