USS Oneida (1809)

The first USS Oneida was a brig of war in the United States Navy during the War of 1812.

Oneida was built at Oswego, New York 1808–1809, under contract awarded by her first commanding officer, Lieutenant M. T. Woolsey, to Henry Eckford and Christian Bergh. Although her displacement was 243 tons by carpenter's measurement, her draft could compare with a sloop of 80 tons. This enabled her to enter the rivers feeding Lake Ontario without fear of grounding. She was delivered by the contractors in the spring of 1809, but was not equipped and sent upon the lake until the fall of 1810.

War of 1812

Oneida operated principally from Sackets Harbor, New York, not far from the commencement of the St. Lawrence, while the British port of Kingston lay nearly opposite in Canada.

First Battle of Sacket's Harbor

On 5 June 1812, Oneida captured the British schooner Lord Nelson, while enforcing the Embargo Act of 1807. On 19 July, the British squadron sailed on Sackets Harbor where Oneida and her prize were anchored. After failing to gain the open lake, Oneida anchored again near a bank in a position to rake the harbor entrance. She mounted the guns from her off side ashore and presented a full battery. After an exchange of cannonade, of two hours duration, the British squadron broke off the engagement and sailed for Kingston, Canada.

USS Oneida

USS Oneida has been the name of more than one United States Navy ship, and may refer to:

USS Oneida (SP-432)

USS Oneida (SP-432) was the proposed name and designation of an American steam yacht considered for use as a section patrol craft during World War I. In July 1917 the seagoing yacht was ordered taken by the U.S. Navy for service in international waters, but the yacht was never acquired and instead remained in private hands.

It was the second of two yachts named Oneida by owner Elias Cornelius Benedict, a prominent New York City banker and one of the world's leading yachtsman. In 1922, after Benedict's death, the Oneida was purchased by publisher William Randolph Hearst. In November 1924 the yacht was associated with the mysterious death of American film producer Thomas H. Ince, a scandal that became part of early Hollywood lore.

The Oneida was sold by Hearst sometime after 1927. In 1932 the yacht was in use as a ferry vessel on Lake Champlain, based at Burlington, Vermont. In 1940, the rusty hull of the Oneida was purchased as scrap by Canada, for conversion into munitions for World War II.

Elias Cornelius Benedict

Elias Cornelius Benedict (January 24, 1834 – November 22, 1920) was a prominent New York City banker and yachtsman. He specialized in the gas and rubber industries. He was president of the Commercial Acetylene Gas Company and of the Marine Engine Company.

Biography

He was born in 1834 in Somers, New York. His father, Henry Benedict, was a Presbyterian clergyman. His mother was Mary Betts Lockwood, daughter of Captain Stephen Lockwood, of Norwalk, Connecticut.

At fifteen in 1849, he joined the banking house of Corning & Co., New York. In 1857 he opened his own stockbroker's office on Wall Street.

In 1859, he married Sarah Hart, daughter of Lucius Hart of New York. They had four children: Frederick Hart Benedict, who married Henry Flagler's daughter, Jennie Louise; she died after complications from childbirth, along with their child aboard the Benedict yacht Oneida while on their way to see Henry Flagler in St. Augustine, Florida, and Frederick was killed not many years later in an automobile accident near West Point; Martha, who married Ramsay Turnbull; Helen Ripley, who married the architect Thomas Hastings; and Louise Adele Benedict, who married Clifford B. Harmon.