Work On Little Belt

The "companion" boat that will be part of Friends Good Will's compliment, has been dubbed "Little Belt". The images above and below show the new Little Belt in its various stages of construction. This name Little Belt was given to Friends Good Will by the British after its capture at Fort Mackinaw.

This renaming of Friends Good Will was done most probably in retaliation for the destruction of the British ship, HMS Little Belt, an 18-gun ship that had, in 1811, engaged the USS President (commanded by Commodore John Rogers) in an incident that was a prelude to the War of 1812. This incident came about because the British had been stopping American ships and impressing into naval service sailors they thought were English. At this time, English sailors made up a certain portion of the sailors on American cargo ships, some having deserted the royal navy. In addition, the British were always in need of remaning their ships so far away from home. The problem lay in that England considered her subjects "once born English, always English" while America's policy was "once settled in America for five years, one was considered an American citizen".

Friends Good Will, then renamed as Little Belt, was armored with cannon and pressed into service for "Her Majesty's Royal Navy" as part of the famous naval battle of 1813 when Commodore Perry met and defeated the Lake Erie's British squadron of Captain Robert H. Barclay. It is here that Perry made his famous communique to General William Harrison, "We have met the enemy, and they are ours - two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop." The sloop was Friends Good Will (a.k.a. Little Belt). She then joined the American Fleet.

On December 8th, 1813, she was blown ashore at Black Rock, New York in a gale and severely damaged. While in dry dock for repairs she was burned by British forces.