HMS Royal George was a British 20-gun wooden sloop of the Provincial Marine, and subsequently, the Royal Navy, operating on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812 with a crew of 200.
She was launched at the Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard in Kingston, Ontario, in July 1809. In November 1812, Royal George was the largest warship on the lake, operating under the command of British Commodore Hugh Earl (or “Earle”). On 9 November 1812, she was intercepted by an American fleet of seven ships under the command of U.S. Commodore Isaac Chauncey, but managed to escape to the safety of her home harbor at Kingston.
From June 30 to July 1 2012, a 3 day reenactment of the flight of the Royal George was performed from Bath, ON to Kingston in recognition of the Bicentennial of the War of 1812. In an ironic twist, the role of the Royal George was played by the Brig Niagara, one of the last two remaining tall ships with an 1812 heritage.
The United Empire Loyalists Association of Canada, Bay of Quinte Branch produced the following video. It is an reenactment of Capt Sheldon Hawley and Ensign Jehiel Hawley, two grandsons of Jeptha Hawley, commanded the First Addington Militia to defend their homes and families from the American Invasion.
